Sri Lanka fighter jets bomb rebels in east

COLOMBO, Nov 1 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's Air Force bombed Tamil Tiger targets in the island's restive east today for the first time since peace talks collapsed at the weekend, the military said, amid fears of an escalating civil war.

''They are firing artillery and mortar fire at us in the east, so we have retaliated by neutralizing targets with an air raid,'' military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarainghe told Reuters.

The air raid comes after three days of artillery and mortar bomb duels between the foes in the north and east.

REUTERS MS DS1215