Galle, Sri Lanka – Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels posing as fishermen blew up two boats in a suicide ambush on a Sri Lankan naval base, killing at least one sailor in the first such attack on the southern coast popular with tourists, the military said.
The attack could signal a major shift for the rebels, whose decades-long campaign for a separate homeland for minority ethnic Tamils has largely focused on Sri Lanka’s north and east, which they claim as their cultural heartland.
It also could be a blow to Sri Lanka’s tourism industry, with peak season about to begin in Galle and its nearby beaches, a big draw for travelers. Galle, 70 miles south of the capital, Colombo, is also home to Sri Lanka’s main southern naval port.
It was the second rebel suicide attack on the Sri Lankan navy this week.
A pro-rebel website said 15 rebels took part in the attack.
Military officials could not confirm the number of insurgents involved, but it said all were killed.
Two other sailors were left missing and 12 were wounded in the attack, which damaged two navy fast boats and another small boat, a Defense Ministry spokesman said.
Fourteen civilians also were wounded.
The ministry spokesman, who commented on condition of anonymity because of ministry policy, said it was unclear how many rebels had been killed.
The pro-rebel TamilNet website said 15 rebels entered Galle harbor in five boats and that three boats exploded. There was no official comment from the Tamil Tigers.
It was the second rebel suicide attack on the Sri Lankan navy this week.
On Monday, a suicide bomber rammed a truck filled with explosives into a military bus convoy in central Sri Lanka, killing at least 95 sailors and wounding more than 150 – the deadliest insurgent attack since a 2002 cease-fire temporarily halted the country’s civil war.
The Tamil Tigers have been fighting since 1983 for a separate homeland for the Tamil minority, citing decades of discrimination by the majority Sinhalese. About 65,000 people were killed before the 2002 cease-fire.
Sri Lankan security spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella accused the rebels of staging deadly attacks to provoke a backlash against ethnic Tamils and win international sympathy ahead of peace talks starting Oct. 28 in Switzerland.
Rambukwella said the government would attend the talks despite the suicide attacks.
The rebels told a Japanese peace envoy in their northern stronghold that they were also committed to the talks.
Police imposed an indefinite curfew in Galle.
Hours after the attack, the military launched airstrikes on rebel targets in eastern Batticaloa. The Tigers said the strikes killed a civilian and wounded two others, including a 10-year-old boy.
A military spokesman, Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe, denied the strikes targeted civilian areas.
