Lankan navy sinks 12 rebel boats
100 Tigers killed, more supplies sent to Jaffna
Ap, afp, Colombo
Sri Lanka's navy said yesterday it sank 12 Tamil rebel boats, including five suicide craft, and killed as many as 100 rebel fighters during a fierce six-hour sea battle off the country's northern coast. The fighting broke out late Friday when about 20 boats belonging to the rebel Tamil Tigers' fierce sea wing attacked a navy patrol near Kankasanthurai harbor, to the east of the northern Jaffna peninsula, navy spokesman Commander DKP Dassanayake said. The Tigers have been battling the government for over 20 years for a separate homeland for the country's ethnic Tamil minority, claiming discrimination by the majority Sinhalese, but in recent months the fighting has escalated, endangering a 2002 cease-fire. About 220,000 people have fled their homes because of near-daily shelling, airstrikes and artillery fire since April, according to the United Nations. Dassanayake said two navy boats were slightly damaged, and two sailors wounded, but the pro-rebel Web site TamilNet said two navy vessels were sunk and a third damaged. It said about 30 sailors were missing. The Roman Catholic priest, P Iruthayathas, said about 500 families in the area took refuge in nearby churches and schools while the fighting was going on. "People are suffering. They are unable to properly carry out their livelihood, fishing, and so they don't have money. Even the dry rations given free by the government are not sufficient." In recent months, Sri Lanka has returned to the brink of full-scale civil war with hundreds of fighters and civilians killed in major offensives. However, neither side has officially withdrawn from the 2002 Norway-brokered ceasefire. Meanwhile, a second cargo ship was loaded here yesterday with supplies for desperate residents of Sri Lanka's northern Jaffna peninsula. The vessel containing food, drugs and other essential goods was slated to leave Sunday on a two-day journey to reach Jaffna's main port of Kankesanthurai, military officials said. The first cargo ship was sent there last week following the ending of the two-week siege imposed by the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Plans for the vessel's dispatch came as aid agencies pressed for better access to conflict-affected areas to distribute relief supplies among the needy population.
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