Sri Lanka rebels blow up patrol boat: navy

COLOMBO (Reuters) – Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels blew up
their own trawler and sank an approaching Sri Lankan navy
attack boat on Saturday, leaving eight sailors missing at sea
off the island’s west coast, the military said.

Eleven navy sailors escaped the blast but search teams were
still scouring for eight members of the crew, military
spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said.

The incident is the worst since the government and
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held a first round of
crunch peace talks in Geneva in February, and comes just weeks
ahead of a second round seen vital to avoid a slide back to
civil war.

“Rebels were sailing a trawler we believe contained a large
arms shipment, and blew themselves up as a navy Dvora (fast
attack boat) approached,” Samarasinghe said.

“There was a massive explosion. The Dvora was damaged in
the blast and sank. Eight of the sailors aboard are still
missing.”

Six suspected rebels on the trawler died instantly, he
added. The Tigers denied any involvement in the incident, which
comes after a similar incident in mid-February off the
northeast coast, in which the Navy said four suspected rebels
and one sailor were killed after another trawler was blown up.

A string of suspected rebel attacks in December and January
that killed dozens of armed forces personnel drove the island
to the brink of war before both sides agreed to the first high
level talks since 2003.

Violence has since tailed off sharply, although some
diplomats fear a rising war of words between the foes could
spill over into renewed hostilities that could in turn rekindle
a civil war that has killed more than 64,000 people.