The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Colombo

A wave of gunbattles, artillery attacks and air strikes across northern Sri Lanka killed 60 Tamil Tiger rebels and three soldiers, the military said Saturday.

The fighting came during a major escalation of the nation's quarter-century civil war, with military forces pushing toward the rebels' administrative capital in the town of Kilinochchi and government officials promising to destroy the rebel group by the end of the year.

The fiercest battles Friday erupted in Kilinochchi district, deep in the rebels' heartland, where troops and guerrilla fighters waged at least a dozen separate battles that killed 46 rebels and one soldier, military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said.

Air force jets also pounded the area, hitting a rebel gathering point, logistics centers and a vehicle storage yard, the military said.

Much of the fighting occurred as the troops, who were only three miles from the town of Kilinochchi, pushed forward with their offensive, he said.

Nanayakkara said the rebels were also trying to attack areas that government forces had recently captured.

Other battles in the Welioya and Vavuniya districts killed 14 rebels, while two soldiers were killed in a rebel artillery attack on the Jaffna peninsula, he said.

With nearly all communications to the north severed, rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan could not be contacted for comment.

It was not possible to verify the military's reports because most journalists and other independent observers are barred from the war zone. Both sides often exaggerate the damage inflicted on the other and underreport their own losses.

The Tamil Tigers have fought since 1982 to create an independent state for Sri Lanka's minority Tamils following decades of marginalization by governments dominated by the Sinhalese majority. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the fighting.