Sri Lanka's military said today that air and ground attacks on the seat of the separatist Tamil Tigers' quasi-government killed 42.
The air force said jets attacked the police headquarters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and a camp, both in Kilinochchi, home to the group's inland headquarters, which is 330 km (205 miles) north of the capital, Colombo.
Yesterday, soldiers closed to within 3.5 km of Kilinochchi, while the air force bombed the LTTE's headquarters.
Fighting throughout yesterday killed 40 rebels and two soldiers, while wounding 52 guerrillas and 20 troops, the military said. There was no independent confirmation.
As battles raged across the front in the north of the Indian Ocean island nation, aid workers offloaded more than half of a 51-truck convoy, the first major shipment of food into the battle zone since the government barred aid groups last month.
Humanitarian groups say 200,000 people are trapped between the LTTE, which will not let them leave, and an army that has promised safe passage but which most victims fear and distrust after 25 years of war.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government is confident of finishing the conventional part of the war soon, having poured money and manpower at it since formally ending a ceasefire in January that both sides had ignored for nearly two years.
The Tigers have battled the government since 1983 in what is one of Asia's longest insurgencies.
Reuters