Sri Lanka's Air Force launched air raids for the third consecutive day on Tamil Tiger targets in the island's northwest and east on Friday, days after the breakdown of talks to halt renewed civil war.

"The air force bombed two Tiger targets this morning. One is a Tiger training and transit camp in (the eastern district of) Batticaloa and the other one is a Sea Tiger base in Mannar," said a spokesman for the Media Centre for National Security.

The Tigers were not immediately available for comment, and there were no immediate details of casualties.

"Intelligence sources confirmed the Tigers have suffered seriously due to these attacks and these bases were used to launch attacks on the security force's detachments at Mannar and Batticaloa," the ministry said.

It said in a statement that sporadic attacks took place against security forces across the embattled regions. Police said a civilian was also gunned down by suspected militants in the northern district of Vavuniya.

The ministry accused the LTTE of gearing up for a major offensive following the failure of the latest peace talks in Geneva last weekend and ahead of their leader's birthday later this month.