By Ranga Sirilal

COLOMBO, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan helicopters fired rockets at Tamil Tiger rebels constructing a trench during three days of clashes that killed at least 85 people, the military said on Monday.

Soldiers are 2 km (1 mile) from Kilinochchi, capital of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's (LTTE) quasi-government, after an advance that since July has intensified into the bloodiest period of the war since a ceasefire ended in January.

The latest fighting along a frontline of heavily mined jungle thick with concrete bunkers and trenches, killed 76 rebels and wounded 92, the military said. Nine soldiers were killed and 52 were wounded, it said.

Mi-24 attack helicopters rocketed rebels using heavy equipment to build a trench line near Akkarayankulam reservoir on Saturday, just southwest of Kilinochchi, the air force said.

The LTTE says it is fighting to create a separate homeland for Sri Lanka's minority Tamils, who have complained of marginalisation by successive governments led by the Sinhalese majority since independence from Britain in 1948.

The rebels were not immediately available for comment.

The death tolls are nearly impossible to verify, with both sides engaging in regular distortions for propaganda reasons and the war zone being closed to most journalists. (Editing by Bryson Hull and Jeremy Laurence)

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