Special report: Ceasefire over in Sri Lanka

    COLOMBO, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan Navy on Tuesday destroyed a large trawler of the Tamil Tigers that carried massive quantities of arms, ammunition and explosives in the northwest coast of the country, said the military.

    The Media Center for National Security said in a statement that Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE ) members on board commenced firing at a Navy craft which approached the suspected trawler off the seas off Kalpitiya around 4:30 p.m. (1100 GMT).

    "The Navy successfully retaliated, sinking the LTTE ship transporting arms, ammunition and explosives," said the statement, adding that eight Tiger members were on the ship.

    The statement accused the LTTE of strengthening its military capacities, thus violating the 2002 ceasefire agreement with the government.

    The government early this month announced that some 3300 people were killed between December 2005 and Oct. 25, 2006 in the upsurge of violence which marred the Norwegian backed ceasefire.

    The LTTE had been fighting for an independent homeland in the north and east between the mid-1980s and 2002 when the Norwegians brokered a ceasefire.