Tigers destroy naval patrol craft

The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) attacked a avy patrol off the Kalipinya lagoon and destroyed one of the patrol craft, government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said.

"One patrol craft caught fire and the navy has requested the air force to provide them with firepower against the Tiger boats," Rambukwella said. He said there were no immediate reports of casualties.

The Tigers also killed a soldier and wounded six other people, including three civilians, in two mortar attacks early Wednesday in the northeastern district of Trincomalee, defence ministry spokesman Prasad Samara-singhe said.

He said the military launched retaliatory mortar attacks against Tiger positions.

There have been sporadic attacks against military bases in the embattled northeast as a 2002 ceasefire between the government and LTTE appears on the verge of unravelling.

At least 820 people have been killed in an upsurge of violence since December, and Scandinavians monitoring the ceasefire say it is now little more than a paper agreement.

Amid the deteriorating security, peace broker Norway is expected to meet with other monitors in Oslo Thursday to decide the future role of truce observers on the island.

The Nordic ceasefire monitoring mission, or SLMM, was thrown into crisis last week when the rebels demanded the removal of observers from European Union members Finland, Sweden and Denmark after the EU outlawed the Tigers.