Colombo: Tiger rebels destroyed army bases in northern Sri Lanka leaving 82 combatants dead according to both sides Sunday as the island's main aid donor, Japan, was set to launch a fresh peace bid. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said they launched attacks along a broad front in Vavuniya and Mannar districts.

They captured armoured vehicles and heavy weapons after destroying long-range guns belonging to the military. They also said they destroyed four or five gun positions. The Tigers said they killed at least 30 security personnel in a five-hour battle to capture several gun positions and military detachments. The Tigers also released pictures of an armoured carrier and bases they captured.

The Defence Ministry said heavy fighting raged in the area, but claimed that the military had beaten back a guerrilla offensive by killing at least 52 Tiger cadres.

Neither sides claims can be verified but the guerrillas said they were planning to return the dead bodies of 16 government soldiers through the International Committee of the Red Cross. Tiger spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiriyan said that the guerrillas had established a forward defence line in areas previously held by the military following the commando-style attack which began Saturday night. "The LTTE troops are consolidating their positions in the recaptured area," Ilanthiriyan said in a statement. He said a military artillery unit was also "completely destroyed."

Sporadic artillery exchanges continued in Vavuniya district, which borders rebel territory, the military and rebels said Sunday. Residents and officials said they had heard heavy shelling since Saturday night.

Japan's special peace envoy to Sri Lanka, Yasushi Akashi, is due to head to the conflict zone during a four-day visit to the South Asian tropical island beginning Tuesday, officials and diplomats said. They said Akashi was hoping to jump start Sri Lanka's now moribund peace process. The envoy, seen as a key figure, in 2003 helped to raise $4.5 billion in pledges to support a Norwegian-backed bid to resolve the conflict.

President Mahinda Rajapakse on Friday said he was willing to resume talks with the rebels even as fighting continued in the troubled northern and eastern regions, where deaths are reported daily. Also Sunday, two Red Cross workers were found shot dead in central Sri Lanka, a day after they were abducted by men claiming to be from the police, the charity said.