Sri Lanka’s military launched a new offensive against the Tamil Tigers rebels on the island’s north-west, a military spokesman said today.

Sri Lanka’s military launched airstrikes on Tamil rebel bases today after navy craft came under attack, and a pro-rebel web site reported at least 12 people killed as the country appeared on the brink of returning to civil war.

Sri Lanka is confident that co-operation with Tamil Tigers in tsunami relief efforts will strengthen attempts to end the country’s two-decade civil war, officials said today. But European peace monitors reported continued tension between the parties.

Rescuers scoured waterlogged coasts across Asia today after an earthquake of epic power struck below the Indian Ocean and sent huge walls of water crashing onto beaches in at least nine countries, killing more than 14,000 people and leaving millions homeless.

Floods and landslides hit a town and villages in south-central Sri Lanka, killing at least 84 people and forcing 150,000 people to flee their homes, officials said today.