Michael-Shtender Auerbach, associate director of Century's Prospects for Peace middle east initiative, writes here on a development that has been off-the-radar: the recent use of aerial tactics by the Tamil Tigers, a militant secular secessionist movement notorious for its innovativeness (until recently, the Tigers were responsible, by a wide margin, for more suicide bombings than any other terrorist organization.)
Why should the coalition take note? Auerbach warns that an IISS study has found "commercial links between the LTTE, Al Qaeda, and militants in Afghanistan."
If this is any indication of the LTTE influence, the possibility for future use of aerial assaults from insurgents in Iraq to Al Qaeda linked groups in Morocco and Pakistan to Palestinian militants in the occupied territories to Hezbollah in Lebanon-– are all but certain to follow.
Even without similarities in ideology or sympathies, the LTTE inadvertently "acts as a 'think tank' for terrorists worldwide; constantly
inventing new tactics that are so devastatingly effective, groups like Al
Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas, Shining Path, and Chechen fighters are eager to
integrate them into their organizations."
From the use of female suicide bombers (made famous with the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Ghandi in 1991) to the deployment of suicidal naval units - the Tigers are always on the cutting edge of the advancement of non-state terror and are, in fact, the only terrorist organization that has land, sea and air capabilities...
Auerbach's article is well worth a read, and available below...MORE
What Happens When a "Poor Man's Air Force" Goes
Airborne?
By Michael Shtender-Auerbach, The Century Foundation
Sri Lanka’s
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also known as the Tamil Tigers,
successfully launched an aerial strike using modified light aircraft and
improvised payloads against strategic gas and oil facilities this past
weekend, the third such attack in just under a month. The attacks
were carried out under cover of night, as Sri Lankans watched the National
Cricket team hold their own against Australiain the World Cup. This rudimentary and highly effective Tiger Air Force has
sent shockwaves through the government and the military brass in Colombo.
US intelligence agencies should take notice.
In the world of terrorist networks and resistance organizations, the LTTE
have employed very sophisticated tactics over the years, including the
formation and use of their own Navy. Today, with the addition of a Tiger Air
Force, the intractable war between Tamil separatists and the government in Colombo is set to enter a new phase. In fact, the Tigers have threatened more air
strikes while Sri Lankan military strategists seek new tools to “neutralize”
the threat – not an easy task. Tiger military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiraiyan laughed
off the threat by telling Reuters that the Sri Lankan military, “especially the
air force, are adamantly trying to prove they will always seek a military
solution." He added that as a result, "we have no other way than to
take our own measures…there will definitely be more. We have no choice other
than striking back."
The LTTE are a
militant secular secessionist movement fighting for independence for the Tamil
minority in Sri Lanka. While over 30 states, including the United States,
consider the LTTE a terrorist organization, the lack of international consensus
over their status has certainly enhanced their ability to maintain a
sophisticated military force. What should be of international concern is that
the tactics used by the LTTE offer a template that is often copied by
international terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda. According to the
International Institute for Strategic Studies Military Balance 2007, there is
increasing evidence of commercial links between the LTTE, Al Qaeda, and
militants in Afghanistan.
If this is any indication of the LTTE influence, the possibility for future use
of aerial assaults from insurgents in Iraq to Al Qaeda linked groups in Morocco and Pakistan to
Palestinian militants in the occupied territories to Hezbollah in Lebanon-– are all but certain to follow.
The LTTE’s stock in trade has been the car bomb often described
as the “poor man’s air force” and the suicide bomber, the “poor man’s smart
bomb”. Now the LTTE has gone airborne. Experts speculate that the planes
purchased abroad were most likely Czech in origin, subsequently disassembled
for shipment through LTTE's vast network of merchant ships, and paid for by
LTTE sympathizers living in the diaspora. Technically, having an Air Force is
quite simple, and while it is difficult to conceal a landing strip in a
primarily forested area, it is certainly not impossible. Targeting
and mapping are made easier by the advent of GPS and Google Earth. In Iraq,
for instance, British soldiers discovered that Iraqi insurgents used Google
Earth to plan attacks on bases in southern Iraq.
While the Tiger Air Force is unique among terror
organizations, state actors should not underestimate the potential for others
to form their own air forces. Hezbollah, whose tactics are similar to the LTTE,
have employed unmanned aircraft, or drones, to monitor
Israeli military movement along their border. Some predict the next step of
outfitting these drones with improvised payloads is imminent.
No military on earth, whether it is the mighty
military of the United States fighting insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan,
or Israel’s
laser focused military in its protracted war against militants in the occupied
territories or Hezbollah in Lebanon,
can overcome the methods and tactics that the LTTE are employing and exporting.
The LTTE acts as a "think tank" for terrorists worldwide; constantly
inventing new tactics that are so devastatingly effective, groups like Al
Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas, Shining Path, and Chechen fighters are eager to
integrate them into their organizations. From the use of female suicide bombers
(made famous with the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Ghandi in
1991) to the deployment of suicidal naval units - the Tigers are always on the
cutting edge of the advancement of non-state terror and are, in fact,
the only terrorist organization that has land, sea and air capabilities
As is evidenced in the 2006 U.S. State
Department’s global survey on terrorism, no one is safe from terrorism. The report states that
terrorist attacks worldwide shot up by almost thirty percent last year, with a
forty percent increase in casualty rates. Some argued after 9-11 that it
was a “failure of imagination” that caught America off-guard. As terrorist organizations, insurgencies, and resistance movements
level the playing field against advanced armies by employing new tactics and
methods, such as those exercised by the Tamil Tigers over the past twenty
years, there can no longer be any excuse not to think outside the box. If the
international community continues to ignore these advancements, next year's
State Department report is likely to be even more sobering as the threat to
international peace and security continues to escalate.
Michael Shtender-Auerbach is a program officer and associate director of the Prospects for Peace Initiative at The Century Foundation
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