By IANS,
Colombo : Supersonic ground attack fighter jets of the Sri Lankan Air Force have bombed two artillery gun positions and a Sea Tiger base of the Tamil Tigers in the northern province of the island nation, Sri Lankan military said Wednesday.
“Artillery gun positions of the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) at Kalmunai point in the Pooneryn area and at Soranpattu, 10 km south of Muhamalai Forward Defence Lines (FDLs), were bombed by the Sri Lankan Air Force jets around 1.30 p.m. Wednesday,” military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara told IANS.
In a subsequent air raid, a Sea Tiger base, located one kilometre southeast of Nayaaru lagoon in the Mullaitivu district, was also bombed around 1.40 p.m., Brig. Nanayakkara said.
He said that although the pilots confirmed that targets had been accurately hit, the details of damage caused to the rebels were not known immediately.
Meanwhile, the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) of the Ministry of Defence said at least 21 LTTE cadres and a soldier were killed during sporadic clashes between the advancing troops and the rebels in the northern Jaffna and north-western Mannar district Monday.
There was no immediate word from the LTTE regarding these fresh air raids.
Independent verification of the battlefront casualties is not possible because journalists are barred from visiting the area.