Sri Lankan Air Force bomb LTTE position; 33 rebels killed

Sri Lankan Air Force fighter jets today pounded an LTTE training base inside a rebel-held territory as ground troops killed at least 33 Tamil Tigers in a series of clashes in the island's embattled north, officials here said.

The supersonic jets bombed the LTTE base located at Kokkuthuduwai in Mulaithiuvu this morning, the Defence Ministry said, adding pilots confirmed that the targeted position was severely damaged in the attack.

This was the second aerial raid undertaken by the Lankan Air Force during the last four days.

Earlier on Monday, the Air Force had attacked a regular gathering place of LTTE's intelligence wing leaders in Puthukuduiruppu in Mullaitivu.

The jets, which were flown from the Katunayake air base near Colombo, engaged the target which had been under air surveillance for a considerable time, the ministry said.

In another incident, troops resisting a rebel attack at Muhamalai in Jaffna invaded LTTE's first line of defence this morning, defence sources said.

Driving back the guerrillas, the security forces overran the LTTE's first line of defence, they said.

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