Clashes between government forces and Tamil Tiger separatists killed at least 40 combatants across northern Sri Lanka, the military said today, as air force jets bombed a rebel commanders' camp.

A bomb explosion on a bus wounded at least 14 people near the Sri Lankan capital today.

A bomb tore through a packed bus carrying mostly elderly Buddhist pilgrims today in central Sri Lanka, killing at least 18 people and wounding 51 others, the military said.

A roadside bomb blast and clashes between soldiers and Tamil Tiger guerrillas across Sri Lanka’s volatile north have killed 29 people, the country’s military said today.

Sri Lanka’s navy, assisted by warplanes and helicopters, launched a massive attack against a flotilla of nearly 20 boats belonging to separatist Tamil Tiger rebels off the island’s northern coast today, the military said.

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

Navy and army troops clashed with Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka's volatile north-east, triggering battles that left at least seven insurgents dead in the latest fighting in the tropical island's deepening conflict.

Tamil rebel planes bombed government military positions in northern Sri Lanka today in their second airstrike.

A Sri Lankan air force raid on a Tamil rebel training base in the island’s north may have killed or wounded as many as 70 guerrillas, the Defence Ministry said today.

A roadside bomb tore through a civilian bus in northern Sri Lanka today, killing seven people and wounding 26, the army said, blaming Tamil Tiger rebels for the attack.

Tamil rebels launched their first-ever airstrike in their 25-year conflict with Sri Lanka’s government, using at least one small plane to bomb an air base outside the capital Colombo today.

Commandos overran a Tamil Tiger rebel base in eastern Sri Lanka today, killing at least 20 guerrillas in fighting that also left three commandos dead, the military said.

Sri Lankan officials today said commandoes had found torture chambers at a captured rebel base, but the separatists said the cement cells were for holding prisoners and denied any torture had taken place.

Sri Lankan officials today said anti-terrorist commandoes had found torture chambers at a captured rebel base, alleging the insurgents used the cement cells to punish informers and people who tried escape their ranks.

Sri Lanka’s air force said it bombed a Tamil Tiger rebel naval base in the country’s north-west today, but a guerrilla spokesman claimed the air raid killed 15 civilians in a fishing village.

The Sri Lankan government today accused the Tamil Tiger rebels of abducting 455 underage combatants from government-controlled areas this year and asked the insurgents to stop the practice.

A day-long fierce exchange of artillery and mortar fire between Sri Lanka’s troops and Tamil Tiger rebels has resulted in the death of 64 combatants from both sides, the military said today.

The Sri Lankan military, backed by tanks and war planes, battled Tamil Tiger rebels for over three hours today for control of territory in the east, a military spokesman said, a further escalation of violence in the country’s undeclared civil war.

Sri Lankan warplanes carried out airstrikes today around the northern town of Kilinochchi, deep inside rebel-held territory where Tamil Tiger insurgents have their headquarters, a rebel official said.

A prominent Tamil politician was assassinated in the Sri Lankan capital today and naval attack on two Tamil Tiger boats left six rebels dead, officials said - acts appearing to draw the South Asian country closer to full-scale war.

Tamil Tiger rebels today said they had appealed to Norway for help in getting food and other essentials to 42,000 civilians trapped in fighting between the insurgents and Sri Lankan government forces.