Sri Lankan police commandos at a parade in Colombo. (AP)

Colombo, April 23 (Reuters): Heavy fighting in Sri Lanka’s far north killed 52 Tamil Tiger rebels and 38 soldiers, while the air force bombed rebel positions, the military said today.

Fighting between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has intensified since the government formally pulled out of a six-year-old ceasefire pact in January, though a renewed civil war has been raging since 2006.

“LTTE terrorists came and attacked our forward line this morning, we have retaliated and captured about 400- 500 metres of LTTE area in Muhamalai,” said military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara of the fight- ing in the northern Jaffna Peninsula.

Nanayakkara said later that the military death toll had risen to 38 from 15.

The air force said fighter jets bombed rebel artillery positions and a rebel regrouping position. MI-24 helicopter gunships attacked the rebels in support of the ground troops.

Tamil Tiger rebels said that heavy fighting erupted in the Jaffna peninsula when the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) launched a fresh offensive this morning.

“LTTE defensive formations were confronting the SLA units that mounted offensive attacks simultaneously at several locations around 3.30am,” said pro-rebel website www.tamilnet.com, quoting the rebels’ Northern Forces Operations Command.

The Tigers made no comment on casualties and independent verification was not possible because access was denied.

The Tigers, fighting for an independent state in the north and east, earlier said in an emailed statement that they had repulsed another government assault in Jaffna yesterday.

“At Muhamalai front in Jaffna, heavy clashes erupted when the SLA battle units made an attempt to overrun LTTE fortification,” said Tamil Tiger rebel military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiraiyan. “The SLA teams were beaten back in a 30-minute repulse by the valiant LTTE defenders.”

Analysts say both the government and the rebels often inflate enemy death tolls and play down their own losses. The reports are rarely possible to verify independently.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government has pledged to destroy the Tigers militarily.

After driving the rebels from the east, the armed forces are focusing on Tiger-held areas in the north.