By IRNA
New Delhi : Sri Lankan government jets bombed a Tamil Tiger training base as fighting across the northern region claimed at least another 29 lives, the defence ministry said on Saturday.
Air force planes conducted bombing raids against a Tiger rebel base in Mullaittivu in the northeast early on Saturday, leaving the training facility in ruins, NDTV reported here quoting the ministry.
“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 29 Tigers during confrontations in Vavuniya, Mannar, Jaffna and Weli Oya on Friday, the ministry said, putting government losses at seven soldiers injured.
There was no immediate comment from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who have been fighting for a separate state for minority Tamils since 1972.
The latest defence ministry figures place the number of rebels said to have been killed by security forces since the start of the year at 2,095, against the loss of 123 government soldiers.
Casualty figures cannot be independently verified and both sides release wildly conflicting reports. The government also prevents reporters and rights groups from going to frontline areas.
Sri Lanka pulled out of a six-year-old truce with the LTTE in January, saying it had the upper hand to crush the rebels militarily.