Sri Lanka air force says fighter jets strike rebel training camp, as 19 die elsewhere

Sri Lankan air force jets attacked a rebel training base in the north Thursday as new fighting in the civil war killed 19 people, the military said.

The jets hit a Tamil Tigers base in the Mullaittivu district about 7:30 a.m., the military said in a statement.

In other fighting, government troops killed nine rebels in battles in the Vavuniya region along the front lines, the military said. Four soldiers were killed in those fights as well, it said.

Scattered battles in the Mannar and Jaffna regions killed six rebel fighters, the military said.

Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan was not immediately available for comment. Both sides routinely exaggerate enemy death tolls while underreporting their own.

It was not possible to independently verify the military reports because the government has barred most journalists from the northern jungles where much of the fighting takes place.

The Tamil Tigers have been fighting for an independent state in the nation's north and east since 1983, following decades of marginalization by governments dominated by the Sinhalese majority. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict.