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Tigers blow up ferry, scuttle army manoeuvre

Tamil Tigers today below up a passenger ferry in eastern Sri Lanka, preventing movement of troops during a clearing operation against them, officials said.

Security officials said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels below up the ferry at Muttur, south of the strategic port town of Trincomalee, at 4 am, less than two hours after the security forces had launched an operation against them.

The destruction of the ferry prevented troops from moving from Muttur to Sampur area. It also disrupted civilian traffic between the two points, they added.

The operation, code-named 'Tiger Hunt', was launched following intelligence reports that the rebels were planning a major attack, the official said, adding that there had been no reports of confrontations between the two sides.

Meanwhile, troops shot dead eight militants in three separate encounters around Mankulam, on the Vavuniya-Killinochchi highway, over the last two days, while three more rebels and a home guard were killed elsewhere in the north-east, a military release said today.

UNI

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