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Indian trawlers caught in Lanka sea battle

The rebels take the cover of nearly 400 trawlers, many of them Indian, moving in the area to launch the attack on Monday night.

Updated on: Feb 5, 2008, 12:05:26 IST
PTI | By , Colombo
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Indian trawlers were caught in cross fire between Sri Lankan Navy and Tamil Tigers off the island's northern coast with rebels sinking one of the naval vessels, a defence official said in Colombo.

HT Image
HT Image

The rebels took the cover of nearly 400 trawlers, many of them Indian, moving in the area to launch the attack last night, he said adding there were no casualties.

"The LTTE sea tigers, without anyone's knowledge, mingled with 400 trawlers that were moving around last night and fired at the Navy and sunk a Sri Lankan Naval boat,"" the official said.

The Lankan Navy restrained itself from aggressive retaliation due to the boats moving around in the area.

An inquiry has been ordered into the incident, the official said they were in touch with Indian authorities on whether the Indian fishermen had entered Sri Lankan waters.

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