COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP):
Sri Lanka?s navy sank two ships believed to be ferrying arms and ammunition to separatist Tamil Tiger rebels yesterday while two guerrillas and a soldier were killed in a ground clash, the military said. Naval vessels patrolling off the island?s east coast spotted a ship off Arugam Bay, about 320 kilometres (200 miles) east of the capital, Colombo, a Defence Ministry official said on condition of anonymity, citing policy.
He said the ship was not flying a flag, and when contacted by the navy it gave false details about itself and refused permission for a search.
The navy destroyed the ship after it fired at the naval patrol, the official said. He said subsequent explosions on the ship confirmed it was carrying explosives.
About three hours later, the same naval team saw another ship in the area and destroyed it after being fired upon, the official said.
On February 28, the navy destroyed another ship it deemed suspicious off southern Sri Lanka, killing 12 crew members.
Ground clash
Also yesterday, soldiers on a search operation in Peraru village in eastern Trincomalee district killed two rebels, the Defence Ministry said. One soldier was also killed when the guerrillas fired back, the ministry said.
The latest incident comes as government troops and Tamil Tiger guerrillas have intensified clashes in the north and east, where
the insurgents want to carve out a separate state for the country?s minority ethnic Tamils.
The Tamil Tigers, or Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, have fought the government since 1983, citing decades of discrimination against Tamils by the country?s Sinhalese majority. At least 65,000 people died in the conflict.
A Norway-brokered ceasefire signed in 2002 scaled down the violence, but fighting began escalating again in late 2005. At least 4,000 people have since been killed neither side has officially withdrawn from the truce.
