Sri Lanka troops 'kill 30 Tigers'

The ceasefire has all but collapsed

Sri Lanka's military says its troops have killed at least 30 Tamil Tiger rebels in fierce fighting in the east of the country.

"We have captured and destroyed four Tamil Tiger camps during battles over the last 48 hours," said military spokesman Brig Prasad Samarasinghe.

He said one Sri Lanka soldier had been killed and 17 wounded. There has been no confirmation from the Tamil Tigers.

Despite an official truce, Sri Lanka has been sliding back to civil war.

More than 4,000 people have been killed in violence in the past 15 months.

'Last battle'

The military said troops had overrun a rebel camp in the jungle in Thoppigala, the scene of artillery and mortar bomb exchanges for weeks.

"We estimate troops killed 30 Tigers, plus three Tigers committed suicide in front of our troops," the spokesman said.

News of the fighting came as Sri Lankan authorities said some of the Tamils expelled from the capital Colombo this week had started to return.

The government says the move is necessary for the safety of Tamils

They were among hundreds of minority Tamils expelled from the city on Thursday in a move that caused widespread outrage, being described as tantamount to ethnic cleansing by human rights groups.

On Friday, Sri Lanka's Supreme Court ordered the authorities to immediately halt any further evictions of the minority Tamils.

A defence ministry spokesman said nearly 400 Tamils were expelled because they were part of a plot by rebels to set off bombs in Colombo.

The police have offered no evidence against any of the evicted Tamils.