Sea battle off Lankan coast

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Sri Lanka's navy says it has fought a sea battle with Tamil rebels, a day after what the military described as the heaviest day of fighting in weeks, BBC reports.
It says that seven Tamil Tiger small boats and three larger craft were destroyed in a fierce clash in north-western Sri Lanka.
The navy says that between 25-30 rebels were killed in the clash.
The army says 79 rebels and 11 soldiers died in fighting on Wednesday. There is no word from the rebels.
The navy said that the sea battle began as one of their boats was on patrol near the fishing port of Nachchikuda in north-western Sri Lanka. Two sailors sustained injuries, the navy said.
In a separate development, medical authorities told the BBC that three civilians were killed in a mine attack near the town of Kilinochchi.
Government forces are continuing with an offensive to crush the Tigers and end their fight for a separate state for the ethnic Tamil minority.
Meanwhile, police say Tamils in Colombo have been ordered to register, amid concerns about security.
The BBC's Roland Buerk in Colombo says that Nachchikuda has been the scene of intense fighting.
The rebels have not commented on the latest clashes - and the government has barred journalists from the war zone.
The military has been pushing up the north-western coast, trying to open a land route to the government-controlled Jaffna peninsula.
There were more battles on fronts elsewhere in the north on Wednesday, and the military's spokesman, Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, said it was the heaviest day of fighting for weeks.
The military is continuing a major offensive that has, according to Brig Nanayakkara, brought soldiers just 5.5km (3.5 miles) from Kilinochchi town, where the Tigers have their administrative headquarters.
The UN and other aid groups pulled out of rebel-held territory on Tuesday after the government said it could not guarantee their safety.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Sri Lanka's police, Ranjith Gunasekera, said people who had arrived in the Western Province, including Colombo, from northern districts in the last five years have been ordered to register at a police station on Sunday.
Most affected by the move will be from the ethnic Tamil minority.
The state-controlled Daily News has quoted Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa as saying the Tigers were using an influx of people to infiltrate the city and launch attacks.