Sept 04, Colombo: Army soldiers conducting search operations in the recently captured Silavathurai area south of Mannar in northwest Sri Lanka yesterday recovered a large stock of LTTE weapons, including a suicide boat, the military said.

The soldiers seized hundreds of mortars, anti personnel mines and grenade launchers among the stock that was left by the fleeing Tigers. The weapons were found in two rebel camps that served as a transit center to supply weapons to the rebels in the North, military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said.

The weapons haul among other things also included a suicide boat, 25 small boats, 25 boat engines, thousands of rounds of ammunition, 40 kg of TNT explosives and 482 anti personnel mines.

The troops gained full control of Silavathurai and Arippu villages on Sunday by capturing the strategically important Sea Tiger base located in the area. The base has served the Tigers as a camp to unload the smuggled weapons, the military spokesman said.

Brigadier Samarasinghe yesterday also said that road from Mannar to Kalpitiya could be opened in the near future.