Colombo: Sri Lankan air force jets bombed suspected Tamil Tiger targets in the north-eastern part of the island on Saturday for the fourth consecutive day, killing at least eight rebels, the LTTE said.
The stepped up air attacks came as Finland and Denmark said they were pulling out their truce monitors to meet a September 1 deadline set by the guerrillas for European Union member staes to pull out monitors.
Military sources said Israeli-built Kfir jets bombed Vavunathivu and Trincomalee south areas on Saturday as part of a concerted bombing campaign to pressure the Tigers to open an irrigation canal closed by them.
"Eight Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) members - two officials and six cadres - were killed and four wounded when Sri Lanka Air Force bombed Liberation Tigers' Thenaham Conference Centre in Karadiyanaru," the pro-rebel Tamilnet.com website reported.
It said Kfir jets dropped 12 bombs in three rounds, destroying the Conference Centre.
There was no immediate reaction from the Tigers to the latest air attacks which followed heavy artillery and mortar bomb attacks too.
The Tigers said on Friday that they lost six of their cadres killed in an air raid.
On Saturday, suspected Tiger rebels shot dead, a Tamil civilian at Kumurupiddy in Trincomalee area.
The latest escalation of violence added more pressure to the already faltering truce.
Denmark and Finland said they will withdraw their truce monitors in line with a September 1 deadline set by the Tigers for nationals from European Union nations to quit.
Tigers have been protesting the EU ban on them since May.
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