SRI LANKA: Tamil suicide bombers posing as fishermen ambushed a naval base yesterday, killing at least one sailor. It was the first such attack in Sri Lanka's southern beach resort town of Galle, frequented by western tourists. Fifteen bombers died in the raid.
Two sailors were missing and at least 12 others were wounded in the attack, in which two navy fast boats and another small boat suffered damage, a Defence Ministry spokesman said.
Fourteen civilians were also wounded in the attack on Galle, 110km south of the capital, Colombo, Sri Lanka's main southern naval port.
Police had imposed an open-ended curfew in Galle.
The suicide bombing in Galle signals a major tactical shift for Tamil Tiger rebels, whose decades-long campaign for a separate homeland for minority ethnic Tamils has focused largely on the island republic's north and east, which they claim as their cultural homeland.
It may also deal a severe blow to the Sri Lankan tourism industry at the start of the peak season in Galle and its nearby beaches, which are a major attraction for westerners.
Officials said the suicide bombers, aboard their boats laden with explosives, were killed, but it was not immediately clear how many insurgents had died.
The rebels did not make any immediate comment but the pro-rebel TamilNet website reported that a 15-member rebel attack team had entered Galle harbour in five boats, and three boats had exploded.
Yesterday's attack in Galle followed Monday's strike by a Tiger suicide bomber, who 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 others.
This was the fiercest insurgent attack since a 2002 ceasefire temporarily halted the country's 23-year-old civil war, which has claimed more than 65,000 lives.
Both attacks are expected to damage peace efforts ahead of scheduled talks between the government and rebels beginning on October 28th in Switzerland.
But despite the latest upsurge in fighting, the warring sides said they would proceed with the talks.