LTTE arms ship destroyed, 15 Tigers killed: Lankan Navy

Colombo, Oct 7 (UNI) Sri Lankan Navy today claimed to have destroyed yet another gun running vessel of the Tamil Tigers in the high seas off the southern tip of Dondra, killing at least 15 cadres onboard the ship.

''Sri Lanka Navy today destroyed another LTTE arms carrying ship, 'Matsushima' in the high seas about 1700 km south off Dondra Head and this is the tenth LTTE arms ship to be destroyed by the navy since 2003,'' Naval spokesman, Commander DKP Dassanayake told reporters here today.

Commander Dassanayake said that the LTTE was desperate to bring in more war machines and materials to Wanni.

The destroyed 70-feet LTTE ship was suspected to be carrying high-speed boats, waterjets and radars to Wanni from an undisclosed port, he added.

According to intelligence reports, it was carrying radars, GPS, waterjets, speed boats and some intelligence monitoring equipment, said Commander Dassanayake, describing it as a serious blow to the LTTE.

This is the second such operation by the Sri Lankan Navy since the last month when on September 11 the navy claimed to have destroyed three LTTE gun-running ships killing at least 45 LTTE cadres onboard on September 11.

This is the seventh LTTE vessel to be destroyed during the past 10 months, and most of their ships have been destroyed, he claimed.

He said there was no damage to the three naval ships or the Sri Lankan navy personnel involved in the operation.

UNI