Army 'takes key Sri Lanka pass'
 The army has been advancing north after taking Kilinochchi |
The Sri Lankan army has captured Elephant Pass, the strategic causeway linking the Jaffna peninsula with the mainland, the president has said.
Mahinda Rajapaksa said Tamil Tiger rebels had been completely dislodged. The Tigers have made no comment yet.
Troops took Kilinochchi, the HQ of the rebels, last week and began a pincer movement on Elephant Pass.
The Tigers have been fighting for a separate homeland for 25 years and have held the pass since 2000.
Separately, the military said a roadside bomb set off in the east by rebels had killed seven people.
De facto state
President Rajapaksa said in a televised address: "Today evening our troops liberated Elephant Pass fully."
On Thursday, troops coming down from Muhamalai took over the rebel base at Pallai and then advanced 5km (3 miles) further south to capture Sorampattu, the military said.
Other troops had reached the southern outskirts of the pass.
The Tigers, who are fighting for a separate homeland in the north and east, had established a de facto state squeezed between government-controlled Jaffna in the north and the rest of the country.
But the latest military offensive has forced the rebels to give up much of their territory.
Sri Lanka's government has vowed to destroy the Tigers.
At least 70,000 people have been killed in the 25-year rebel insurgency.
The bomb blast in the east took place at Morawewa, outside the city of Trincomalee, on Friday morning as a convoy escorted by troops passed by, a statement on the defence ministry website said.
The dead included three air force personnel. Six people were injured in the attack.
The pro-Tamil Tiger website TamilNet meanwhile reported that Sri Lankan army artillery fire had killed at least four people at Tharmapuram, which it says is a centre of displaced civilians.
| MAP OF THE REGION   |
No comments:
Post a Comment