Two rebel boats destroyed in S.Lanka, 5 dead: military
COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's military sank two Tamil Tiger boats killing at least five rebels before dawn on Thursday, and rebel artillery fire killed four civilians, the military said.
The sea operation took place off the northern tip of Jaffna and came amid daily land, sea and air attacks in a new chapter of 25-year old civil war.
"The LTTE using about five dinghy boats tried to approach a small island off Jaffna peninsula. A combined army-navy operation destroyed and sank two dinghies and another was partly damaged and capsized," said navy spokesman Commander D.K.P Dassanayake.
Dassanayake said monitoring indicated five rebels were killed. He gave no details of military casualties.
The military also said rebel artillery fire towards Jaffna town had killed four civilians.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who are fighting for an independent state, were not immediately available for comment.
Pro rebel website www.tamilnet.com quoting Tamil Tiger rebels said the rebel Sea Tigers wing launched a raid in the early hours of Thursday on a Sri Lanka navy camp in the far north, killing at least 13 navy personnel.
The website said the raid was launched at 1:25 a.m. and the camp was brought under LTTE control at 2 a.m.
(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)
