LTTE uses magnetic mines against Lankan Navy

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan police were on Sunday investigating a new type of sea mine developed by Tamil Tiger rebels to target naval craft, police chief Chandra Fernando said.

Police questioned four out of five men arrested on Saturday while laying the mines, similar to limpet mines which magnetically attach to a ship's hull and can be triggered to explode by a time-delay fuse or remotely, Fernando said.

"These are improvised sea mines but weighing about 10 to 15 kilograms (22 to 33 pounds)," Fernando said. "They transported the mines in a freezer truck bringing fish."

One of the five divers arrested had swallowed cyanide and committed suicide to prevent being questioned and another who took cyanide was being treated in hospital, officials said.

Two of the sea mines exploded prematurely without causing any harm, Fernando said, adding that they may have had eight of the devices with them.

Police recovered two that were floating off the coast of Wennapuwa. Navy spokesman PDK Dassanayake said it was the first time they had come across the use of magnetic mines by the Tigers, who had recently stepped up the use of Claymore mines on land to target military and civilian vehicles.

"We have not come across this type of IED (Improvised explosive device) before," Dassanayake said. There are no reliable estimates for the number of mines in Sri Lanka's former war zones, but figures vary from a million to 2.5 million scattered over the northern and eastern regions.  

Sri Lanka's international backers have supported de-mining efforts, mainly aimed at unearthing anti-personnel mines scattered by both troops and Tamil Tiger rebels.