COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, October 15, SPA -- Government forces pounded rebeldefenses with airstrikes and ground assaults as heavyfighting across northern Sri Lanka killed 49 Tamil Tigerfighters and seven soldiers, the military said Wednesday. The new fighting came as soldiers closed in on the rebels'administrative capital of Kilinochchi in a campaign aimedat routing the guerrillas and ending a 25-year-old war thathas killed more than 70,000 people, Associated Press reported.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/598038