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Sri Lankan supersonic jets and helicopter gunships bombed suspected Tamil Tiger positions in the island's northeast Sunday as violence continued in the bitter ethnic conflict.
Fighter aircraft hit a “Sea Tiger” base in the Mullaitivu region on Saturday while another was bombed under the cover of darkness on Sunday, the military said in a statement.
Ukranian-built Mi-24 helicopter gunships attacked a suspected Tamil Tiger mortar bomb position near the de facto border separating the two forces in the northern district of Vavuniya early Sunday, the statement said.
The night-time air strikes came a week after the Tamil Tiger rebels staged a daring raid on the island's main military airbase using two light aircraft and managed to escape unchallenged.
They also followed two separate roadside bombs attacks that killed a police commando and wounded five others Saturday, the military said.
Military officials said the guerrillas and troops exchanged fire across the northern and eastern regions at the weekend.
There was no immediate reaction from the Tigers to the air strikes but in a statement Sunday they claimed the air force had dropped bombs near a school earlier in the week.
The rebels have waged a 35-year campaign for independence that has claimed more than 60,000 lives.
More than 4,000 people have been killed in the latest upsurge of fighting that began in December 2005 despite a truce arranged in 2002.
