Fighting erupts in Sri Lanka as Indian Foreign Secy arrives

COLOMBO: Heavy fighting gripped Sri Lanka on Thursday as Tamil Tiger rebels and troops blamed each other for the renewed battles and India sent a top envoy to discuss the violence.   

Sri Lanka's defence ministry said war planes pounded bases of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the northeastern district of Mullaitivu where the rebels have their military installations. 

"Air strikes were launched following confirmation by aerial vehicles that these were Sea Tiger bases," the ministry said in a statement.   

It said the Tiger bases had the capacity to launch attacks on naval patrols in the area.   

The fresh air strikes came as New Delhi sent Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon to the island to discuss with Sri Lankan officials the upsurge in fighting and the plight of civilians, diplomats said.   

Menon, a former ambassador to Colombo who arrived here on Wednesday, is due to meet with President Mahinda Rajapakse who begins a four-day visit to India later this week.   

New Delhi has expressed concern over the plight of Tamils in the embattled northeast where there has been a spike in clashes between troops and Tiger rebels.   

Sri Lankan Tamils share cultural and religious links with 60 million Tamils in the south Indian.    The LTTE said on Thursday that government troops backed by tanks, artillery and air cover were advancing on rebel positions in the district of Batticaloa.  

"The military has launched a ground offensive to capture real estate," said Tiger spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiriyan. "They have come up to our defence line at Vakarai."   

The defence ministry said it was the Tigers who launched an offensive and that security forces had repulsed two major attacks on military bases in the area.   

The ministry said seven soldiers were wounded in the battle, but gave no details of rebel casualties.   

"The security forces sought the assistance of the air force to engage their (Tiger) gun and mortar positions," the ministry said in a statement.   

Security forces had accused the guerrillas of firing artillery and mortar bombs towards army camps in the district in recent weeks.   

The LTTE and the Sri Lankan government have escalated fighting in the past year in batles that have claimed thousands of lives, frustrating efforts brokered by Norway to revive a 2002 ceasefire agreement.   

The conflict has claimed 60,000 lives since it began in 1972.