Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Sri Lanka denounced a Tamil rebel suicide attack on two merchant ships carrying aid supplies as part of a ``pernicious'' strategy to use civilians in the fight for a separate homeland in the South Asian island nation.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam showed that the ``well-being of Tamil people it claims to represent is furthest from its concerns,'' the government said in a statement early today. ``The LTTE has continuously done everything possible to subvert all relief measures to these people.''

The vessels were carrying food and cement to the northern Jaffna peninsula when they were attacked and damaged yesterday, the government said. The LTTE said a suicide unit carried out the raid and sank a ship carrying military supplies, TamilNet reported, citing the group.

More than 230,000 people have been displaced by fighting in recent months as the army advances on the LTTE's headquarters in the north to try to end a 25-year struggle with the Tamil Tigers. Sri Lanka's government is sending food, medicines and other aid to Jaffna by sea and air because the main road link has been closed by fighting since August 2006.

The Ruhuna and Nimalawa vessels were targeted by three explosives-laden boats early yesterday, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. Sailors opened fire, destroying two and capturing one, navy spokesman D.K.P. Dassanayke said. The Nimalawa was damaged when one of the rebel boats exploded, he said.

Suicide Squad

A suicide squad of the LTTE's Sea Tigers unit carried out the attack in the naval harbor at Kaankeasanthu'rai, the LTTE said, according to TamilNet. The deputy commander of the so- called Black Sea Tigers wing led the attack and was killed, the report said.

``By attacking these ships, the LTTE terrorists are trying to disrupt the smooth flow of essential items to Jaffna and thereby create a humanitarian crisis in the region that would not exist but for its acts of terror,'' the government said in its statement.

The strategy of the LTTE includes forcibly deploying civilians as human shields ``in the face of advancing security forces, blocking their movement to safe areas wherever possible,'' it said.

The army has driven to within 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) of the LTTE's headquarters in the northern town of Kilinochchi. It began attacking the group's last bases in the north early this year after capturing the eastern region in July last year.

Indian Concern

President Mahinda Rajapaksa said two days ago he told India that the army's advance on Kilinochchi will continue, after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week raised concern over civilians caught in the fighting.

The government will carry out its responsibilities to protect civilians ``to the fullest, especially with regard to the people who are temporarily displaced in the north due to the ongoing military operations to defeat terrorism,'' Rajapaksa said, according to a statement.

The number of displaced people has been inflated, Rajapaksa said, adding there are about 150,000 civilians affected by operations in the northern Wanni region where Kilinochchi lies.

``The rights and the welfare of the Tamil community of Sri Lanka should not get enmeshed in the on-going hostilities against the LTTE,'' Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in parliament yesterday. ``We have been assured that the safety and wellbeing of the Tamil community in Sri Lanka will be taken care of.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Tighe in Sydney at ptighe@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 22, 2008 19:50 EDT