SRI Lanka's navy has destroyed 11 Tamil Tiger vessels including two suicide boats, killing an estimated 40 insurgents, the military says. A dozen navy fast-attack craft sank four of the rebel vessels, helicopter gunships and Israeli-made Kfir fighter jets sank another five and two rebel suicide vessels were destroyed when they rammed a navy boat which was badly damaged."They were involved in arms smuggling," said military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara. "In total, 11 Tiger boats were destroyed. We can't say exactly, but we estimate around 40 Tigers were killed," he said.
The military gave no details of any navy casualties from the clash, the latest in a series of land and sea battles. There were no independent accounts of what had happened and the Tigers were not immediately available for comment. The remaining five rebel boats sped back to Tiger-controlled territory, Brig. Nanayakkara said.
The clash came as thousands of Sri Lankans marked the third anniversary of the 2004 tsunami, which battered two-thirds of the island's coastline and left 35,000 dead or missing. The military has reported killing hundreds of Tigers in recent weeks, with the death toll from renewed fighting well over 5000 since early last year. However, analysts say both sides tend to exaggerate enemy losses and play down their own.
Also today, a Sri Lankan judge freed two foreign television reporters held for two days by police while making a documentary about people detained under emergency laws.