Sri Lankan military officials say the navy has sunk two Tamil Tiger boats off the east coast, killing at least 10 rebels.
A military spokesman says the boats were sunk in a pre-dawn sea battle Saturday. Two Sri Lankan sailors were wounded.
He says the two vessels were among a flotilla of about 25 rebel boats moving in the waters some 225 kilometers northeast of the capital, Colombo.
The spokesman says among the rebel flotilla, the navy spotted several "suicide boats," which he describes as small motorized boats used to ram naval vessels.
The Tamil Tigers have not commented.
Tamil rebels have been fighting for independence in the northern and eastern areas of Sri Lanka for more than two decades. Rebels say minority Tamils are discriminated against by the country's majority ethnic Sinhalese.
More than 65,000 people have died in the conflict.