The Sri Lankan military said Thursday that at least 15 rebels were killed and three dinghies of Tamil Tiger rebels were destroyed in a combined operation of the Army and the Navy in the northern Jaffna peninsula early morning.

The Navy and the Army thwarted a pre-dawn infiltration attempt by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) near Chirathivu islet, the Navy said in a statement.

Three fiber glass dinghies of the LTTE were destroyed and at least 15 LTTE rebels were killed in the clash which started at about 2 A.M. (2030 GMT, Wednesday).

One LTTE boat was completely destroyed and two others capsized in the clash, and the rest managed to flee towards Poonerin, said the statement.

However, the LTTE rebels claimed that at least 13 Navy personnel were killed, many sailors wounded and a Navy camp was destroyed in the clash. And there were no LTTE casualties in the operation.

Independent verification is not available as the media and international organizations are not allowed to enter into the battle zone.

Government troops are currently battling LTTE rebels in the north with the aim of crushing the group before the end of 2008.

Claiming discrimination at the hands of the majority Sinhalese government, the LTTE has been fighting the government since the mid-1980s to establish an independent homeland for Tamil minorities, resulting in the death of more than 70,000 people in the island.

(Xinhua News Agency May 29, 2008)