COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lankan troops backed by tanks and artillery destroyed 30 Tamil Tiger bunkers in the island's far north on Wednesday killing 12 rebels, while air force jets bombed a gathering of rebel leaders, the military said.
It also came as families prepared to bury victims of a series of bombings in the government-controlled south.
"Five soldiers were also wounded from the fighting."
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, fighting for a separate state in the Indian Ocean island's north and east, were not immediately available for comment and there was no independent confirmation of what had happened.
But observers see no clear winner on the horizon, and the violence has seen some businesses put investment plans on hold and help push the stock market down around 7 percent in 2007 and another 4 percent so far this year.
Bus bombings and suicide attacks blamed on the Tigers are increasingly focused on civilians, as in earlier stages of the war, a trend experts put down to the fact civilians are less well protected and therefore easier prey.
The bulk of fighting has been in the far north in recent months, well off the beaten tourist track. But attacks are increasingly scattered, prompting some foreign governments to issue travel advisories.
(Reporting by Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Simon Gardner and David Fox)
