Colombo – Sri Lanka's Navy and Air Force jointly destroyed a cluster of Tamil rebel boats off the island's north-eastern coast on Tuesday morning, killing at least six rebels, military officials said.
Fighting broke out after the Sri Lanka Navy's elite Special Boat Squadron (SBS) confronted a cluster of sea tiger boats off Nayaru, more than 370 kilometres north-east of Colombo, shortly before dawn.
The navy destroyed two of the boats while the air force, which were called in to support the sailors, destroyed five of the boats fleeing the area.