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Fighting continues to rock Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan government soldiers patrol along the coast in Pamunuwa, a suburb of Colombo, yesterday. Alert fishermen captured two suspected Tamil Tiger rebels on an apparent suicide mission yesterday near the capital. PHOTO: AP

Tamil Tiger rebels attacked a Sri Lankan naval base yesterday, killing six sailors, while rapid retaliation from the navy and air force left up to 30 guerrilla fighters dead, further heightening fears of a return to full-scale civil war.

Separately, alert fishermen captured two suspected Tamil Tiger rebels on an apparent suicide mission yesterday near the Sri Lankan capital, Deputy Inspector General of Police, N.J. Illangakoon and a witness said.

The rebels' sea attack took place in the northwest district of Mannar, parts of which are under government control, and where the navy maintains several small bases. The rebels operate from jungles and the adjoining district of Mullaittivu, a rebel stronghold.

At least six navy sailors and between 25-30 rebels were killed in the attack, navy spokesman D.L.P. Dassanayake said.

"We destroyed eight of the 11 boats that came for the attack," said Dassanayake, adding that each boat usually carries three to four rebel fighters.

Three of the navy's boats were also damaged, he said.

After the attack, the navy requested backup and an unspecified number of air force helicopters also engaged rebel boats, he said.

Meanwhile, pro-rebel Web site TamilNet called the incident a clash between the Sea Tigers, the naval wing of the rebels, and the navy. TamilNet said 30 civilians were wounded in the firing and hundreds of others have fled the area and taken shelter in churches.

The rebel attack came after Sri Lanka's military unleashed two days of retaliatory strikes on Thursday and Friday on rebel Tamil Tiger positions after a bus bombing killed 64 people.

The government blamed the Tigers for the bus attack, which killed 64 people, including over a dozen schoolchildren, and was the worst single act of violence since a 2002 ceasefire. The rebels denied they were involved and insisted the air and artillery strikes near a key rebel stronghold showed the military was on a war footing.

Separately, witness Paul Jayamaha said he heard two blasts coming from the sea off the coast near Ja-Ela, about 15km north of Colombo, when he went to buy fish nearby.

"Then I saw two men swimming toward the shore. They were caught by the fishermen," he said, adding that he also heard a second blast.

Both men swallowed cyanide capsules and were admitted to hospital where they are in critical condition, police officer Illangakoon said. Tamil Tiger rebels are known to carry cyanide capsules around their neck to prevent capture.

Police recovered oxygen bottles and underwater swimming equipment that washed on the shore, Jayamaha said.

The discovery of the equipment and the explosions suggested the men were on a suicide attack mission, Illangakoon said.

The rebels began fighting in the 1970s for a separate homeland in the north and the east, where most of the 3.2 million Hindu Tamils live, complaining of discrimination by the country's 14 million Singhalese, who are largely Buddhist.

The struggle intensified after anti-Tamil riots in 1983, and more than 65,000 people were killed before the ceasefire.

Peace talks to build on the truce quickly faltered, and sporadic shootings and bombings in and around Tiger strongholds have in the past four years built into near daily violence.
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