COLOMBO, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan Navy foiled an attempt by Tamil Tiger rebels to flee the island on Monday in the face of military advance into their last remaining hold, the military said on Tuesday.

    D. K. P. Dassanayake, the Navy spokesman said that at least four Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) boats were sunk off the cost of Mullaithivu in a fierce gun battle that erupted around 11: 30 p.m. local time (1800 GMT) on Monday.

    One of its fast attack craft was damaged in the clash, the Navy also said.

    The Navy says it has deployed a tight security cordon to prevent the LTTE leader Prabakaran from fleeing.

    The government troops are engaging to fight with the rebels in the north and military action had led to the LTTE being now confined to a small jungle patch in the Mullaithivu district.

    The LTTE has lost vital territory to the advancing government troops since mid-2007 in what the government claims to be the final stage of the long drawn-out fighting in the island's separatist conflict.

    The LTTE has been fighting a fierce military campaign against government troops since the mid-1980s to carve out a separate homeland for the minority Tamil community in the north and east, resulting in the killing of more than 70,000 people.