Sri Lankan naval vessels destroyed three rebel ships smuggling weapons in fighting southeast of the island country, the military said in a statement Tuesday. In the operation Monday, naval vessels sank three boats which were carrying large stocks of arms and ammunition, the military said. There was no independent verification of the government's claim and rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan could not immediately be reached for comment. The Tamil Tiger rebels run a de facto state in parts of northern Sri Lanka. They smuggle in huge quantities of arms by boat to fuel their insurgency, though the government claims to have sunk several weapons smuggling boats in recent months.