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Sea battle erupts off Sri Lanka Sea battle erupts off Sri Lanka
(about 2 hours later)
A sea battle has broken out between government patrol boats and Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka's northern sea. The Sri Lankan military says it has sunk 12 Tamil Tiger boats and killed 80 rebels in a sea battle off the northern Jaffna peninsula.
The fighting erupted when naval boats intercepted a flotilla of Tamil rebel boats near Point Pedro on the northern Jaffna peninsula, officials said. The Tamil Tigers have not yet confirmed any casualties but said two government boats had been sunk off Kankesanturai.
They said six rebel boats had been sunk, with all those on board believed dead. The rebels have made no comment. Witnesses said the battle had raged all night and hundreds of civilians sought refuge in schools and churches.
The sides have been in open conflict for the past month but neither has officially withdrawn from a 2002 truce.
'People are suffering'
Sri Lanka's defence ministry said five of the rebel Sea Tiger boats had been suicide vessels laden with explosives.
The navy said 20 rebel boats had attacked a patrol near Kankesanturai harbour.
It said two government boats were slightly damaged and two sailors wounded.
However, the pro-Tamil Tiger website TamilNet said two navy fast attack craft were sunk and another damaged. Its sources said about 30 navy sailors were missing.
Kankesanturai harbour is cut off from the rest of the country by rebel lines and the Sri Lankan military takes in supplies and reinforcements by sea.
Local priest, P Iruthayathas, told Associated Press news agency that 500 families had taken shelter during the night.
"People are suffering. They are unable to properly carry out their livelihood, fishing, and so they don't have money. Even the dry rations given free by the government are not sufficient," he said.
Meanwhile, the Red Cross has called on both sides to allow humanitarian aid to reach the isolated Jaffna peninsula.Meanwhile, the Red Cross has called on both sides to allow humanitarian aid to reach the isolated Jaffna peninsula.
The aid agency's most senior official for South Asia, Reto Meister, said a quarter of a million people in Jaffna were running dangerously short of basic items such as food and medicine.The aid agency's most senior official for South Asia, Reto Meister, said a quarter of a million people in Jaffna were running dangerously short of basic items such as food and medicine.
The killing of 17 aid workers in Sri Lanka a month ago has prompted all aid agencies there to reassess the risks they are taking.The killing of 17 aid workers in Sri Lanka a month ago has prompted all aid agencies there to reassess the risks they are taking.
Mr Meister said that he had been given the assurances he was seeking from both the government and rebels that the Red Cross would continue to be respected as a neutral supplier of aid.
The fighting has impeded access to many parts of the country
But he also warned that there were parts of the country where local people had refused access, or the warring parties had refused to guarantee aid workers' safety.
The plea comes after the UN warned it may suspend aid operations in the country amid the renewed violence.
Truce monitors accused the military of killing the 17 French charity workers last month, calling the deaths in Muttur "a gross violation" of the ceasefire by the security forces.
The Sri Lankan government has rejected the accusation, and is now enforcing controls on foreign aid workers.
Local and foreign aid organisations have been told to obtain work permits for expatriate staff by next Friday.
A government spokesman said the new controls were aimed at keeping track of the work of relief agencies, and to ensure the agencies' facilities were not made available to Tamil Tiger rebels.
Strategic point
Earlier this week, the Sri Lankan army launched a new offensive aimed at forcing the rebels from areas close to the crucial eastern port of Trincomalee.
Military officials said troops were moving towards Sampur - a strategic point overlooking Trincomalee harbour which has been used by the rebels to shell a nearby naval base and attack military convoys.
A military spokesman told the Associated Press news agency air force jets had destroyed rebel positions in Sampur overnight on Thursday.
The past month has seen the worst violence since the 2002 ceasefire between the government and rebels.
The UN says more than 200,000 people have been displaced by the renewed clashes.