The Sri Lankan navy destroyed three boats carrying Tamil rebels off the island's north-eastern coast, killing at least 16 rebels in a fierce clash, a military source said Thursday.
Fighting broke out late Wednesday when navy intercepted 16 boats transporting rebel cadres and confronted the flotilla off Mullaithivu, 380 kilometers north-east of the capital Colombo, according to Associated Press.
All 16 rebels were believed to have been killed during the battle that lasted about three hours, said Lt. Col. Upali Rajapakse, a senior officer at the military's information center. One Sri Lanka navy sailor was wounded and hospitalized, he added.
The remaining rebel boats retreated following the battle, about 60 nautical miles off the port of Trincomalee.
The incident occurred two days after Tamil rebels used airplanes for the first time in the decades-old conflict to drop bombs on a Sri Lankan military air base, killing three people.
Military sources later said that the Tigers used two Czech-built Zlin-143 single-engine four-seater aircraft from an airfield in the island's north to carry out the attack on Monday.
Fighting broke out late Wednesday when navy intercepted 16 boats transporting rebel cadres and confronted the flotilla off Mullaithivu, 380 kilometers north-east of the capital Colombo, according to Associated Press.
All 16 rebels were believed to have been killed during the battle that lasted about three hours, said Lt. Col. Upali Rajapakse, a senior officer at the military's information center. One Sri Lanka navy sailor was wounded and hospitalized, he added.
The remaining rebel boats retreated following the battle, about 60 nautical miles off the port of Trincomalee.
The incident occurred two days after Tamil rebels used airplanes for the first time in the decades-old conflict to drop bombs on a Sri Lankan military air base, killing three people.
Military sources later said that the Tigers used two Czech-built Zlin-143 single-engine four-seater aircraft from an airfield in the island's north to carry out the attack on Monday.
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