COLOMBO - THE Sri Lankan military says it has captured a rebel training base amid heavy fighting in the north.

The military says in a Friday statement that troops in the Mullaittivu district overran a Tamil Tiger base the day before. The base included huts, a lecture hall and rows of trench lines.

Fighting also broke out across the Jaffna and Kilinochchi battlefronts.

Rebel spokesman were not available for comment on the fighting.

The Tamil Tigers have fought since 1983 to create an independent homeland for ethnic minority Tamils, who have suffered decades of marginalization at the hands of governments controlled by the Sinhalese majority.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in the violence. -- AP