Say what you will about Sri Lanka's separatist rebels, the Tamil Tigers currently fighting for an independent Tamil state, they have been the ballsiest rebel group fighting in any part of the world for the past thirty-two years (although the Sri Lankan civil war "officially" started after the July 1983 riots, the Tigers were formed around 1975, called the "Tamil New Tigers"). The Tamil Tigers have carried out the most number of suicide bombings (in the hundreds I believe), pioneered the creation of the suicide vest, have killed numerous Sri Lankan and foreign heads of state (including former Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi), wiped out numerous rivals (including the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization and the People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam), forced a foreign peacekeeping force (Indian) to leave, are one of the few (only?) rebel groups with a naval wing which has sunk many a Sri Lankan Navy ship, and are now officially the first rebel group to carry out an airstrike without any external assistance. I sometimes make comparisons between conflicts and situations, and in Sri Lanka's case I'm sometimes partial towards seeing the obvious parallels with numerous contemporary conflicts such as Israel and the Occupied Territories. But there can be no doubt that in Sri Lanka's case, the rebels have moved from a simple guerrilla outfit to a full-blown quasi-government (w/ the power to back it up) making this in many respects a very different conflict.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/lett...ica/6494121.stmThe attack took place against Bandaranaike International Airport/Katunayake Airbase during the night by two TAF light aircraft. Three airmen were killed, sixteen wounded.
I don't think, however, despite the shock value of this attack, that this changes much. The civil war goes on, and the government is going to continue consolidating the control of the east with its TMVP (Karuna faction) allies. Nevertheless, could the recent aircraft mark a rising morale boost that will give the Tigers an upper-hand in harassing government forces in the east; and repelling any more major onslaughts on the northern enclave? Is a military solution, by either side, possible? Or is one "victory" by one side simply a loss for all, as the war continues with false hopes of quick gains ultimately leading to different versions of the same stalemate?
