Lankan air force bombs rebel centre

Sri Lankan air force helicopters bombed a Tamil Tiger rebel operations centre in the contested north, while separate ground battles killed 17 insurgents, the military said Sunday.
Air force pilots bombed the rebel center in northern Mannar district on Saturday, the military said in a statement. It did not give details of any casualties or damage caused in the attack.
Russian-built Mi-24 helicopter gunships backed troops advancing towards rebel-held areas in the Mannar area on Sunday, air force spokesman Wing Commander Andrew Wjesuriya said.
On Saturday, ground troops killed 17 rebels in combat in the restive regions of Mannar, Vavuniya and Weli Oya, the ministry statement said, without giving any details about government casualties.
Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan was not immediately available for comment.
The government and rebels often release conflicting reports on the fighting, exaggerating enemy casualties and lowering their own losses.
Independent confirmation of the claims is impossible because reporters are not allowed in the war zone.
Also Saturday, the military said it captured Palampiddi town from Tamil Tiger rebels in Mannar district. Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said capturing Palampiddi was strategically important because it would block the rebels' supply route between the northern Vavuniya and Mannar districts.
The government has vowed to crush the rebels by the end of the year and dismantle their de facto administration.
Both sides are known to downplay their own losses and inflate enemy casualties. The figures cannot be independently verified as the government bars media, aid workers and rights groups from visiting the war-ravaged areas.
Fighting has escalated since the government pulled out of a tattered six-year truce with the Tiger rebels in January.