The Sri Lankan military says that fierce fighting has erupted between the navy and Tamil Tiger separatists off the country’s east coast.

D K P Dassanayake, navy spokesman, said the sea battle broke out when 15 rebel boats tried to attack naval boats patrolling off Kallarawa, a fishing village in the eastern Trincomalee district on Saturday.

The sea battle came amid gun battles between the two sides during the last days that left at least 28 combatants dead.

Dassanayake said the sea battle lasted for one hour, and that the rebels were believed to have suffered heavy casualties before fleeing.

There was no immediate comment from the Tamil Tigers.

Hours earlier, a ground battle between navy sailors and rebels in Kuchchaveli village near Trincomalee left three rebels dead.

Continued violence

Meanwhile, soldiers ambushed a group of Tamil guerrillas riding on tractors on Friday in Thoppigala in the eastern district of Batticaloa, killing 15 people.

Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said the toll could be higher.

"They have found the remains of 15 dead Tigers, but some of the bodies are in pieces ... so there could be more."

The attack came hours after rebels killed six soldiers in the region in a mortar attack.

Rebels also attacked soldiers in Vavuniya but the defence ministry said that the troops fought back and killed two guerrillas.

The rebels have fought since 1983 to create an independent homeland for Sri Lanka's ethnic minority Tamils.

PHOTO CAPTION

Sri Lankan soldiers search a vehicle near Independence Square in Colombo. (AFP)

Al-Jazeera