Jan 2, 2009

World - Sri Lanka;Troops enter rebel headquarters

COLOMBO (AP): Sri Lankan soldiers fought their way into the Tamil Tiger rebel capital on Friday for the first time in a decade, military officials said, following months of fierce battles on the outskirts that left scores dead.

Troops entered the northern town of Kilinochchi from two sides, senior military officials said on condition of anonymity.

The level of fighting inside the town remained unclear. The military had predicted on Thursday that soldiers would seize the town within two days.

The fall of Kilinochchi would be devastating to the separatist Tigers, who have has used the town as their political and military headquarters for the past 10 years and have created structures for an independent state, such as a police, courts, and tax offices.

Recent government military offensives have forced the rebels out of much of their territory in the north of the Indian Ocean island nation. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has promised to crush the rebel group and end the nation's 25-year-old civil war this year.

A 6-year-old Norway-brokered truce was officially called off last year with both sides openly violating the agreement.

Senior Sri Lankan officials have said repeatedly over the past two months that Kilinochchi would fall soon, but troops became bogged down by heavy rains and fierce rebel resistance.

The rebels could not immediately be reached for comment. But Tamil Tiger political leader Balasingham Nadesan told The Associated Press on Tuesday that they began as a guerrilla group and would be able to keep fighting even if they lost much of the territory they controlled in the north.

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