Navy ships and troops manning artillery positions along Sri Lanka's coasts have been on the lookout for shipments of arms and ammunition intended for the separatist guerrillas, formally known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

``Four Tiger boats were sailing toward the coast when they were observed by our troops. These four LTTE boats were destroyed,'' Lt. Col. Upali Rajapakse said of the incident off the Jaffna peninsula late Monday.

Rajapakse was unable to say how many casualties the rebels suffered.

A person who answered the phone at the rebels' northern headquarters in Kilinochchi said no officials were available for comment.

On Sunday the navy said it sank two ships believed to be ferrying arms and ammunition to the rebels. The rebels declined to either confirm or deny the account.

``We are extra alert to guard against any attempt by the terrorists to get supplies,'' navy spokesman Commander D.K.P. Dassanayake said Tuesday.

Separately, troops guarding a checkpoint fatally shot a suspected rebel who tried to cross into government-held territory in Jaffna late Monday, Rajapakse said.

The rebels began fighting in 1983 for a separate homeland for Sri Lanka's 3.1 million ethnic Tamil minority.

A Norwegian-brokered cease-fire in 2002 slowed the violence, but fighting flared in 2005 after a new government was elected on a platform of getting tough with the insurgents.

At least 4,000 people have since been killed, although neither side has officially withdrawn from the truce. Discuss this story Published: Tue Mar 20 03:39:35 EDT 2007

``Unless we receive new funding very soon, we will run out of food supplies by the end of April,'' he said.

More than 155,000 displaced people are now estimated to need immediate food and relief assistance in the conflict-affected area, WFP said.

Fighting has escalated as government troops try to gain control over territory long used as a base by rebels in the volatile east. The area has been a major rebel training center and is considered one of the rebels' last eastern strongholds after government forces captured swaths of rebel territory in ground and air attacks over the past year.

The rebels are fighting to create a separate homeland in Sri Lanka - 's north and northeast for ethnic minority Tamils.

A Norwegian-brokered cease-fire in 2002 slowed two decades of violence, but fighting flared in 2005 after a new government was elected on a platform of getting tough with the insurgents.

At least 4,000 people have since been killed, although neither side has officially withdrawn from the truce.Discuss this story Published: Tue Mar 20 10:04:23 EDT 2007

The National Anti-War Front (NAWF) stressed in a forum the need for dialogue between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the government.

Kumar Rupasinghe, the convener of the NAWF said "it is everyone 's responsibility to start talks."

Rupasinghe said the government has faced accusations of human rights abuses in the allegedly increasing number of disappearances and abductions of individuals in the island. More... Discuss this story Published: Mon Mar 19 23:51:47 EDT 2007