12-22-2005, 11:14 AM
Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 22 December 2005 1632 hrs
<b>Sri Lanka's sea battle ends with rebels, sailors captured</b>
COLOMBO : Sri Lanka's navy and Tamil Tigers have fought a sea battle off the island's northwestern coast with 10 people being seized, the navy said.
Tiger rebels attacked two naval boats off the town of Mannar, sparking an exchange of gunfire, navy spokesman Jayantha Perera said.
"They have taken away three of our sailors and we presume they have been killed," Perera said adding that a fourth sailor had escaped.
"We have captured seven Tigers during the battle," he said.
There was no immediate comment from the Tamil Tigers on whether they had killed the three sailors.
The latest battle came one day after at least two soldiers were killed in Sri Lanka's embattled northern peninsula of Jaffna and security forces recovered three land mines meant for troops.
At least 38 people have been killed in northeast Sri Lanka this month alone, heightening fears about the future of an already fragile ceasefire between government forces and Tamil Tigers.
Thursday's battle is one in a series of skirmishes at sea despite the truce which has been in place since February 2002.
In March 2003, the navy sank a rebel boat with 11 guerrillas onboard. Just two months into the truce, the navy and the Tigers clashed off the island's east, leaving one sailor and several rebels dead.
Some 23 Chinese crew members were killed when suspected Tiger rebels sank a fishing trawler off the island's northeastern coast in March 2003.
- AFP/ir
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp.../184936/1/.html
<b>Sri Lanka sea battle ends with rebels, sailors captured</b>
http://www.bakutoday.net/afps/english/shar...0.oi4pinln.html
<b>Sri Lanka sea battle ends with rebels, sailors captured</b>
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/20051...12/s1536715.htm
<b>Sri Lanka Navy, Tigers in gun battle</b>
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200512/2...222_230079.html
<b>Sri Lanka rebels, navy in sea clash</b>
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stor...es/s1536744.htm
Posted: 22 December 2005 1632 hrs
<b>Sri Lanka's sea battle ends with rebels, sailors captured</b>
COLOMBO : Sri Lanka's navy and Tamil Tigers have fought a sea battle off the island's northwestern coast with 10 people being seized, the navy said.
Tiger rebels attacked two naval boats off the town of Mannar, sparking an exchange of gunfire, navy spokesman Jayantha Perera said.
"They have taken away three of our sailors and we presume they have been killed," Perera said adding that a fourth sailor had escaped.
"We have captured seven Tigers during the battle," he said.
There was no immediate comment from the Tamil Tigers on whether they had killed the three sailors.
The latest battle came one day after at least two soldiers were killed in Sri Lanka's embattled northern peninsula of Jaffna and security forces recovered three land mines meant for troops.
At least 38 people have been killed in northeast Sri Lanka this month alone, heightening fears about the future of an already fragile ceasefire between government forces and Tamil Tigers.
Thursday's battle is one in a series of skirmishes at sea despite the truce which has been in place since February 2002.
In March 2003, the navy sank a rebel boat with 11 guerrillas onboard. Just two months into the truce, the navy and the Tigers clashed off the island's east, leaving one sailor and several rebels dead.
Some 23 Chinese crew members were killed when suspected Tiger rebels sank a fishing trawler off the island's northeastern coast in March 2003.
- AFP/ir
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp.../184936/1/.html
<b>Sri Lanka sea battle ends with rebels, sailors captured</b>
http://www.bakutoday.net/afps/english/shar...0.oi4pinln.html
<b>Sri Lanka sea battle ends with rebels, sailors captured</b>
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/20051...12/s1536715.htm
<b>Sri Lanka Navy, Tigers in gun battle</b>
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200512/2...222_230079.html
<b>Sri Lanka rebels, navy in sea clash</b>
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stor...es/s1536744.htm
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