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48 rebels killed in Lankan air strike

AP, AFP, Colombo
Sri Lanka's air force bombed and destroyed a Tamil Tiger rebel base in the country's embattled north yesterday, while infantry clashes in the same region killed 48 rebels and seven soldiers, the military said.
The military has increasingly used airstrikes to try to weaken the rebels as part of an ongoing campaign to drive the guerrilla's from their de facto state in the north.
In the latest assault, air force fighter jets pounded a Tamil Tiger supply base and an intelligence operation centre deep in rebel-held Mullaitivu district early Saturday, said air force spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara.
He said the airstrikes were successful and had destroyed the base
Separately, helicopter gunships
overnight hit a radio centre operated by the Sea Tigers, the rebels' naval wing, in their stronghold of Kilinochchi, he said.
Meanwhile, ground fighting continued Friday along the front lines in Mullaitivu, Vavuniya and Welioya regions, said military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara.
Troops fought fierce battles on Thursday and Friday, with the worst fighting reported in Vavuniya, where 27 rebels and three soldiers were killed, the ministry said.
Sri Lanka fighter jets also carried out three air sorties over rebel areas in the north on Friday and Saturday, the airforce said.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) did not comment on the fighting, but accused the spe cial army commandos of setting off FROM PAGE 16
a roadside mine inside rebelterritory on Friday, killing a civilian.
Separate confrontations in Welioya region killed six rebels, he said.
The two days of fighting raised the number of rebels killed by troops to 5,673 since January, while 519 soldiers have died in combat during the same period, according to ministry figures.
Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan could not immediately be reached for comment on the military's casualty figures, which were impossible to verify because reporters are barred from the war zone.
Both sides routinely exaggerate enemy casualties and underreport their own.
The rebels have been fighting for an independent state in the north and east since 1983, following decades of marginalization of ethnic Tamils by governments dominated by the Sinhalese majority. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict.