COLOMBO: Sri Lankan troops have captured three Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam bases in north-eastern Sri Lanka, forcing the insurgents to flee into the jungles, the Defence Ministry said on Saturday.

"The military had to carry out the operation as the terrorists were targeting our camps in the area and risking supply lines," said military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe.

"During the past 72 hours, the Army, supported by artillery and mortars, successfully neutralised the three bases," Brig. Samarasinghe said.

The area is near the port city of Trincomalee, which has a major Sri Lankan navy base and serves as an important supply line to the north.

No casualties were reported, as the rebels fled before the troops moved in.

Soldiers recovered a large number of roadside bombs, anti-personnel mines, rocket-propelled grenades, assault rifles, mortars and large quantities of ammunition.

"Search operations and the consolidation of positions by the Army are still continuing," Brig. Samarasinghe said.

The rebels could not immediately be reached for comment.

But the Tamil National Alliance, seen as a proxy party of the rebels in Parliament, said Sri Lanka's military campaign left Tamils with no option but to go for "self-determination and self-rule."

"In the face of the Sri Lankan State's insistence on pursuing a military solution to the Tamil National question, the Tamil people are appealing to the international community to recognise their struggle for self-determination and self-rule," the TNA said in a statement.

Violence has occurred almost daily since December 2005, and a Norway-backed cease-fire signed in 2002 exists only on paper.

European cease-fire monitors said on Friday that nearly 4,000 people were killed in Sri Lanka over the past 15 months — compared to 130 deaths in the previous three years.

Violence has escalated since Mahinda Rajapaksa became President and moderate Ranil Wickremesinghe, who signed the truce with the rebels, left the Government. — AP

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