The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, Colombo

Sri Lankan troops killed 115 Tamil Tiger rebels in weekend fighting in the far north of the island, the military said on Monday, as government forces continued their push into the rebels' northern stronghold.

Government jets also bombed rebel positions in rebel-held areas in the north, military officials said.

"Troops had killed 60 LTTE terrorists and 28 were wounded from Sunday's confrontations," said military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, adding that three soldiers were also killed and 12 wounded in the fighting. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were not immediately available for comment on rebel casualties from the fighting but said air raids had killed two civilians, including a school teacher.

"The death, injuries and loss due to this attack, typical when Sri Lanka Air Force bombs a heavily populated area in Vanni, have been repeated more than one hundred times over the Vanni area over a period of two years," said Selvy Navaruban, rebel spokeswoman on humanitarian issues and human rights, in a statement emailed to Reuters.

The fighting came days after the military claimed they had entered the vast Vanni region in the north where the rebels' de-facto capital, Kilinochchi, is located, amid an almost-daily barrage of land, sea and air attacks.

The military also said 55 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed and 47 wounded from the fighting on Friday and Saturday also in the north. Four solders had also been killed.

The Tigers are fighting for an independent state in north and east Sri Lanka for ethnic Tamils, a minority in the predominantly Sinhalese country. Sri Lanka's government is pursuing a strategy to gradually retake the Tiger's northern stronghold and win the 25-year civil war that has killed more than 70,000 people. Analysts say the military has the advantage in the latest phase of the war, given its superior air power, strength of numbers and swathes of terrain captured in the island's east. But they still see no clear winner on the horizon.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan troops launched a fresh advance into territory held by Tamil rebels today, killing 15 guerrillas, while another 27 combatants were killed in other clashes, the defence ministry said.

The latest push was in the Jaffna peninsula, which is partly held by the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the defence ministry said in a statement.

"Fifteen LTTE terrorists were killed when the army made a daring advance t this morning before first light (and) without sustaining any damage to (our) own troops," the ministry said.

There was no immediate word from the Tigers about the military's latest claims, but the guerrillas said an air strike inside their territory yesterday killed or wounded civilians.

"Two civilians, including a school teacher, were killed, four more civilians were injuredt when (the) Sri Lanka air force bombed Iranaipalai," the Tigers said. The military has not commented on the Tiger claims, but the defence ministry said 26 guerrillas and a government soldier were killed in other fighting in the northern parts of the country in fresh fighting since yesterday. The latest deaths from the conflict raised the number of rebels killed by troops to 5714 since January, while 520 soldiers have died in combat during the same period, according to ministry figures.

Independent verification of casualty figures is not possible since the ministry blocks media access to the front lines.

The government has poured a record $US1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) into this year's war efforts and troops are now concentrating on dismantling the LTTE's de facto state in the north.

Colombo pulled out of a truce with the LTTE in January, saying it had the upper hand in the long-running conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives since 1972.