Sri Lankan rebels bomb army defense line

Colombo: Sri Lanka's separatist rebels used light aircraft to bomb an army defense line in the island's war-torn north early on Sunday, hours after fierce clashes killed 42 combatants, the military said.

A military spokesman said the Tamil Tiger rebel plane dropped three bombs near Sri Lankan forces in the Welioya region but no soldiers were hurt.

Troops and insurgents engaged is ferocious fighting along the front lines of Welioya killing 22 insurgents and seven soldiers, Nanayakkara said. One soldier was missing.

Separate clashes on Saturday along the northern Jaffna, Mannar and Vavuniya fronts killed 13 more rebels, he said.

Meanwhile, police said they arrested nine suspects in connection with a bus bombing that killed 26 passengers outside Sri Lanka's capital on Friday.

Friday's bomb tore through a bus filled with rush-hour passengers in Piliyandala, a suburb of the capital, Colombo.