Writethru: Sri Lankan naval base attacked, 2 killed

At least two sailors were killed and 14 others injured when the Tamil Tigers launched a suicide attack on a naval base in Sri Lanka's southern port city of Galle Wednesday.

Keheliya Rambukwella, the minister of Policy Planning and the government's defense spokesman said three sailors remained missing after the attack started at about 7:45 a.m. (0215 GMT).

Rambukwella said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels had arrived to attack the Dakshina Naval Base in Galle disguised as fishermen in five boats.

The Dakshina Naval Base is about 100 km south of the capital Colombo.

The Navy destroyed three boats immediately at the location where the fisher boats are checked before entering the base. The other two self-exploded at the entrance.

The troops were able to bring the situation under control in an hour, the minister said. A police curfew was imposed in the Galle town as angry mobs tried to set upon Tamil business places in the town.

The Media Center for National Security said 14 civilians were injured due to the Tiger disposable Rocket Propeller Grenade attack, adding that two Inshore Patrol Craft of the Navy were damaged.

Rambukwella said the LTTE had targeted Galle, a Sinhala majority town, to attack in order to create an angry backlash from the Sinhala majority but the government had been able to restore total calmness in the area.

The incident comes two days after the country's worst suicide bombing which killed 99 sailors and injured 116 others in the North Central Province.

The attack happened as the special Japanese peace envoy Yasushi Akashi is visiting the rebel-held Kilinochchi district in the north to have talks with the LTTE leadership on the proposed direct talks to be held in Switzerland on Oct. 28 and 29.

More than 2,000 people have been killed in violence since December 2005 in Sri Lanka, the military and ceasefire monitors say.

The LTTE rebels have been fighting over two decades to secure a separate homeland for the minority Tamil community in the north and east, claiming discrimination at the hands of the majority Sinhala community.

More than 64,000 people were killed in the island country's separatist armed conflict between the mid-1980s and February 2002 when the ongoing Norwegian backed ceasefire came into effect.

Source: Xinhua