Sri Lanka Bombs Rebel Political Chief's Office

In this undated photo provided by Sri Lankan Tamil Rebel group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam...

In this undated photo provided by Sri Lankan Tamil Rebel group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Balasingham Nadesan, the head of the rebels' political wing, is seen in Kilinochchi, about 275 kilometers, (170 miles) northeast of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

(LTTE, Handout/AP Photo)

Sri Lankan air force jets bombed the offices of the Tamil Tiger political chief Friday as the military pressed forward with its resurgent offensive against the separatist guerrillas, the military said.

The attack on Balasingham Nadesan's office in the war-torn north came a day after the air force bombed the offices of the rebel peace secretariat, the headquarters for its negotiating team in long-defunct peace talks.

The locations of the two offices were well-known, but the military had refrained from targeting them. The decision to bomb them sent a strong message that the government — which has vowed to crush the Tamil Tigers by the end of the year — no longer considered any rebel targets off limits.

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Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said air force jets hit Nadesan's office at 9:20 a.m. Friday. He gave no details of damage or casualties. Jets also attacked a rebel base in the area about the same time, he said.

Troops have pushed deep into rebel-held territory in the north amid heavy fighting in recent weeks.

Scattered battles Thursday killed 42 rebel fighters and two soldiers, Nanayakkara said.

With nearly all communications to the north severed, rebel spokesmen could not be contacted for comment.

Both sides have been accused of exaggerating enemy casualties while underreporting their own.

Independent verification of the fighting is not possible because journalists are barred from the war zone.

The rebels have been fighting for an independent state in the north and east since 1983, following decades of marginalization of ethnic Tamils by governments dominated by the Sinhalese majority. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

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