Sri Lanka's Air Force carried out air raids on Tamil Tiger rebel positions in the eastern province on Saturday, defense officials said.

Air Force fighter bombers dropped bombs at two Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) facilities at Thoppigala jungle in Eastern Province at around 8 a.m. local time (0230 GMT), officials said.

The military and the rebels have been clashing at Thoppigala since early this year.

The Army says the LTTE will be flushed out of Thoppigala, the last rebel bastion in the east.

The military in the latter part of last year annexed two of the LTTE's strongholds, Sampur and Vakarai in Eastern Province in major victories.

However, the rebels said they are only making tactical withdrawals in the east.

The upsurge in the island's ethnic separatist violence since the end of 2005 has so far claimed nearly 5000 lives.

Claiming discrimination at the hands of the majority ethnic Sinhalese-dominated government, the LTTE has been fighting for an independent homeland for Sri Lanka's 12.5 percent Tamil minority since the 1970s.

Source: Xinhua