LTTE using India just like Taliban, Al-Qaeda use Pak: Stratfor

With Sri Lankan troops "hammering them", the LTTE, which has "logistical and training infrastructure" in India, is using the country just like the Taliban and Al Qaeda use Pakistan, a leading US think tank has claimed.     

"Support in Tamil Nadu means that the Tigers can — and do — exploit the international border to their advantage. The Tigers use India in much the same way that the Taliban and Al Qaeda use Pakistan," Stratfor in its latest report titled - 'The Conflict in Sri Lanka: A Cornered Tiger Is Still Deadly', said.     

"The Tigers' logistical and training infrastructure in India is especially important during times (like the present) when the Sri Lankan government is hammering them. The Tigers also have a long history of working with an array of other militant groups in India and the general region," it said.     

The Texas based agency said the cooperation between militant groups in India and the LTTE is not based on ideology, but rather on mutual benefit, such as bolstering the groups' ability to smuggle weapons and other goods.     

Stratfor said if Lankan troops manage to crush the remnants of the Tigers' military forces, "the Tigers will have little choice but to give up on conventional warfare (at least for the time being)."      It, however, said Tigers would not fade into history and will melt back into the populace just like the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"There is very little chance the Tigers will simply accept defeat and fade into history.     

"Instead, now that the government has the military advantage, the Tigers can be expected to continue their war against the government by melting back into the populace and resorting to guerrilla tactics and terrorism," it said.     

The report added, "This will resemble events in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Tigers, however, have a far more experienced and effective terrorist apparatus than either their Taliban or Iraqi counterparts. This struggle will therefore remain bloody in Sri Lanka (and perhaps even abroad)."     

Talking about the LTTE's intelligence network, Stratfor said the Tigers excel at collecting intelligence, and their female operatives form a significant part of their intelligence apparatus, since they generally can travel more widely than males and do not tend to arouse suspicions to the extent male operatives do.     

"Female Tigers who are already willing to serve as suicide bombers not surprisingly have been willing to use seduction to obtain information critical to their cause," it said.     

Pointing out that LTTE could not be just written off, Stratfor said "the group's cadre of dedicated, zealous militants will certainly spill a lot more blood in their quest for independence and vengeance against the Sri Lankan government."