Sri Lanka military says kills 70 rebels in a day

COLOMBO, June 20 (Reuters) Sri Lankan troops killed around 30 Tamil Tigers in a clash overnight in jungle in the island's restive east, the military said today, hours after the navy said it had killed around 40 insurgents in a sea battle.

The military said soldiers had captured a rebel bunker line during the fight in a swathe of landlocked eastern jungle called Thoppigala, where Tiger fighters are still entrenched after the fall of their eastern stronghold earlier this year.

It was the latest in a series of land and sea battles since the long-running civil war flared again in recent months. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, seeking independence for the north and east, are widely listed as a banned terrorist group.

''We have destroyed three satellite camps and are clearing the area. There are a lot of minefields,'' said army spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe of the fighting in Thoppigala.

''One Tamil civilian in the area said there are 73 prisoners being held by the Tigers there, including one army corporal,'' he added. ''They cannot hold on to that area now because they don't have any food.'' The navy said late yesterday it had destroyed five Tiger vessels after coming under attack off Sri Lanka's northern tip, but the Tigers accused the navy of starting the sea battle. They said just two of their fighters were killed.

''According to our people, they managed to damage one of the Sri Lankan Navy Dvora (attack boats),'' a Tiger source said.

''The Sea Tigers lost two of their men and there is no damage to any of their boats reported. There is no information from the east yet.'' There was no independent confirmation of what happened or of casualty tolls. Analysts say both sides tend to talk up enemy losses and play down their own.

RESETTLEMENT The government is forging ahead with a plan to resettle tens of thousands of internally displaced from dusty camps in the east to areas southeast of Thoppigala, from where the distant sound of artillery and mortar bomb explosions can be heard.

Aid groups and displaced families have voiced concern about the safety of those being resettled given the fighting nearby.

The land battle and the clash at sea off Point Pedro in the northern army-held Jaffna peninsula, cut off from the rest of the island by rebel lines, come amid a rash of battles on land and at sea as well as ambushes and air strikes.

Fighting is now focused on the north after the military captured the Tigers' eastern stronghold earlier this year. Around 4,500 people have been killed since last year alone.

A parallel propaganda war is also raging.

Leading mobile operator Dialog Telekom, which also provides internet services, said it had blocked access to pro-rebel Web site www.tamilnet.com on government orders.

The site was also unavailable through state carrier Sri Lanka Telecom's Internet services, but both Sri Lanka Telecom and the government denied on Wednesday they were interfering.

''We have blocked it as per a government directive,'' a Dialog spokesperson said, asking not to be named.

Reporters have been stopped from visiting Tiger-held areas since August 2006 with the government citing security concerns, but one top official told Reuters it was to avoid the spread of Tiger propaganda.

The government has vowed to destroy the Tigers militarily, while the rebels have threatened to use all their means. These include suicide bombers and light aircraft smuggled into the country in pieces and used in a series of bombing raids.

Analysts say no clear victory is on the horizon and fear a conflict that has killed nearly 70,000 people since 1983 could rumble on for years.

Reuters YA DB2240