Sri Lanka says captures rebel camps, kills many

COLOMBO, Feb 25 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's military today said it had driven Tamil Tiger fighters from jungle camps in the island's restive northeast and inflicted heavy losses.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) denied any fighters had been attacked.

The military said it had captured two Tiger camps, a training facility and a hospital north of the strategic northeastern port of Trincomalee.

''The army targeted the LTTE cadres fleeing ... with artillery and multi-barrel rocket launchers inflicting heavy casualties dead and wounded,'' the Media Centre for National Security said in a statement, saying the terrain had been cleared over the past three days.

Analysts say both sides overstate enemy losses and underplay their own, and there was no independent confirmation.

''Our people have not been operating in that area recently,'' Tiger military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiraiyan said by telephone from the rebels' northern stronghold. ''How many more hundreds of camps are they going to claim to overrun? It's mostly propaganda.'' Mediator Norway on Thursday called on both sides to respect a 2002 truce. Around 67,000-68,000 people have been killed since fighting began in 1983.

REUTERS SY KN1325