Tiger saboteurs target Sri Lanka power supply

* Security forces seize heavy artillery from rebels
COLOMBO: Tamil Tiger saboteurs came close to cutting off a large chunk of Sri Lanka’s electricity supply Tuesday by skirting tight security and setting off a bomb against a key power line, officials said.
The device, which was rigged to a timer, was attached to a steel pylon located between a key thermal power generating facility and the main control centre in Colombo. The high-tension line supported by the pylon forms the backbone of the country’s power transmitting system. The blast was heard five kilometres away but caused only minor damage to the pylon, and no disruption to power supplies, officials said. No one was hurt in the explosion.
“The line is energised and there is no immediate threat of the cables collapsing,” a spokesman for the Ceylon Electricity Board said. “We have not switched off the supply, but we will start repair work soon.” The defence ministry blamed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who have been fighting for an independent Tamil state in the north and east of the island since 1972.
Engineers said the bomb could have destabilised Sri Lanka’s entire electricity network by disconnecting the thermal generators from the national grid. Sri Lanka is heavily dependent on the generators due to a drought that is affecting hydroelectric power stations. “We don’t want to openly discuss the transmission and distribution networks, but obviously the attackers knew what kind of damage they could have caused,” one engineer said.
Authorities have begun a major search in the area to track down any more explosives and patrols were also stepped up along the cable route, police said. Military bomb disposal units have also been dispatched. The blast came as the capital was on high alert for Tamil Tiger bomb attacks. On Sunday, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake warned that Tamil Tiger rebels had rigged up a truck with over a tonne of explosives that could blow up half of Colombo, a city of over 600,000 people.
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan forces seized 742 mortar bombs and 27,000 rounds of ammunition from Tamil Tiger rebels in the eastern Batticaloa district, a military spokesman said Tuesday. Soldiers found the weaponry Monday evening in the village of Verugal, which the military seized from Tamil Tiger rebels earlier this year, said Lt Col Upali Rajapakse. The day before, soldiers seized nearly 600 mortar rounds and three anti-tank mines from the same site. agencies