Military attacks kill 25 in Sri Lanka

Colombo: At least 25 people were killed in a sea and land battle with Tamil Tiger rebels on Saturday, and there was an underwater explosion at a beach near Colombo as three divers were seized, Sri Lankan military said.

Sri Lankan military jets hit targets near the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) stronghold Kilinochchi overnight in retaliation for an attack on a bus earlier this week.

The bus attack had killed 64, the worst incident since a 2002 truce halted two decades of war. The Tigers have denied the bus attack.

"Eight LTTE boats were destroyed by naval fire. They attacked the navy and police. At least 20-25 LTTE are dead. Four navy sailors were also killed and one civilian succumbed to his wounds. Three naval craft got slightly damaged," says a military spokesman.

But another military source said the Government death toll could be higher, with eight naval special forces troops missing. Death tolls could not be independently confirmed.

International truce monitors in the northwest Mannar district said they heard heavy firing, much more serious than the hit-and-run attacks that have become commonplace in the last two months.

Each side blamed the other for hitting a church that was sheltering civilians. The military said rebels had thrown grenades into it as they withdrew, wounding civilians. But rebel media coordinator, Daya Master, said the military had shelled the church.

There has been a sharp increase in violence since early April and almost 700 people have died this year. So far, trouble has largely been confined to the north and east, where the Tigers want a separate Tamil homeland.

Underwater blast

A military source said air support had been called in at Mannar and might be used to hunt down three surviving Sea Tiger craft which the navy could not follow as the water was too shallow.

The defence spokesman said three suspected rebels in diving gear were seized in Pamunugama, some 18 kilometres north of Colombo near the resort town of Negombo. They were about 10 kilometres from the international airport.

All were arrested, but two took cyanide capsules and were taken to hospital, he said. As the third diver was seized, a large underwater explosion took place a few metres off the beach, a witness said, shattering some nearby windows.