Artillery duels between the military and the Tamil rebels raged in Sri Lanka’s embattled northern and eastern regions Sunday forcing more civilians to flee their homes, the two sides said. Troops and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerrillas traded long-range attacks in the northern and eastern regions where at least six troops and one guerrilla were killed on Friday night.The LTTE said Sunday that security forces were attacking territory held by them and the guerrillas were retaliatingin kind. “Sporadic artillery exchange is reported at Mannar, Vavuniya, Manalaru and along the northern forward defence line of Vanni,” LTTE spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiriyan said in a statement. The military said it lost six soldiers killed and 30 wounded since Friday, while the Tigers placed their losses at one killed and several others wounded.
Sri LankaÂ’s navy sank two large ships on Sunday it said were transporting arms for Tamil Tiger rebels and the blazing vessels and the crew disappeared under the waves after a series of explosions.
The incident, off the restive eastern coast, came after a series of land and sea clashes over the past year and a military offensive to wipe out the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels from east. “The Navy detected a suspicious 70 to 75 metre vessel about 195 nautical miles (400 kms) around 2.30 am (2100 GMT) off Arugambey and the details given by the ship were false. We fired warning shots and they fired at us,” said Navy spokesman Commander DKP Dassanayake.
Another ship was spotted five hours later in the same area, and when challenged it opened fire, he said. Both the rebel ships, which were carrying explosives and mortar bombs, were destroyed.