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The Sri Lankan navy and a suspected Tamil Tiger rebel boat have exchanged fire off the island's north-east coast, the navy said on Monday.
Spokesman Jayantha Perera said four navy sailors were injured in the clash in international waters, off the coast of Mullaittivu, 220 kilometres (175 miles) from the capital, Colombo.
The rebel vessel was on fire and sinking, Mr Perera said.
International peace monitors said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had confirmed one of their boats was involved.
It was not immediately clear if the vessel was being used to smuggle weapons in violation of a year-long ceasefire agreement.
Last month, three Tamil Tiger rebels blew themselves up after monitors boarded their heavily-armed boat off the northern coast of Jaffna as they tried to smuggle arms to the island.
The incident failed to derail peace talks, which are aimed at forging a lasting agreement to end nearly two decades of civil war in which more than 60,000 people have been killed.
Concerned
"We asked the ship to stop and it didn't, so then we started firing across the bow to warn them. They started firing back, and four of our men are injured," the navy spokesman told Reuters news agency
Scandinavian truce monitors are on their way to investigate the incident, their deputy head, Hagrup Haukland, said.
"It has been confirmed from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam that it is one of their vessels, a merchant or a freighter," Mr Haukland said.
"They are very much concerned because this incident happened in international waters. They are looking very, very seriously upon it," he said.
The monitors say that two Sri Lankan vessels - one of them carrying a member of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission - are on their way to the site of the clash.
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