Sri Lanka troops move on last Tamil Tiger base
Monday, 5 January 2009 11:24Sri Lankan troops backed by tanks and helicopter gunships moved against the remaining Tamil Tiger jungle strongholds after taking their political headquarters, the army said today.
Soldiers headed towards rebel pockets in the north of the island following their capture of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) capital of Kilinochchi on Friday.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the Tamils launched their struggle for an autonomous homeland in 1972, but the government pulled out of a ceasefire last year and launched a major offensive to crush the Tigers.
Just a few dozen people were still in Kilinochichi when government soldiers secured the town after months of heavy fighting.
Troops also captured the town of Oddusuddan at the weekend, leaving Mullaittivu as the last remaining base in the hands of the LTTE. Mullaittivu is a coastal district with vast jungle areas and a coastline that the Tigers use to smuggle in weapons.
For their part, the pro-rebel Tamilnet website said Tigers were putting up stiff resistance to the military advance on Mullaittivu and said they killed 53 soldiers and wounded another 80.
Tamilnet said the Tigers recovered the bodies of two government soldiers.
