COLOMBO, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Air Force in Sri Lanka said its MI-24 helicopter gunships launched air raids at identified resistance targets of Tamil Tiger rebels in the northern Kilinochchi district on Sunday.

    "MI-24 helicopter gunships conducted precision air assaults at identified LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) resistance positions located at Murukandy, East of Akkarayankulama, at around7 a.m. (0130 GMT)," Air Force Spokesman Janaka Nanayakkara told reporters.

    The air sorties were made in support of the 57 Division infantry battalions which are advancing towards Kilinochchi town, the administrative center of the LTTE.

    The troops and the LTTE are currently battling in the north, after the government claimed in July 2007 that the entire Eastern Province had been free of the rebels.

    The Sri Lankan government says the rebels' campaign for a separate state has neared its end with government troops dislocating rebels from their key strongholds in the north.

    Claiming discrimination at the hands of Sinhalese-dominated governments, the LTTE has been fighting for an independent Tamil homeland in the north and east since the mid-1980s, resulting in the killing of more than 70,000 people.