Rebels attack third Sri Lankan navy gunboat

COLOMBO (AFP) - Tamil Tiger rebels have destroyed a Sri Lankan navy gunboat off the island's northeast coast with casualties feared, less than 12 hours after sinking two similar craft, officials and residents said

The Dvora gunboat was destroyed off Trincomalee just before dawn, residents said, adding that they saw the craft in flames after hearing a huge explosion.

The fate of the crew was not immediately known, but officials said about 10 to 15 sailors were believed to have been onboard. Navy officials in the area also confirmed Tamil Tiger rebels attacked the craft.

Fishing was banned there during the night and it was not immediately clear how the guerrillas infiltrated the area to stage the attack, officials said.

The attack came just hours after the Tigers said they captured alive four Sri Lankan sailors and the dead body of another Thursday following a major sea battle further north, off the coast of the Jaffna peninsula.

The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said they killed about 25 sailors when they destroyed two Dvora gunboats and damaged a third in intense fighting off Jaffna late Thursday.

"We did not use any suicide boats," LTTE spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiriyan said, denying defence ministry reports that a Tiger explosive-laden boat rammed one of the gunboats.

Ilanthiriyan said they boarded one of the Dvoras, removed all weapons and ammunition aboard and then set it ablaze and sank it.

"We have removed a 23 millimetre cannon, five light machine guns, a grenade launcher and four 'five-zero' guns from the Dvora before sinking it," Ilanthiriyan said by telephone from the rebel-held north of the island.

He also denied defence ministry allegations that the guerrillas were targeting a civilian passenger ferry carrying 308 passengers from the northeastern port of Trincomalee to the Jaffna peninsula further north.

"We deny the allegation made by the defence ministry," he said. "We were on a routine exercise when the navy tried to interfere with a small flotilla of ours. That is how the fighting started."

The Sri Lankan navy and the Tigers are known to have clashed along the island's north-eastern sea board which is a vital supply route for security forces and civilians in Jaffna.

The sea battles come as the United Nations and the United States severely criticised shelling Wednesday by the Sri Lankan army that left at least 65 Tamil civilians dead.

"Yesterday's massive attack on civilians shows that force continues to be used indiscriminately in the conflict in Sri Lanka," UN relief coordinator Jan Egeland said Thursday.

"Equally disturbing are reports that the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam prevented some 2,000 civilians from fleeing to safety," Egeland said.

The State Department demanded an independent investigation into the incident which the Sri Lankan government said it regretted.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061110/wl_as...vy_061110015954

Sri Lanka says sinks rebel suicide boats in new clash

10 Nov 2006 02:41:19 GMT

- Reuters

By Simon Gardner

COLOMBO, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's military said it sank two Tamil Tiger suicide boats before dawn on Friday in a second naval clash in 12 hours, amid growing fears of a new escalation in the island's two-decade civil war.

Officials said the navy spotted two rebel suicide boats hidden among fishing boats in seas off the eastern district of Trincomalee and opened fire.

The clash came after the military said it destroyed 22 rebel vessels off the island's northern tip late on Thursday.

"We detected two suicide boats (off Trincomalee) this morning and fired at them. There was a huge explosion and they were completely destroyed," a military spokesman said.

The Tigers were not immediately available for comment.

The navy was still searching for the crew of two navy fast attack boats, one sunk and one damaged, following the battle off the north coast late on Thursday. Five sailors had been rescued, officials said, but gave no details of fatalities or anyone missing.

The Tigers accused the navy of provoking that battle, saying their vessels were attacked while conducting exercises at sea. They said their boats had all returned safely to shore.

That attack in turn came after thousands of refugees fled their camp in rebel territory in the restive east after the army bombed it on Wednesday, killing dozens of civilians and injuring at least 125.

The two sides have gone back on pledges they made at abortive peace talks in Geneva in late October to halt the worst violence since a now-battered 2002 ceasefire.

Appalled at repeated truce violations by both sides, many fear the fighting could escalate into a full-blown return to a war that has killed well over 65,000 people since 1983.

"What are they thinking?" asked one diplomat, asking not to be named. "It makes you wonder, do they both actually want a war?"

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/COL68431.htm

Further sea clashes off Sri Lanka

There have been further clashes at sea between the navy and Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka, a navy spokesman says.

He said the navy had sunk two Tiger boats, killing a number of rebels, off the eastern district of Trincomalee.

On Thursday, the military said it had sunk 22 rebel boats and lost two of its own off the northern Jaffna peninsula.

Separately, the US has criticised the Sri Lankan army for an artillery bombardment that killed dozens of civilians in the east of the island.

The navy spokesman, DKP Dassanayake, said a patrol had detected the rebel boats off the port city of Trincomalee early on Friday.

"The boats were mingling with dozens of boats of fishermen who normally return with their catch early in the morning," navy spokesman told the Associated Press.

"We destroyed the two boats of the terrorists, which were laden with explosives as there were huge sounds."

Mr Dassanayake said each rebel suicide boat was carrying three people and "all on board the boats were killed".

There was no immediate comment from the rebels on the incident.

'Ferry attacked'

The defence ministry said Thursday's clashes began after rebels attacked naval vessels in an attempt "to disrupt the supply of essential items to the Jaffna peninsula".

At least 20 sailors were missing following the clashes on Thursday.

The rebels say they lost five of their members, and that they killed at least 25 sailors and captured four more.

The defence ministry said "suicide cadres" were on board the rebel boats, and accused the Tigers of seeking to sink a passenger ship carrying 300 civilians from Trincomalee to Jaffna.

The rebels, meanwhile, say their vessels were conducting exercises when they were attacked by the navy.

They deny trying to attack the passenger ferry, and say no such vessel was in the area.

'Human shields'

Both sides blame each other for starting Thursday's sea battle, which came a day after heavy army shelling killed dozens of refugees in the east of the island.

The US has strongly criticised the incident and urged the Sri Lankan government to launch an "immediate, independent" investigation into the incident.

"We exhort the government of Sri Lanka to adopt corrective measures to prevent civilian casualties that also take into account instances where civilians may be used as 'human shields' in the future," the US state department said in a statement.

Sri Lanka peace negotiator Erik Solheim said he was "very troubled" by the attack. Human rights group Amnesty International called it "appalling"

Nearly 3,000 people have been killed in fighting since late last year, the government says.

Government forces and rebels have frequently clashed on land and at sea this year as a threadbare ceasefire has unravelled.

Last month, the rebels carried out a suicide attack on a naval installation at the port of Galle, a popular southern tourist destination.

-BBC

Sea Tigers, Sri Lanka Navy clash in Trincomalee sea

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 November 2006, 05:14 GMT]

Heavy fighting was reported in the seas off Trincomalee and Nilaveli around 5:30 a.m. Friday. Fishermen in Trincomalee reported a big explosion and a series of explosions following it. Meanwhile, military sources in Colombo said a the Sri Lanka Navy had lost contact with a Dvora Fast Attack Craft (FAC) around 5:45 a.m.

Fishermen in the area engaged in fishing in the area had rushed back to the shore immediately.

Further details are not available at the moment.

http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=20230

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