COLOMBO, Sept 30: Fighting in the embattled north left 60 rebels and six soldiers dead on Tuesday, military officials said.

The Sri Lankan navy sank two Tamil Tiger rebel boats off the northeast coast as government troops captured the second Tamil Tiger rebel runway, 500-meters long and 50-meters wide in the northern Panikkankulam area, the defence ministry said.

The capturing of the LTTE runway comes days after the guerrillas bombed in September a key military base in northern Vavuniya, an area controlled by the government.

The Tiger separatists are believed to have five Czech-built Zlin-143 aircraft smuggled onto the island in pieces and re-assembled there, military strategists say. Separately, the Sri Lanka navy sank two Tamil Tiger boats amidst sea battles off the north-east coast, according to Naval officials.

The escalated ground and sea battles in the north came 24 hours after an explosion injuring two people in Colombo. The explosion took place on Monday afternoon while hours later 21 people were injured following a grenade blast in Kattankudi, in eastern Batticaloa.