Lanka says sinks 3 rebel boats, at least 15 dead

Colombo, March 29: Sri Lanka's navy said today it sank three Tamil Tiger boats off the island's northeast coast, killing at least 15 fighters, but the rebels denied they suffered any losses.

The attack late on Wednesday off the coast of the rebel-held northeastern district of Mullaithivu was the latest in a rash of land and sea battles in a two-decade civil war that has killed around 68,000 people.

''A naval patrol has come across about 10 Tiger boats and our boats launched an attack, and we were able to destroy three rebel craft,'' said Commander Athula Senaratne, a navy spokesman. ''During the attack we believe 15-18 rebel cadres were killed.'' The clash came after the military said troops had driven the rebels from a key eastern stronghold in the island's restive east. The Tigers said the navy triggered an hours-long sea battle by attacking them, and came off worst.

''Around 23 Dvora attack boats approached our controlled areas and attacked us,'' a Tiger official told sources from the northern rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi, asking not to be identified. ''A sea battle broke out that lasted for hours.

''Our people say none of our boats were damaged, but they say two navy Dvora were badly damaged.'' Analysts say both sides are prone to overstate enemy losses and downplay their own.

The Tigers, who are seeking to carve out an independent state for minority Tamils in the island's northeast, have lost an estimated 600 sq km (230 sq mile) of terrain in the face of military offensives in the east in recent months.

Earlier this week a Tiger suicide bomber tried to blow up an army camp, killing nine people, following the rebels first air strike since fighting erupted in 1983.

President Mahinda Rajapakse's ethnic Sinhalese-majority government is pushing on with a declared drive to destroy the Tigers militarily, despite international community calls to respect a 2002 ceasefire.

Reuters

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