The air strike targeted a camp just north of eastern Batticaloa district, where the military and Tamil Tiger rebels have been locked in a fierce fight for territory.

``We took the decision to bomb the target ... an identified Tiger terrorist gathering point,'' military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said. ``Air force sources confirmed that a large number of Tiger terrorists were killed.''

But a spokesman for the rebels, Rasiah Ilanthirayan, said no Tiger camps were affected by the raid.

Fighting between the Tigers and security forces has escalated in the past few months as the government stepped up attempts to rout insurgents from parts of the north and east, where they want to establish their separate Tamil homeland.

The rebels have been fighting since 1983 for independence for Sri Lanka's ethnic Tamil minority following decades of discrimination under the majority Sinhalese-dominated government.

A 2002 truce still exists on paper, but has virtually collapsed since the resurgence of large-scale fighting last year.

On Monday, rebels ambushed a military post in eastern Sri Lanka, killing at least two soldiers, officials said Monday, days after the military captured several main rebel bases in Batticaloa, leaving dozens of guerrillas dead.

Samarasinghe said the rebel attack took place in Batticaloa district's Vavunativu village late Sunday.

The areas is about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Vaharai village, scene of fierce weekend fighting.

Vaharai village, on an impoverished rebel-held strip of coastline in Batticaloa district, has been the scene of heavy fighting for months with over 500 combatants killed since October, according to the military.

The government says the Tigers used Vaharai as a transit point to smuggle drugs and arms into the country, and as a base for naval attacks.

Tamil Tiger spokesman, Ilanthirayan, confirmed the military had advanced into rebel territory, but dismissed its significance.

``Acquiring some real estate does not mean much,'' he said.

Meanwhile, gunmen killed three civilians in the northern district of Vavuniya on Monday, a local police officer said. Discuss this story

____ Published: Mon Jan 22 09:24:04 EST 2007

The news from the battlefront surprises many and has raised many a question. What has happened to the Tigers’ fire power? Where have the elite Black Tigers gone?

The Tigers appear to be a depleted lot. Besides the apparent lack of fire power to check the government onslaught, the Tigers also do not have advisors in the calibre of Anton Balasingham who, till he died in December last year, guided and advised LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in times of crisis. More... Discuss this story Published: Mon Jan 22 23:29:30 EST 2007

``Acquiring some real estate does not mean much,'' Ilanthirayan said, referring to the military's advance into eastern rebel territories.

Fighting between the Tigers and security forces has escalated in the past few months as the government has stepped up attempts to rout insurgents from parts of the north and east.

The rebels have been fighting since 1983 to establish an independent homeland for Sri Lanka - 's minority ethnic Tamils following decades of discrimination under the majority Sinhalese-dominated government.

A 2002 truce still exists on paper, but has virtually collapsed since the resurgence of large-scale fighting last year.

On Sunday morning, army troops killed at least 18 Tigers as they tried to flee into rebel-held jungle in Batticaloa district, Samarasinghe said.

Troops also found the bodies of 22 rebels killed in an army assault Saturday on several rebel bases in Batticaloa district's Kathiraveli and Vaharai villages, he said.

On Saturday, the army took control for the first time in 11 years of a main road connecting the island nation's two main towns, Batticaloa and Trincomalee.

Vaharai village, on an impoverished rebel-held strip of coastline in Batticaloa district, has been the scene of heavy fighting for months with over 500 combatants killed since October, according to the military.

The government says the Tigers used Vaharai as a transit point to smuggle drugs and arms into the country, and as a base for naval attacks.

The army's capture of Vaharai sent thousands of terrified villagers fleeing toward the neighboring government-held village of Mankerni, from where they were transported to several refugee camps far from the battle zone. They are staying in flimsy tents and crowded school facilities.

Worried Tamil parents said their children were being detained as security forces screened refugees for suspected rebels. Discuss this story Published: Mon Jan 22 02:43:13 EST 2007