Sri Lanka says 20 rebels die in sea battle

COLOMBO - Sri Lanka's navy killed at least 20 Tamil Tiger rebels today in a sea battle in the Jaffna region, a navy spokesman said, as the United States asked both sides to reverse the "negative momentum" of more violence.

"There was a sea battle. We managed to destroy two boats and we have chased the others away," Commander D K P Dassanayake told Reuters.

A military statement said there were 15 LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) boats involved. LTTE leaders were not immediately available for comment.

The latest clash comes ahead of peace talks between the rebels and the government on October 28-29.

Peace envoys are pushing both sides to stay the course for the planned talks but a surge in violence risks undermining the meeting in Geneva.

The military said the navy fast-attack vessels intercepted the rebel craft off the Nagarakovil area on the Jaffna peninsula in the north. A statement said two rebel boats were destroyed and others damaged.

It added many rebels were wounded and two sailors suffered minor injuries. Army positions on the coast fired shells to prevent any rebel vessels from reaching land.

Scores of people have been killed in the past few weeks in the island nation in fresh fighting that has left a 2002 truce in shreds and dimmed hopes of a breakthrough in Geneva, the first such dialogue since February.

"People here are facing a critical moment. In our view, it is time to reverse the negative momentum that has been happening over the past month," United States Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said at a news conference in Colombo at the end of a trip where he met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse.

"But to reverse direction, both sides need to take steps, they need to cease hostilities and exercise maximum restraint," Boucher said.

But in the latest attacks on land, a policeman was wounded today after rebels threw a grenade at a police post in Vavuniya in the rebel-dominated north.

Earlier, rebels fired mortar bombs at an army base in the eastern Batticaloa district yesterday, sparking army retaliation. There were no casualties, the military said.

Both sides also traded artillery fire overnight on the Jaffna peninsula.

Tamil Tigers have been fighting for an independent homeland since 1983 for the ethnic Tamil minority. More than 65,000 people have died in the two-decade conflict.

Since July, violence has surged leaving around 1000 people dead, including many soldiers.

On Thursday, the rebels launched a sea-borne suicide raid on a naval base in the southern city of Galle, losing 15 cadres and killing one sailor.

Two days earlier, the Tiger cadres rammed an explosives-filled truck into a naval convoy in north-central Sri Lanka, killing around 100 people, mostly sailors.

Security is tight in the capital Colombo with troops manning checkpoints and checking cars and identities of commuters.

- REUTERS