By Xinhua
Colombo : The Sri Lankan air force launched two strikes at Tamil Tiger targets in rebel-held areas Friday, defence officials said.
Officials said supersonic fighter jets simultaneously carried out two air sorties targeting a meeting place of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and a Black Tiger base in northern Kilinochchi district early morning.
Both the targets were destroyed in the air raid, the officials said.
Air strikes in the northern rebel strongholds have been frequent since the LTTE launched a pre-dawn suicide attack at the Anuradhapura air force base Oct 22, damaging eight aircraft.
Fourteen soldiers were killed and 22 others were injured in the Oct 22 attack, while 21 Black Tigers (suicide bombers) of the LTTE were also killed.
Claiming discrimination at the hands of the Sinhala majority, the LTTE has been fighting the government since mid-1980s to establish a separate homeland for the minority Tamils in the north and east of the island.
More than 5,000 people have been killed in the new wave of violence since the end of 2005, making the Norwegian brokered ceasefire agreement exist only on paper.