Fighter jets, backed by ground troops, targeted a rebel base in eastern Batticaloa district, military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said.

Rebel officials were unavailable for comment, and independent confirmation was not possible.

Also Friday, an explosion near a school spread panic among students and teachers and injured two officers at a nearby security post, the military said.

The school in Vavuniya was evacuated and none of the 700 students was hurt, police officer C.I. Bandara said by telephone.

Samarasinghe blamed separatist Tamil Tiger rebels for planting a roadside bomb near the school. Earlier reports said the explosion was caused by a mortar.

The school which has students from the country's majority Sinhalese community is in an area the government controls under a 2002 cease-fire agreement.

Vavuniya is the last major government-held town before territory controlled by the Tamil Tigers starts, and has been the scene of previous violence.

The Tigers began fighting in 1983 for a separate homeland for ethnic minority Tamils following decades of discrimination by the majority Sinhalese.

The cease-fire all but collapsed in 2006 as renewed fighting killed more than 4,000 combatants and civilians, according to European cease-fire monitors.Discuss this story Published: Fri Mar 2 17:38:06 EST 2007

The school in Vavuniya was evacuated and none of the 700 students were hurt, police officer C. I. Bandara said when reached by the telephone.

Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe, the military's spokesman in Colombo, blamed the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels for planting the roadside bomb. Earlier reports said the explosion was caused by a mortar.

The school which has students from the country's majority Sinhalese community is in an area the government controls under a 2002 cease-fire agreement.

As soon as the news spread, parents who stayed nearby came and took their children home. The remaining students were evacuated by the school staff with the help of police.

The two policemen on guard duty when the mortar hit were wounded. The nature of their injuries was not immediately known.

Vavuniya is the last major government-held town before territory controlled by the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels starts. The area had been the scene of violence between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the military.

The Tigers have fought since 1983 for a separate homeland for the Tamils, who are ethnic minority following decades of discrimination by the majority Sinhalese.

The cease-fire all but collapsed in 2006 as renewed fighting killed more than 4,000 combatants and civilians, according to European cease-fire monitors.Discuss this story Published: Fri Mar 2 07:09:06 EST 2007

The editors of Mawbima said that Dushyantha Basnayake’s arrest was part of a “campaign of harassment” against the newspaper which began after it published articles criticizing Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse and reporting on accusations of human rights violations committed by his brother, Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse.

“We had to think twice before writing any story that exposed corruption in any Ministry under President Rajapakse,” the editors wrote in a statement issued Monday. “Most times we were forced to cancel such articles.” More... Discuss this story Published: Thu Mar 1 23:12:32 EST 2007