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LTTE attacks supply ship near Jaffna

A Sri Lankan merchant vessel carrying food and supplies to the northern Jaffna peninsula was attacked this morning by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam suicide boats near Point Pedro in the northern part of the peninsula.

Naval sources in Colombo said that the ship caught fire following the attack.

Naval ships which went to its rescue helped several sailors off the vessel, but an unspecified number of people are to be accounted for, they said.

Rescue operations are in progress, the sources said.

The ship Marcs Uhana carried food supplies from Colombo to Jaffna, where the army and rebels are fighting for control of the peninsula.

The attack comes after the LTTE failed to cut off supplies to the peninsula even after subjecting the only military airbase at Palaly and Kankesanthurai port, adjacent to it, with heavy artillery bombardment for several weeks.

PTI

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