From correspondents in Colombo, Sri Lanka, 06:31 PM IST

Sri Lankan Air Force ground attack fighter jets carried out three air raids Tuesday 'targeting LTTE resistance points' in the country's north in support of advancing government troops, who are facing heavy resistance from the Tamil Tiger rebels.

Air Force spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara said that all three targets were located in the battlefront west of Kilinochchi, the political and administrative 'capital' of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

'These air raids were launched in support of the troops advancing towards Kilinochchi town,' he added.

The military, vowing to capture Kilinochchi in the near future, says fighting fierce fighting is underway with the rebels just 12 kilometres away from the town.

Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi are the only two districts in Sri Lanka that the LTTE controls and where it has its major bases and hideouts.

Meanwhile, the Media Centre for National Security said that at least 25 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed and 37 more wounded during the fierce clashes throughout Monday in the Vavuniya and Kilinochchi battlefronts in the north.

It said one soldier was wounded in these clashes Monday.

There was no immediate reaction from the rebels regarding the fresh fighting.

In a separate incident in the government-held Vavuniya town, 254 km north of here, two young girls aged between 22 and 25 were shot dead by an unidentified gunman Monday night.

The police have launched an investigation into the twin murder.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)