Sri Lanka Navy-rebel clashes continue despite proposed talks

The clashes between Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels and the Navy continued Saturday despite the rebels and the government agreed to hold talks at the end of this month, defense officials said.

At least six Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) sea wing members were killed when the rebels on two boats attempted to land in the Navy controlled islet of Kayts in the northern Jaffna peninsula around 6:30 a.m. (0100 GMT) Saturday, the navy said.

The Navy gun fire had destroyed the two Tiger boats. This came after Friday evening's attempted attack by the LTTE at Nagarkovil in Jaffna.

At least 20 Tigers were believed to be killed in the attack. On Monday the rebels carried out a suicide bomb attack against Naval personnel on transit, killing 116 of them.

Two days later another sailor was killed when the Tigers failed in a bid to attack a naval base in the southern port of Galle.

The troops-LTTE clashes are coming despite the agreement between the two parties to meet at the negotiating table in Switzerland on Oct. 28 and 29.

The talks will be the first since the military confrontations broke out at the end of July.

The military managed to score several victories over the rebels both in the north and the east while the rebels inflicted a heavy loss to the military in Jaffna two weeks ago.

The international community has urged the two side to engage in negotiations to end the ongoing armed conflict. Both sides accuse the other for the violence and the violation of the February 2002 ceasefire brokered by th Norwegian peace facilitators.

Source: Xinhua