Colombo:
Tamil Tiger rebels carried out a suicide attack early on Wednesday morning targeting two Sri Lankan merchant ships, which were transporting humanitarian aid in the embattled north, causing a considerable damage to one of the ships, the defence ministry said.
",LTTE militants have carried out a suicide attack targeting Merchant Ship Ruhuna and Nimalawa in the north sea of Sri Lanka at 5.10 am,", it said.
One sea tiger militant was killed in the attack which also damaged Sri Lankan merchant ship 'Nimalawa'.
The attack was carried out with an aim to disrupt the essential supplies to the tamil civilians caught in the embattled northern part of the country, the Sri Lankan Navy said.
Navy spokesperson Commander DKP Dassanayke said three LTTE suicide vessels were deployed for the attack.
",Navy sailors, providing security onboard, targeted the vessels and engaged machine gun fire at the approaching suicide boats effectively, and destroyed two of them before ramming on the ships,", he said.
The spokesman said, however, one of the suicide boats exploded in close proximity to Merchant Ship Nimalawa causing a considerable damage to the ship's hull.
The third suicide craft has been captured by navy boats, he said, adding the LTTE suicide cadre who was operating the boat is believed to be killed in the Navy retaliation.