COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Air force jets bombed a rebel base in northern Sri Lanka Thursday, a day after a series of ground battles killed 26 rebels along the front lines of the country's civil war, the military saidFighter jets bombed the guerrilla naval base in the rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi, air force spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara said.
Separately, helicopter gunships attacked a rebel gathering point near the front lines in Mannar, in support of army troops fighting the rebels, Nanayakkara said.
Nanayakkara did not give details about damage or casualties, but said the pilots hit their targets.
There was no immediate comment from the rebels on the attacks.
The ground fighting took place Wednesday, killing two rebels in the Vavuniya area, 12 in Mannar and 12 in Welioya, said military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara.
Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan disputed those figures, saying three of his fighters and 11 soldiers were killed in the fighting.
It was not possible to independently verify the reports because journalists are banned from the northern jungles where much of the fighting takes place. Each side commonly exaggerates its enemy's casualties and downplays its own.
The rebels have fought since 1983 to create an independent state for ethnic minority Tamils, who have been marginalized by successive governments controlled by ethnic Sinhalese. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
Violence has escalated in recent months, with the military initially pledging to capture rebel-held territory and crush the insurgents by the end of the year, but recently saying it would take longer than planned.
Meanwhile, the Daily Mirror online newspaper said former Tamil Tiger leader Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan, also known as Karuna, returned to Sri Lanka Thursday after being jailed in Britain for several months for traveling on a false passport.
Muralitharan defected from the Tamil Tigers in 2004 with thousands of men and formed his own militia. The next year, his group joined the Sri Lankan government in the fight against the Tigers and helped government forces chase rebels from their eastern strongholds.
While he was held in Britain several human rights groups called for him to be prosecuted for alleged war crimes, but the British authorities said there was insufficient evidence.
Azad Mowlana, spokesman for Muralitharan's group, could not immediately be reached for comment.

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