The Sri Lankan Navy destroyed three boats of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Thursday night in a fierce battle off the island country's northern coast, the military said Friday.
The Navy said in a statement that its fast attack craft successfully foiled an LTTE attempt to evacuate cadres trapped in Perara/Kumburuppiddi jungles in a gun battle in the seas off Pulmudai around 11:00 p.m. (1730 GMT).
Approximately 20 LTTE boats were intercepted by the naval craft on patrol and the Navy successfully engaged the LTTE craft and destroyed three of them, said the statement.
Intercepted LTTE communications revealed that the LTTE leader " Lieutenant Colonel Nishanthan" was among those killed, the statement added.
One sailor was killed and another was wounded in action, but no naval craft received any damages in the confrontation.
More than 5,000 people have died in the escalating conflict in the island country since the end of 2005.
Claiming discrimination at the hands of the Sinhala majority, the LTTE has been fighting the government since the mid-1980s to establish a separate homeland for the minority Tamils in the north and east.
Source: Xinhua
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