15 dead in attack on Sri Lankan navy vessels

Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels rammed an explosives-laden fishing boat into a Sri Lankan navy vessel off the northwestern coast early Saturday, killing at least 15 sailors and leaving three missing, officials said. The assault near the port of Trincomalee was the latest in a series of attacks against government troops by suspected rebels, who are campaigning for a homeland for Sri Lanka's 3.2 million ethnic minority Tamils.