COLOMBO, June 28: Tamil Tiger rebels attacked two small Sri Lankan navy vessels at sea around 165km north of the capital Colombo on Wednesday, setting one alight, the military said. Military sources said around 15 Tiger vessels were involved in the clash, the latest in a series many fear could rekindle civil war on the island.

Sri Lanka said later that five sailors have been killed in the attack.

There were no details of any casualties, but communications were lost with one of the boats with an estimated seven people aboard.

“Firing is still going on. One of the navy boats is on fire,” Navy spokesman Commander D.K.P Dassanayake said. “The Air Force is also engaged.”

The attack comes on the heels of a rash of ambushes and military clashes that have killed around 700 people — half of them civilians — so far this year.

In a separate incident, the military said one soldier was killed and three civilians were wounded when Tiger rebels attacked an army camp with mortar fire, while residents in the district said five Tamil youths had been stabbed to death.

Sri Lanka’s tortuous peace process is deadlocked and teetering on collapse.

The government and rebels are sharply divided over the Tigers’ demands for a separate homeland for minority Tamils in the north and east.

Many diplomats here fear a full-blown return to a two-decade civil war that has killed around 65,000 people since 1983.

—Reuters