Suspected LTTE boats detroyed by Navy off Colombo

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

Colombo, Jan 27 (UNI) At least three suspected LTTE boats have been destroyed by the Lankan naval gunboats on a routine patrol, on the restricted sea zone-ff Colombo, Defence Ministry said this evening.

''The LTTE had attempted to attack large vessels at the Rangala Naval base in Colombo. The Navy successfully foiled the attempt,'' the Defence Ministry said in a statement, adding that three LTTE boats had tried to enter the High Security Marine Zone in the Colombo port region.

Military Spokesman Brig Prasad Samarasinghe said the naval gunboats on routine patrol fired and destroyed them between six and eleven nautical miles outside the restricted sea zone-off Colombo after the suspicious boats failed to heed to the navy warnings to stop.

According to the Defence Ministry statement, three LTTE suspects had been arrested during the subsequent search operation by security forces in the vicinity.

Meanwhile, the Ports Authority in a statement said, ''One boat exploded in close proximity to a container ship while being pursued by Navy patrol craft.'' ''The shock wave of the blast damaged some containers on dock but the ship was unharmed,'' the statement said.

Minister of Ports, Aviation and Foreign Affairs Mangala Samaraweera who visited the site shortly after the attack has commended the Sri Lanka Navy and Ports Authority ''for their swift action in dispelling any threat and resuming normal operations barely within hours after the incident''.

''This proves again that the Port of Colombo is one of the safest ports in the world,'' Mr Samaraweera was quoted as saying in the statement.

It was only in October last year that LTTE staged a seaborne suicide attack against the southern naval port of Galle, killing a sailor and a civilian and damaging at least a naval craft.

UNI

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