Sri Lanka says kills 30 rebels

Sri Lankan warplanes bombed a Tamil Tiger base in the far north on Friday, a day after ground troops killed 30 rebels in clashes across the region, the military said.

Seven soldiers were killed in the battles on Thursday, the latest in an intensification of the 25-year civil war following the official scrapping of a truce with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam last week.

"We have taken a target today morning using fighter aircrafts and the target was a LTTE transport base located in Selvanagar in Kilinochchi," said air force spokesman Wing Commander Andrew Wijesuriya.

Pilots confirmed the raid was successful, he said. Kilinochchi is the de facto capital of the LTTE fighting for an independent homeland for minority Tamils in the north and east of the island.

The Tigers were not immediately available for comment on the air raid and independent accounts are not possible.

A pro-rebel Web site www.tamilnet.com said three soldiers were killed and six wounded from the fighting in the northern district of Polonnaruwa on Thursday.

The Sri Lankan government scrapped the 2002 truce on January 16, saying the rebels had used it to regroup and re-arm.

Nordic truce monitors, however, accused both the LTTE and the Sri Lankan army of violating the truce.

About 70,000 people have been killed since the war erupted in 1983.