Sri Lanka's air force bombed Tamil Tigers in a key area in the island's east today, the military said, hours after a renegade group announced it overran rebel camps and killed at least 30 militants.
The military, stepping up an offensive in the east, said a Tiger artillery gun position was destroyed in the air strike in Vakarai, one of the last major rebel strongholds on the coast.
Another strike was successfully carried out on a Sea Tiger base in the nearby Pudukudiyirippu area, the military said in a statement.
Fighting between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which wants a separate homeland for Tamils in the north and east, has intensified in recent weeks. A 2002 truce is now in tatters and thousands have died in violence this year.
Earlier today, the Karuna splinter group said 200 of its members attacked Tiger camps in the jungles of Toppigala about 40 km (25 miles) from the town of Batticaloa in one of the biggest raids in months.
"Our intelligence reports said there were top LTTE commanders there, 30 cadres were killed on the spot," said Asad Maulana, a spokesman for the Tamileela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal, the political wing of the Karuna faction.
Karuna Amman, a former Tiger eastern commander, split from the LTTE in early 2004, taking an estimated 6,000 loyal fighters with him. He accused the rebel leadership of discriminating against Tamils in the east -- his traditional stronghold.
Two members of his group were wounded in the 90-minute attack, Maulana said. The three camps, including one for women fighters, were destroyed and a large quantity of ammunition including two rocket launchers was found.
Three Tiger rebels were killed in another attack today in Paththiruppu about 16 km from Batticaloa, Maulana said. Two members of the Karuna group were killed in the fighting.