At least 43 school girls were killed and 60 wounded when the Sri Lankan airforce bombed an orphanage in Mullaitivu district on Monday, the pro-rebel Tamilnet website reported.

The girls were killed when Sri Lankan jets bombed a children's home compound in Mullaitivu district where they were attending a two-day residential course on first aid, it said.

The attack came a day after the St. Philip Mary's church on the Kayts island near Jaffna town was hit by shells, Tamilnet said.