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Lanka bombs rebel targets in the north

19 rebels killed in ground battles

AP, AFP, Colombo
Sri Lankan fighter jets and attack helicopters pounded rebel positions yesterday as troops pushed ahead with their offensive to crush the Tamil Tigers and seize the insurgents last stronghold in the north.
Helicopter gunships and warplanes attacked suspected Tamil Tiger strong points in northern Sri Lanka on Monday while at least 19 rebels were killed in ground battles, the defence rninistrysaid.
Aircraft hit two positions of the Liberation Tigers ofTamil Eelam (LTTE) at Iranamadu, just south of their political capital of Kilinochchi which fell to government forces earlier this month, the ministry said.
"Sri Lanka air force Mi-24 helicopter gunships and fighter jets made precision air assaults against two identified LTTE gathering points located in general area of Iranamadu." the rninistrysaid in a statement.
The ministry said 19 Tiger rebels were killed
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and many more wounded in clashes in the Kilinochchi district on Sunday. It did not say if its troops suffered any casualties.
T he military won a string of major victories over the rebels in recent weeks, capturing their administrative capital and seizing their main base on the Jaffna peninsula.
The Tigers, who once controlled a substantial swath of territory in the north, retreated to a small region of jungle in the northeast.
The ministry said last week that security forces were ready to deal a "decisive blow" to the rebels after the capture of the strategic Elephant Pass causeway linking the Jaffna peninsula with the rest of the mainland.
The LITE'S main political headquarters of Kilinochchi town was overrun by government troops earlier this month and the rebels are now confined to the jungle and lagoon district around Mullaittivu on Sri Lanka’s northeast coast.
The military kept the pressure on Monday, launching airstrikes on rebel gathering points in support of ground troops, the military said.
The two sides also fought nearly three dozen battles on Sunday, the military said. TYoops recovered four rebel bodies. The rebels fought back with mortar barrages and roadside bombs. The ligers were not available for comment, but the rebel-linked ThmilNet Web site reported a sharp rise in civilian casualties from the figh ting in recent days.
Aid groups have expressed concern that hundreds of thousands of civilians living in the rebels' shrinking territory will increasingly fall victim to the encroaching violence. The rebels have been fighting since 1983 to create an independent homeland for ethnic minority Tamils, who have suffered decades of marginalisation by governments controlled by the Sinhalese majority. The conflict has killed more than 70,000 people.