7TH LEAD

Two SLN Dvora boats destroyed, ship moved to international waters

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 May 2006, 13:26 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) ship with around 700 sailors on board got trapped in the clashes that erupted between the Sri Lanka Navy boats and the Sea Tigers boats in seas off Vadamaradchi East, Sri Lankan defence sources said. Two Dvora Fast Attack Crafts (FAC) were reportedly destroyed. The ship, Perl Cruise, has safely arrived in the Indian waters, sources in Colombo said. At least fifteen SLN sailors are reported missing in the clash. Four Sea Tigers died defending the Sea Tiger boats, the Tigers said. The ship was a few miles away from the attack site, according to Sea Tiger sources.

The Liberation Tigers officials in Kilinochchi said two SLN boats were interrupting the Sea Tiger boats within the LTTE controlled area. One Dvora FAC was destroyed and another damaged boat left the scene towards Point Pedro. Four Tigers were killed.

Sea Tigers denied Colombo reports of heavy Sea Tiger casulties. Four LTTE cadres died, according to Sea Tiger sources from Mullaithivu.

Two LTTE cadres were wounded in the clash.

One of the Dvora boats was sunk around 5:15 p.m. in the seas off Vettilaikerny and the other retreated after sustaining heavy damage. This boat, according to informed military circles in Colombo, sank near Point Pedro.

At least one SLMM official was on board the ship, sources in Colombo said.

At the same time, heavy artillery fire was reported in Nagarkovil area in Vadamardchi East where Sri Lanka Army had moved in a large number of troops during the curfew on Monday.

Meanwhile, around 30 rounds of artillery and 2 rounds of Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL) fire was reported towards LTTE controlled Sampoor area in Trincomalee East from Sri Lanka Army base in Monkey Bridge, sources in Colombo said.