Sri Lanka navy base 'under attack'
By Gandi Douglas,WNS Sri Lanka Correspondent
COLOMBO - Sri Lanka government forces battled Tamil Tiger rebels Wednesday after they attacked a naval base in the southern port city of Galle, naval sources said.Two sailors were killed in heavy fighting, with 12 others wounded, authorities said. Military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe appealed for citizens to remain calm in a television address.
However, riots broke out in Galle following the fighting, the Reuters news service reported, citing residents and police. Shops belonging to the minority Tamil community in the city were being targeted by the majority Sinhalese, they said. "We have instructed the police to bring it under control," one officer said, adding that a curfew had been imposed, Reuters reported.Navy officials said five boats loaded with rebel suicide teams attacked shortly after dawn. At least two of the Tamil boats detonated, damaging an naval patrol craft, as well as coastal patrol boats.The Navy fired at one of the boats, triggering a loud explosion and destroying it. Two other boats had not been accounted for.
Sri Lankan Air force helicopter gunships searched the seas off Galle to locate rebel vessels. Residents and workers reported seeing buildings in the port on fire. As the government declared an immediate curfew in the area, police urged civilians to evacuate Galle and areas around the naval base as reinforcements prepared to move in."There were threats on them and we introduced the local curfew as a precautionary measure," a police official said. The naval base in Galle also houses a large military hardware storage facility belonging to China's weapons manufacturer Norinco. Wednesday's fighting was the first time in the nearly two-decade long separatist war that Galle has come under heavy attack.
posted by wnsworld @ 4:53 PM
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