The Sri Lankan Navy said Tuesday that they had destroyed three arms supply vessels belonging to the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eealm (LTTE).
Navy Commander Rear Admiral Vasantha Karannagoda said "this was the biggest victory for the Navy in its entire history."
He said the Navy was acting on credible information received about ships ranging from 45 to 75 meters in length coming from southeastern direction into Sri Lanka.
The first ship was destroyed at 7:00 a.m. local time (0130 GMT) on Monday.
"Our ships challenged the ship which had no flag, or registration. There was no response. So we followed the internationally accepted rules of engagement. We fired back when we were fired at," Karannagoda said.
The second ship was similarly destroyed at 5:30 p.m. local time (1200 GMT) and the last one at 10 p.m. local time (1630 GMT).
The Navy chief said "these were actually floating warehouses of the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam)" and with Monday's latest Naval action to destroy Tiger ships the rebels have now been left with just one vessel.
"We have sealed off the coastal line. The LTTE cannot bring arms in any vessel now," Karannagoda said.
Navy spokesman D. K. P. Dassanayake said that a bullet proof car for LTTE leader Velupillai Prabakaran, three aircraft and a huge quantity of mortars, arms and ammunition were in the three ships destroyed.
The Navy and the LTTE having been clashing frequently in the escalation of the armed conflict since the end of 2005.
More than 5,000 people have been killed since then, pushing aside the Norwegian backed process of direct negotiations to end the island's separatist armed conflict.
Claiming discrimination at the hands of the Sinhala majority, the LTTE has been fighting the government since the mid-1980s to establish a separate homeland for the minority Tamils in the north and east.
Source: Xinhua
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