Soldiers took control of a 1-kilometer-wide (0.6-mile-wide) strip of land after a fierce clash and were now just a short distance from the town of Adampan currently held by the Tamil Tiger rebels said military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara.

Capturing Adampan would be a crucial step in the military's campaign to dismantle the rebels' de facto administration in the country's north.

Nanayakkara said 12 guerrillas and two soldiers were killed in the battle. Tamil Tiger spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan could not be contacted for comment.

On Thursday, government troops attacked rebel bunkers along the northern front lines, triggering gunbattles that killed 34 rebels and one soldier, the military said.

The soldiers destroyed three of the rebel bunkers and killed 20 guerrillas in the attack in the Vavuniya region, just south of the rebels' de facto state, a Defense Ministry official said.

The fighting left six soldiers wounded, the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists.

Also Thursday, soldiers fired artillery rounds that destroyed a Tamil Tiger boat and killed four rebels at sea off the northern Jaffna peninsula, the official said. Separate clashes in the area left two other rebels dead.

On the same day, soldiers fought separate gunbattles with rebels in the northeast, leaving four insurgents and one soldier dead, the official said. Other fighting nearby killed four more rebels, he said.

It was not possible to independently verify the reports because of limited access to the northern jungles where the fighting took place. Both sides often inflate their opponents' casualty figures and lower their own.

Violence has spiked in this Indian Ocean island in the past two years as a 2002 cease-fire broke down. Government troops last year drove the guerrillas from their eastern strongholds and in recent months fighting has raged around the rebels' de facto state in the north.

More than 800 people have been killed since the government announced last month that it was quitting the cease-fire, according to the military.

The Tamil Tigers have been fighting since 1983 for an independent state in the north and east for the country's ethnic Tamil minority after decades of being marginalized by Sinhalese-dominated governments. The fighting has killed more than 70,000 people.Discuss this story Published: Fri Feb 8 11:19:14 EST 2008

The soldiers destroyed three rebel bunkers in Thursday's push in the Vavuniya region, just south of the rebels' de facto state in the north, killing 20 guerrillas, a Defense Ministry official said.

The fighting left six soldiers wounded, the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists.

Also Thursday, soldiers fired artillery rounds to destroy a rebel boat in the sea off the northern Jaffna peninsula, killing four rebels, he said. Separate clashes in the area left two other rebels dead.

In the northeastern Welioya region, soldiers fought separate gunbattles with rebels, leaving four insurgents and one soldier dead, the official said. In nearby Mannar district, four rebels were killed.

Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan did not answer a telephone call seeking comment.

It was not possible to independently verify the reports because access is limited to the northern jungles where the fighting took place. Both sides often inflate casualty figures for their opponents while lowering their own.

Violence has spiked in this Indian Ocean island in the past two years as a 2002 cease-fire broke down. Government troops last year drove the guerrillas from their eastern strongholds and in recent months, fighting has raged around the rebels' de facto state in the north.

More than 800 people have been killed since the government announced last month that it was quitting the cease-fire, according to the military.

The Tamil Tigers have been fighting since 1983 for an independent state in the north and east for the country's ethnic Tamil minority after decades of being marginalized by Sinhalese-dominated governments. The fighting has killed more than 70,000 people. Published: Fri Feb 8 06:20:45 EST 2008

A statement by the Defence Ministry claimed that security forces in an “offensive operation to liberate Wanni” are advancing further towards the LTTE stronghold, inflicting heavy casualties. It said 29 LTTE cadres were killed while another 14 were wounded during the clashes at Vavuniya, Mannar and Weli-Oya defences on Wednesday.

The ministry said troops ambushed an LTTE convoy at Periyantrichurchchan and interception of LTTE communication revealed that four LTTE cadres were killed in the attack. More... Discuss this story Published: Thu Feb 7 20:42:05 EST 2008