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Two arms smuggling vessels sunk: Colombo

B. Muralidhar Reddy

COLOMBO: The Sri Lanka Navy on Sunday claimed to have destroyed two Sea Tiger "arms smuggling vessels" in the high seas off Arugam Bay.

A statement by the navy said while the first vessel was attacked at 9 a.m., the second one was sunk at 12.45 p.m. "The naval patrol units earlier foiled an LTTE terrorist attempt to smuggle a cache of arms and explosives in the seas 190 nautical miles, off Arugam Bay", it said.

The navy said the two ships had ignored the warning shots fired by the navy patrol craft to stop. Instead, the vessels had opened fire towards the naval units and the navy retaliated with gunfire at the vessels.

"It is now confirmed that the vessels had illegally carried weapons and ammunition for the LTTE. This incident is a clear indication that the LTTE has not stopped their attempts in procuring arms and ammunition to continue their terrorist activities", the navy said.

It said the loss within 24 hours of two vessels transporting war material has triggered concerns among the Tamil diaspora involved in funding the separatist cause.

Separately, the Sri Lanka Army said two cadres of the Tigers were killed and several others injured when a group of LTTE fighters clashed with an army clearing patrol at Senddimalai, few miles north of Peraru General area in Trincomalee on Sunday.

The army said a group of around 40 LTTE militants opened fire at the army troops on patrol, who immediately retaliated, inflicting heavy losses on the militants. A soldier was also killed in the confrontation.

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