Sri Lanka fighting kills 38, most of them rebels

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lankan troops killed at least 22 Tamil Tiger rebels in fresh fighting in the far north of the island on Friday, the military said, as government forces continue their push against the rebels' northern stronghold.

The fighting in the northern district of Mullaitivu came a day after the military captured a rebel-held area in Mallavi, also in the same district, killing 25 Tamil Tiger rebels.

"Troops successfully repulsed a terrorist retaliation attempt south of Mallavi last night," said a spokesman at the Media Centre for National Security.

"Troops have recovered 22 bodies of terrorists including two leaders and a search operation is going on."

The military said the day earlier fighting in four northern districts had killed 13 Tamil Tiger rebels and wounded 42. Three soldiers had also died and 13 were wounded.

The military also said the Navy had destroyed three Tamil Tiger boats along the coast at Chilavaththai in Mullaitivu on Thursday evening.

The fighting comes a week after military said it had dealt a "fatal blow" to the Tamil Tigers, with the capture of the northwestern town of Vidattaltivu, the main base of the Tigers' sea wing and their logistics hub for the region.

Sri Lanka's government is pursuing a strategy to gradually retake the Tiger's northern stronghold and win the 25-year civil war amidst an almost daily barrage of land, sea and air attacks in northern rebel-held territories.

Sri Lanka's 2002 Norwegian-backed ceasefire pact with the Tamil Tigers formally ended in January after the government decided to scrap it, arguing the rebels were using it to buy time to regroup and rearm.