Submarine strike suspected behind Iranian ship sinking near Sri Lanka; over 100 missing

Colombo: At least 101 people were reported missing and 78 wounded after a submarine attack on an Iranian naval vessel off Sri Lanka’s coast, sources in Sri Lanka’s navy and defence ministry told Reuters on Wednesday.

The attack targeted the Iranian frigate Iris Dena, which Sri Lankan authorities said was sinking just outside the island’s territorial waters amid the escalating US-led military campaign against Iran.

Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told parliament that 30 injured sailors from the vessel’s 180-member crew were being rescued and transported to hospital in southern Sri Lanka.

“Sri Lanka has deployed ships and aircraft to rescue sailors from the sinking frigate,” he said, adding that emergency operations were under way.

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The incident comes on the fifth day of an intensifying conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran, following strikes that reportedly killed Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, and several senior officials.

The United States Central Command, led by Admiral Brad Cooper, said nearly 2,000 Iranian targets had been hit and 17 Iranian naval vessels destroyed across the Gulf and Arabian Sea region. “We are also sinking the Iranian Navy — the entire navy — and we will not stop,” Cooper said at a briefing earlier this week.

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Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has launched retaliatory strikes, including ballistic missiles and drones aimed at US and Israeli assets across the region.