Sri Lankan navy destroys Tamil Tiger ships

Colombo: Sri Lanka's navy destroyed two explosive-laden Tamil Tiger rebel boats on Wednesday that attempted to crash into two cargo ships sailing to the country's troubled north, a spokesman said.

The sea battle came as ground troops faced stiff resistance from separatist guerrillas to their attempts to capture the rebels' de facto northern capital of Kilinochchi. The Tamil Tiger rebels have been fighting for 25 years to create an independent homeland for Sri Lanka's ethnic minority Tamils.

Navy spokesman D. K. P. Dassanayake said sailors fired at the rebel boats on Wednesday as they approached the cargo ships off the shores of Myliddi in the northern Jaffna peninsula.

The navy destroyed both boats and captured one of them, Dassanayake said. One rebel died in the battle, he said

He said the navy suffered no casualties but that one navy ship was damaged when one of the rebel boats exploded. The Tamil Tigers have a sea wing known as the Sea Tigers.

The military says government forces have made dramatic progress on the northern fronts in the past months, seizing chunks of rebel-held territory and a series of bases.