Colombo: Separatist Tamil rebels on Tuesday carried out an air strike on an army camp in northwestern Sri Lanka, the defence ministry said.
"Two bombs were dropped by LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) aircraft over a military camp," military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara told AFP, adding that there were no immediate details about damages or casualties.
"There was a loud noise coming from near the army camp," one resident in Mannar district told AFP by telephone. "The military was also firing anti-aircraft guns."
The Tamil Tigers last carried out an air and ground attack on a military camp in the northern town of Vavuniya in September, killing 11 soldiers. Ten Tiger suicide commandos also died in the attack.
The rebels are believed to operate five Czech-built Zlin-143 aircraft smuggled onto the island in pieces and re-assembled. Satellite images have shown that they have more than one air strip inside areas they control.
The Tiger air strike came as government forces stepped up their own air strikes against the guerrillas inside their de facto mini-state in the north. The military has claimed the upper hand in the latest ground battles.
Sri Lankan troops are battling to capture the rebel political capital of Kilinochchi in the north. Defence ministry maps show troops are about 10 to 15 kilometres (six to 10 miles) southwest of the town.
Tens of thousands of people have died since the LTTE launched a separatist campaign in 1972 to carve out a homeland for minority Tamils in the majority Sinhalese island's north and east.
