There was a lull in fighting after a week of intense battles between the Sri Lankan forces and the LTTE, even as Colombo said its troops were consolidating its position in Jaffna peninsula. The past week has seen 500 deaths.

"There are no reports of overnight fighting," a ministry spokesman said.

Troops are consolidating their positions along a de facto front line in the Jaffna peninsula, he said. "We are now consolidating our positions. We are making arrangements to return the bodies of 98 Tigers killed on Thursday," he said.

The defence ministry said that 250 rebels had been killed in the fighting.

Military sources said some 150 troops had also been killed and 300 wounded during the same period.

Meanwhile, the Tigers fired at an orphanage in the north-eastern town of Trincomalee on Thursday night, wounding two army soldiers guarding the facility, officials said.

The 45 children in the orphanage had gone on a pilgrimage, taking advantage of the holidays declared by the government.

Schools remain closed amid fears the Tigers could stage retaliatory attacks after an air raid on Monday which the LTTE said killed 61 school children in the rebel-held North.