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Sri Lanka's air force battles rebels, six killed
Sri Lanka's navy and air force battled Tamil Tiger boats near the eastern port of Mullaitivu on Tuesday, destroying two craft and killing at least six rebels, the military said.
- Agencies
- Published: 09:40 November 18, 2008
Colombo: Sri Lanka's navy and air force battled Tamil Tiger boats near the eastern port of Mullaitivu on Tuesday, destroying two craft and killing at least six rebels, the military said.
The navy's elite Special Boat Squadron engaged at least eight "Sea Tiger" craft off the shore of Nayaru, just south of the rebel-held Mullaitivu port, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.
After destroying two of them and damaging one, air force Mi-24 attack helicopters pursued the remaining boats and fired on them, the air force said. The targets were hit, but the extent of the immediate damage was not known, the air force said.
The sea battle follows the military's capture on Saturday of the entire western coast for the first time since 1993, and continuing advances by soldiers on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) defences in the north of the Indian Ocean island.
Saturday's victory shut off Sea Tiger smuggling and attack operations on the western coast, which is near the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu from which the separatist guerrillas have long smuggled weapons into Sri Lanka.
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