By DPA
Colombo : An explosives-laden Tamil rebel boat believed to be meant for a suicide mission was destroyed Wednesday off the north-eastern coast of Sri Lanka after a three-hour sea battle with the Navy, a military spokesman said.
Ground troops near the coast initially spotted a fleet of rebel boats heading toward Trincomalee, where a naval base and harbour is located, the spokesman said.
The Navy was alerted and the boats’ movements were obstructed, sparking a battle at dawn off Pulmoddai, 280 km northeast of Colombo, he said.
Ground troops fired artillery as the Navy confronted the boats, destroying one believed laden with explosives while the other boats fled the area, he added.
Details of the casualties were not immediately available.
Rebels have used explosives-laden boats to ram naval craft in suicide attacks near Trincomalee and north of that port.