COLOMBO: Sri Lankan warplanes carried out bombing raids on suspected Tamil Tiger targets inside rebel-held territory on Friday, the defence ministry said.   

The raids were aimed at a boat manufacturing facility of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the northeast, the ministry said. There were no details of casualties.   

Officials reported three suspected Tiger rebels were killed in separate clashes elsewhere.   

The latest clashes came after the United States moved Thursday to freeze the assets of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), which the Treasury department claims has provided financial support to the Tigers.   

Washington has deemed the Tamil Tigers a terrorist organisation since October 1997.   

The move against the TRO was aimed at financially isolating "terrorist groups and their support networks," a statement from the US embassy here said. The embassy did not say how much money was involved.   

The Tigers are fighting for independence for the Tamil minority in a majority Sinhalese nation.