Rebel targets 'hit' in Sri Lanka

A soldier keeps watch in Colombo a day after talks failed in Geneva

Sri Lanka's air force has carried out strikes against alleged rebel targets in the eastern town of Batticaloa.

A military spokesman said the raids were to "neutralise" artillery positions of the Tamil Tigers after they fired at the military camps.

The air raids are the first since peace talks between the government and Tamil rebels broke down over the weekend.

Talks failed over the issue of the main A9 highway connecting Jaffna with the rest of the country.

Both sides accuse each other of restarting the fighting.

Back to fighting

Military spokesman, Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe, told Reuters news agency that "they [Tamil Tigers] are firing artillery and mortar fire at us in the east, so we have retaliated by neutralising targets with an air raid".

There has been no comment from the Tigers yet.

The two sides have been back to fighting after government and rebel negotiators failed to break the deadlock at their talks in Geneva.

On Tuesday, one soldier was killed and three others injured in a bomb explosion in Vavuniya in northern Sri Lanka.

A military spokesman said Tamil Tiger rebels detonated a landmine as a truck carrying troops was passing by.

Heavy shelling

On Monday, Sri Lankan forces and Tamil Tiger rebels exchanged heavy artillery fire in the northern Jaffna peninsula.

Residents in Jaffna described hearing explosions and said the shelling was heavier than usual.

The rebels have said they will not agree to a date for more negotiations until the crucial A9 highway is re-opened.

It has been closed since fighting began in the north in early August, leaving around half a million people cut off.

Provisions are getting through, but not nearly enough, and there is concern of an impending humanitarian crisis.

The government has rejected the rebel demands, saying the Tigers want access to the area simply to levy taxes.

It has said it will ferry in emergency supplies by sea. The rebels have refused to give security guarantees.

International pressure

The violence has claimed more than 3,000 lives since the end of last year, the government says, although the rebels dispute the number of their fighters killed.

Despite the bloodshed, both sides maintain that they are committed to a 2002 ceasefire which now exists only in name.

Most observers believe they were brought to talks only as a result of international pressure.

The acrimonious atmosphere in Geneva and continuing fighting in Sri Lanka reflect this lack of sincerity, they say.

About 65,000 people were killed in fighting before the 2002 truce was agreed.

The rebels want a homeland for minority Tamils in the north and east. They say Tamils have been discriminated against by the island's majority Sinhalese community.