Sri Lanka's Navy clashed with Tamil Tiger rebels off the island's northwest coast yesterday, each claiming to have sunk the other's vessels, while the military said a rebel ambush on land killed three soldiers. The Navy said it sank three Tiger boats near the northern Mannar peninsula, while the rebels said they sank two navy boats and killed 10 sailors in the incident. Both sides claimed their vessels were still afloat and intact, and denied fatalities on their side.As a new chapter in Sri Lanka's two-decade civil war escalates, with more than 3,000 troops, civilians and rebels killed so far this year alone, it is often impossible to tell what has really happened in far-flung attacks, with each side contradicting the other.
Military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samara-singhe said small navy inshore patrol craft engaged the Tiger vessels off the Mannar peninsula after detecting suspicious boat movements, and that helicopter gunships were called in to help. He said no navy boats were sunk. "Three LTTE boats were sunk, and four navy sailors have gunshot injuries, but their craft are intact," Samarasinghe said. Samarasinghe said three soldiers were killed in a separate incident and 15 civilians were wounded when suspected Tigers ambushed an army truck in the northern district of Vavuniya with a Claymore fragmentation mine.