COLOMBO, Jan 21: Tiger rebels rammed an explosives-laden boat against a private merchant vessel operated by foreign crew in Sri Lanka's northern waters on Sunday, sparking a land, sea and air battle, the navy said.

The MV City of Liverpool, which is chartered by a Sri Lankan company, was taking in water after the attack and was being towed to the port of Kankesanthurai in the Jaffna peninsula, a navy spokesman said.

He said one Tiger suicide craft exploded against the ship, damaging the hull and one crew member was wounded. Two soldiers on board the ship for security fired at the rebels.

The merchant vessel was unloading wheat flour for the half a million civilians living under virtual siege conditions since the only land access to the Jaffna peninsula was cut off due to fighting since August.

The navy deployed 12 Dvora-class fast attack craft to hit the flotilla of 20 rebel boats and two more suicide craft were blown out of the water before they could reach the merchant vessel, spokesman D. K. P. Dassanayake said.

“The fighting lasted about 45 minutes,” Dassanayake said, adding that two sailors were wounded. The navy believed that at least six guerillas may have perished in the fire fight.

“Usually they have two cadres in each boat packed with explosives. That means six were killed in the three suicide boats,” he said. “They may have suffered more casualties too because of the intensity of the fighting.” The crew comprised seven Indians, two Indonesians and nine Sri Lankans, but the nationality of the crew member wounded in the fighting was not immediately known, Dassanayake said, adding that he had been evacuated to a military hospital in the area. It was also not immediately clear who owned the vessel.

“One cluster of Tiger boats went and attacked the merchant vessel while another engaged our Dvoras,” Dassanayake said.

He said the army fired at rebel boats from the Jaffna coastline while airforce Mi-24 helicopter gunships were called in to attack the boats of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Jaffna is linked to the nearest sea port of Trincomalee in the north-east of the island and the guerillas are known to have attacked military as well as civilian craft operating along the island's north-eastern sea board.

The latest sea battle came two days after the military captured the main bastion of the Tamil Tigers in the eastern district of Batticaloa and claimed to have killed more than 386 guerillas in weeks of fighting.

Troops were consolidating in Vakarai, the key rebel outpost which was taken on Friday, according to the defence ministry.

“The Tigers have no doubt suffered a defeat and this will encourage the military to push home the advantage and launch more strikes,” said Sunanda Deshapriya, director at the private Centre for Policy Alternatives think tank.

He said the military success could see the moribund Norwegian-backed peace process placed on the back-burner by the government.

“I don't expect any movement on the peace front unless and until the government makes some more gains and weakens the Tigers,” Deshapriya said.

Diplomats close to the peace process said the Norwegians as well as the island's key financial backers were not expecting any breakthrough in attempts to revive peace talks which have been stalled since October.

Freelance defence columnist Namal Perera said the Tigers had virtually fled their former stronghold of Vakarai without any credible resistance. He said the rebel withdrawal indicated that they had chosen to cut their losses.

“They have simply melted away without putting on a resistance. This has left their fighting cadre in tact,” Perera said. “Their ability to carry out suicide attacks and guerilla warfare remains and will be a threat.” Official figures show that at least 3,800 people have been killed in Sri Lanka in the past year despite both sides publicly vowing to uphold and protect the truce.Politics in the capital has also complicated the peace moves with the collapse of a landmark deal between the government and its main opposition.

Former Tamil separatist turned politician Dharmalingam Sithadthan said the Tigers too were not keen on political moves and appeared to have taken a decision to fight government forces despite losing ground in the island's east.

A declaration by Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in November that his people will now pursue their own independent state had set the stage for a return to full-scale war in Sri Lanka, Sithadthan said.

“He (Prabhakaran) has gone for a declaration of war,” Sithadthan said. “We are already in a state of war, but it will only get worse in the months to come.”

—Agencies