Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers say they have killed at least 90 government soldiers while beating back an army advance towards their northern political capital, a pro-rebel website said yesterday.

Heavy fighting outside the town of Kilinochchi, the political headquarters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), left more than 60 soldiers killed and scores wounded, Tamilnet.com quoted the rebels as saying following this week's clashes.

The rebels also fought heavy battles on another front south of Kilinochchi on Wednesday, killing 29 soldiers and injuring at least 60, the website said. The LITE did not release its own casualty figures.

It is virtually impossible to verify casualty claims by either side as independent reporters and aid workers are banned from the north.

Sri Lanka's defence ministry, however, said that 27 guerrillas and 20 soldiers were killed in "pitched" battles in the past two days as troops kept up an offensive In Kilinochchi.

Airforce helicopter gunships carried out air raids on

SEE PAGE 15 COL 7 Wednesday and Thursday to provide cover to ground troops advancing on the southern defences of Kilinochchi, the ministry said.

The Sri Lankan government pulled out of a Norwegian-brokered truce in January, and its troops are now locked in fierce combat around Kilinochchi, 330km north of Colombo

The rebels are fighting for a separate state for ethnic minority Tamils from the majority Sinhalese community.

Earlier the Sri Lankan government has overwhelming public support for its war against the Tamil Tigers, and most people believe (he rebels will soon be defeated, an opinion poll published Wednesday shows.