Thousands protest in Sri Lanka

Tens of thousands of Sri Lankans marched through Colombo in an anti-government protest Thursday, calling for new elections and swift action against human rights violations and alleged corruption.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan fighter jets pounded Tamil Tiger rebel positions in the northern part of the country, the military said.

Human rights groups accuse the government of summarily executing hundreds of people suspected of having links with insurgents. The government denies the charge.

Violence has escalated in the Indian Ocean island nation, claiming more than 5,000 lives in the past 20 months as a 2002 cease-fire between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels frayed.

Protest organizers said nearly 100,000 people joined the opposition rally, which paraded through the capital's streets under heavy police guard. Police declined to provide official figures.

Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, head of the United National Party that organized the protest, told the marchers President Mahinda Rajapakse's government was damaging the nation.

"I invite all the people to join hands to topple this government, which has nurtured corruption and abuses," he said.

Rajapakse has repeatedly brushed off allegations of misrule, saying the opposition was trying to gain political mileage. He said recently he has no intention of calling parliamentary elections until 2010.

Thursday's rally inaugurated a new opposition alliance formed last week between Wickremesinghe and his old rival, former Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera.

The opposition alliance does not affect Rajapakse's majority in the 225-member Parliament, but could erode the president's support. Wickremesinghe's United National Party controls 45 seats and Samaraweera controls two seats.

Air force planes launched two airstrikes on two separate targets in the rebel-held Mullaitivu district Thursday, said a Defense Ministry media center officer.

The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said details were not immediately available.

Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan confirmed the air attack, but said there were no casualties.

Earlier this month, the government celebrated the total recapture of the east from the rebels, who still control a virtual state in the north.

Tamil rebels have waged a separatist war against the state since 1983. They demand an independent homeland for the country's minority Tamils, who are predominantly Hindu and suffered decades of discrimination from majority Sinhalese, who are mostly Buddhist.

More than 70,000 people have died in the more than two decades of fighting.