Date:17/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/17/stories/2008081759101600.htm

International

LTTE continues to lose ground

Colombo: Air Force jets pounded LTTE fortifications in northern Sri Lanka on Saturday, destroying a rebel bunker line as fighting intensified in the country’s civil war, said the military.

Heavy battles on Friday across the front lines surrounding the dwindling area controlled by the LTTE killed 22 of its cadre, said the military.

In recent weeks, troops have broken through the rebels’ defences and seized a series of key towns and bases. Government officials have reiterated their pledge to wipe out the LTTE by the end of the year and end the nation’s 25-year-old civil war.

Raging battles in the Kilinochchi region killed nine LTTE cadre, added the military. Fighting in Vavuniya, Welioya, Mullaittivu and Jaffna killed another 13.

As the soldiers advanced on the LTTE’s main power base in Kilinochchi, Air Force jets supported them by striking and destroying a line of rebel bunkers east of the town of Nachchikuda, said Air Force spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara.

LTTE spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan did not answer calls for comment. — AP