COLOMBO (AFP) — Sri Lankan jets bombed a Tamil Tiger training base as new fighting across the embattled northern region claimed the lives of at least 39 rebels, the defence ministry said on Saturday.
Air force planes staged bombing raids against a Tiger rebel base in Mullaittivu in the northeast early on Saturday, destroying the training facility, the ministry said.
"The enemy target had been under constant surveillance and latest air reconnaissance information has revealed intensified terrorist activity in the area," the statement said.
Security forces also destroyed five rebel bunkers and killed at least 39 Tigers in clashes in Vavuniya, Mannar, Jaffna and Weli Oya on Friday, the ministry said, adding 15 soldiers were wounded in the operations.
However, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said they beat back three attempts by the army to advance into their territory from Mannar and Weli Oya, killing 22 soldiers and recovering a large haul of weapons on Friday.
The rebels, who have been battling for a separate state for minority Tamils since 1972 in the Sinhalese-majority country, did not give their own casualty figures, according to pro-LTTE Tamilnet.com website.
The latest defence ministry figures place the number of rebels killed by security forces since the start of the year at 2,105 compared with the deaths of 123 government soldiers.
Casualty figures cannot be independently verified as the government prevents reporters and rights groups from visiting frontline areas and both sides release sharply contrasting numbers.
Sri Lanka pulled out of a six-year truce with the LTTE in January, saying it had the upper hand to crush the rebels militarily, and fighting has since escalated.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the conflict erupted.
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