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Lankan navy foils

rebel attack

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels launched a New Year sea attack on Colombo port on Friday but were repulsed by navy patrol craft which sank two boats, naval sources said.

Two dawn explosions jolted the port and Fort area of the city where Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels blew up the Central Bank in January killing nearly 100 people, witnesses said.

One blast, possibly from a rocket-propelled grenade, sent a plume of smoke up at the main road entrance to the port, the trans-shipment hub for South Asia, one witness said.

Shipping Minister M.H.M. Ashraff went on television to say there had been no major damage to the port or ships and that the port was operating normally.

He said one rebel boat had been involved in the attack at about 0545 (0015 GMT) and had been sunk. A second rebel craft was spotted about two or three miles out at sea and was also destroyed.

Three navy vessels were on patrol outside the harbour and one Israeli-built Dvora fast-attack craft was sent to engage the first vessel, a naval source said. He put the rebel death toll at about five or six.

At least one diver was among the dead, another naval source said. The navy later dropped depth charges in the area as air force helicopters buzzed overhead up and down the coast.

A year ago, rebel suicide frogmen blew up two naval vessels at the eastern port of Trincomalee, breaking a truce with the government which had been in place for 100 days.

The military denied rumours that either a gas shipment or a car container vessel had been hit, though naval sources said there had been some slight bullet-fire damage to one ship.

The attack came as Sri Lanka began traditional week-long Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebrations.

The port has been under maximum security since the Tigers stepped up attacks in the capital last year, blowing up two key oil installations and trying to blow up army headquarters.-Reuter