The Air Force in Sri Lanka launched two separate air attacks at Tamil Tiger targets Wednesday morning in the north, said the Air Force.
Air Force spokesman Andrew Wijesooriya told the media that the first air raid was conducted around 10:15 a.m. (0445 GMT) using MI24 helicopters at two identified bases of the Liberation Tigers ofTamil Eelam (LTTE) at Alankulama and Kaliadanchan in the Mannar district.
Wijesooriya said the attack was undertaken as a ground support mission to the Army soldiers engaged in battles in the area.
The second air raid was carried out by fighter jets around 10:50 a.m. (0520 GMT) at a boat manufacturing facility of the LTTE inthe Vishwamadhukulama area in Kilinochchi, the spokesman said.
Wijesooriya said that the pilots have confirmed the targets were accurately hit.
Meanwhile, the military said two police officers were killed and five others including a civilian were injured when LTTE rebels detonated a claymore mine at the Thandiadi area in the eastern Batticaloa district Wednesday morning.
Defense sources said the claymore blast was carried out targeting a route clearing patrol undertaken by the police in the area.
Sri Lanka's security forces are currently engaging the rebels in the Northern Province with heavy artillery.
Having taken over the control of the Eastern Province last July, government leaders now vow to crush the Tamil Tigers from their last Northern Province bastion.
The military said more than 2000 combatants from both sides have been killed since the beginning of this year as a result of the escalating conflict.
The LTTE has been fighting the troops since the mid-1980s to carve out a separate homeland for the Tamil minority in the north and east, resulting in the death of more than 70,000 people.
Source:Xinhua
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