Suspected LTTE boat destroyed off Trincomalee: Navy

Colombo, Feb 12 (UNI) Sri Lankan Navy claimed that it had destroyed at least one suspected LTTE boat and seized another in the eastern Trincomalee sea waters early today after a brief gun battle.

''Two Sea Tiger boats were sailing southwards from Poduwakaddu, a coastal village in the Trincomalee district when the navy patrol boats spotted them early this morning,'' a naval official said, adding that the alleged sea tiger boats opened fire at naval patrol craft compelling the Navy to retaliate.

''According to initial reports, one sea tiger boat was completely destroyed due to the navy's fire while the other was disabled making it possible for the Navy to capture it with a dead body of a LTTE cadre on board,'' the naval official said.

Claiming that a couple of assault riffles were also recovered from the damaged boat, the official said the navy was conducting a search operation in the area for more clues.

There was no immediate reaction from the LTTE in this regard.

Reuters adds, it was not clear how many people were aboard the boats, but Navy Spokesman Commander D K P Dassanayake said he suspected around ten Tamil Tigers were killed and the Navy was scouring the sea for bodies.

It was the latest naval confrontation amid a new chapter in two decades of civil war. More than 67,000 people have been killed since 1983 -- around 4,000 of those in the last year.

The incident comes a fortnight after the Navy sank three suspected Tiger craft off the main harbour in the capital, Colombo.

UNI