COLOMBO - Sri Lanka stepped up air strikes against suspected rebel targets in the island's north Sunday, a day after ground troops seized control of a highly strategic town, the defence ministry said.

Mi-24 helicopter gunships and fighter jets were deployed to pound defence lines of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on the Jaffna peninsula and on the mainland, the defence ministry said.

"Sri Lanka air force has lunched a series of air strikes in support of ground troops in the Muhamalai area," the ministry said in a statement.

The attacks came a day after Sri Lanka's president asked Tamil Tiger rebels to surrender after troops said they had re-taken the town of Pooneryn from the separatist guerrillas following months of heavy fighting.

President Mahinda Rajapakse said in a televised address to the nation that security forces took Pooneryn and the main northwestern coastal A-32 route on Saturday morning.

The government is banking on a military victory against the Tamil Tiger rebels after pulling out of a moribund Norwegian-arranged truce in January.

Security forces have in recent months stepped up their offensive in a bid to capture Kilinochchi, the political capital of the Tigers in the north of Sri Lanka.With the fall of Pooneryn, the military has taken the northwestern seaboard of the island and is poised to make a final push for Kilinochchi, defence officials said.

There had been no comment from the Tigers on the latest military skirmishes.

The defence ministry has reported unspecified heavy losses among Tiger fighters but has not announced its own casualties.

Last month, the military stopped releasing its own losses in daily bulletins, saying it would hinder operations.

However, official figures tabled in parliament show that 1,269 troops were killed in the first 10 months of this year. The military says it killed more than 7,500 Tiger rebels during the same period. - AFP/vm