Separatist Tamil Tiger guerrillas in green striped camouflage assaulted a mock government fort with gunfire, rockets and pipe bombs in an early morning drill Friday at a secret location in rebel-held territory in northern Sri Lanka. Rebels escorted reporters along back roads to a training base at a secret location to demonstrate that they are still a powerful military force, despite the governmentÂ’s announcement a day earlier that it had wrested control of eastern Sri Lanka for the first time in 13 years.
The rebels said they have simply switched from conventional warfare to guerrilla tactics in the east, and they still maintain a large swath of territory in the north that they run as a virtual state. “Gaining territory is not victory, it is a false hope. We will again come out and attack (the government),” said Lt. Col. V Nishaanthan, the “offensive and defensive training master” who led the drills Friday.