Curfew imposed in Sri Lankan town after suicide attack

Police imposed an open-ended curfew in Sri Lanka's southern tourist town of Galle today after suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bombers attacked a navy base there.

Galle police Senior Superintendent Keerethi de Silva dismissed reports that shops owned my minority ethnic Tamils in the town had been looted following the attack, which left one sailor dead.

"Tamils are safe in Galle," de Silva said. "There is nothing happening in Galle at all. A curfew is being imposed very strictly ... and no one can come into the city and cause damage."

Suspected Tamil rebels posing as fishermen blew up two of their boats in a suicide ambush on the naval base in Galle in the first such attack on Sri Lanka's touristy southern coast, the military said.

An additional sailor was missing and at least 11 others wounded in the attack in the resort town of Galle, while one navy boat suffered minor damage, a Defense Ministry spokesman said.