Colombo  – Air force fighter jets bombed Tamil rebel strongholds in a town in northern Sri Lanka Wednesday as government troops advanced toward the area.

The military claimed they targeted five rebel locations, including two rebel bases in the town of Kilinochchi, 380 kilometres north of the capital, but the rebels said two civilians were killed and 13 others were injured in the airstrikes.

An air force spokesman, Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara, said one of the targets was a training centre for female cadres and the other was a base of senior rebels.

Colombo, Sept. 30 : The Government of Sri Lanka has claimed it is closing in on the Tamil Tiger stronghold of Kilinochchi.

Amid fierce fighting in recent days, the military says it will soon take the rebel base and, within months, end one of Asia''s longest-running conflicts.

The claims come amid fierce fighting in and near the Tigers'' base in Kilinochchi on the northern tip of the island, where government airplanes are pounding rebel positions as ground troops slowly tighten the noose, reports the Christian Science Monitor.

Colombo  – An explosion injured two people Monday in Sri Lanka's capital as government troops advanced on a Tamil rebel stronghold in the north after killing an estimated 25 guerillas and losing one soldier overnight, military officials said.

The explosion occurred in the busy Pettah area in central Colombo. Two people suffered minor injuries and six vehicles were damaged, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.

London, Sept 24 : By triggering Saturday’s bomb blast with the help of a truck-load of explosives, Al Qaeda has shown that it was following LTTE’s modus operandi, as far as spreading terror was concerned, a Sri Lankan defence spokesman said.

He said that there was a constant sharing of technology between terrorist groups, and that terrorism experts had previously indicated that the use of suicide jackets by Al Qaeda was also pioneered by the LTTE.

The LTTE had first carried out a similar suicide attack in 1996 on Colombo''s Central Bank using a truck bomb.

Colombo – Thousands of minority Tamils Sunday turned up in police stations in the capital keeping with a directive by the government, which says the move will help to prevent infiltration of Tamil rebels to the city.

All citizens originally from northern Sri Lanka who have arrived during the past five years in the western province which includes the capital Colombo were told to register with police.

Colombo  - The Sri Lanka Navy on Thursday destroyed a Tamil rebel boat and at least 40 guerillas were killed in a series of fierce clashes in the military's offensive to retake rebel-held areas in the north by the end of the year, military officials said.

A battle erupted between the navy and the separatist rebels off the north-western city of Nachchikudha, 380 kilometres north of Colombo, officials said.