Colombo  - Sri Lankan government troops Monday claimed to have killed at least 200 Tamil rebels and recovered 150 bodies during fierce fighting over the past five days.

The Defence Ministry in a statement said heavy fighting broke out last Thursday in parts of Mullaitivu district, 390 kilometres north- east of the capital Colombo, which represent the last remaining areas held by the rebels.

The army has thrown in special forces and commando troops and has seized a large haul of weapons in its operations, the Defence Ministry added.

The security forces thwarted successive offensives by the rebels in the Chalai area, located less than 10 kilometres north of a government-declared safe zone meant for civilians.

There were no immediate confirmation from the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) concerning the fighting.

Meanwhile, Tamil rebels fired on a government ship delivering food and supplies to displaced civilians in north-eastern Sri Lanka on Monday, a military spokesman said.

Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said the ship was unloading flour, lentils, sugar and fuel when it came under artillery attack at a port in Puthumathalan, in Mullaitivu district,
410 kilometres north-east of Colombo.

He said artillery shells fell as close as 50 metres from the ship, forcing the captain to order a halt to the delivery and return to a harbour in the government-controlled area of Trincomalee.

The food was meant for up to 70,000 people said to be trapped in a 40-square-kilometre area where fighting between government forces and rebels is ongoing.

The attack came as minority Tamil political parties called on the international community to help bring an end to the war and provide urgent food and medical aid to people stranded in war-torn areas.

The Tamil National Allaince (TNA), which represents 22 parliamentarians, claimed that as many 333,000 civilians remain in conflict zones.

Meanwhile, an Indian medical team was to arrive in Colombo Monday to help put up a hospital close to the combat zone in Pulmoddai, 320 kilometres north-east of Colombo, to treat displaced people leaving rebel-held areas.

The government claims the rebels are preventing civilians from leaving the affected areas, but an estimated 36,000 people have been allowed to leave the rebel-held areas since January 1.

The military says the final phase of the offensive to recapture rebel-held areas has been delayed due to the large number of civilians in the area.

Security forces launched an operation to recapture rebel-held areas in the north and east in August 2006, and claim to be close disarming the Tamil Tigers and ending the
25-year-old conflict. (dpa)