Suspected Tamil rebels posing as fishermen blew up two of their boats in a suicide ambush on a naval base, killing at least one navy sailor in the first such attack on Sri Lanka's touristy southern coast.
Another sailor was missing and at least 11 others were wounded after militants in five boats launched the attack in the resort town of Galle, while one navy boat suffered minor damage, a Defence Ministry spokesman said.
PK Wijewickrema, a doctor at Galle hospital, gave a higher number of casualties, saying the hospital was treating 12 sailors and 26 civilians for injuries.
Police imposed an open-ended curfew in Galle, and an Associated Press reporter there said the town was calm, but under heavy security.
Three boats where also blown up by the navy during the harbour attack killing all aboard. A figure for the fatalities had yet to be established.
It was the second attack on the navy this week. On Monday, a rebel 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 others.
The attack is likely to further damage peace efforts ahead of scheduled talks between the government and rebels starting October 28th in Switzerland.
Both sides this week committed themselves to the talks.
The attack could signal a major shift for the Tamil Tiger 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 major blow to Sri Lanka's tourism industry, with peak season about to begin in Galle and its nearby beaches, a major draw for travellers.
Galle, 70 miles south of the capital, Colombo, also is home to Sri Lanka's main southern naval port.