S.Lanka military enters rebel capital, captures town
(Adds rebel quotes, attacks in military liberated east)
By Shihar Aneez
COLOMBO, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's military has entered the rebels' de-facto capital in the north of the island, killing 20 Tamil Tiger rebels after fierce fighting, the Defence Ministry said on Saturday.
The rebel capital in the island's northern district of Kilinochchi is where the elusive rebel leader Veluppillai Prabhakaran is believed to be hiding.
"Troops crossed the district borders between Mannar and Kilinochchi districts at an undisclosed location," the Defence Ministry said in its website www.defence.lk.
Two soldiers were killed in the operation.
The military also captured one of the main rebel strongholds, Vellankulam town, killing 30 rebels in northern Mannar district, the ministry said.
However, it was not clear whether the military had captured the whole northern Mannar district, where the military has advanced significantly in the recent months.
Sri Lanka's government is pursuing a strategy to gradually retake the Tiger's northern stronghold and win the 25-year civil war amidst an almost-daily barrage of land, sea and air attacks in northern rebel-held territories.
The civil war has killed more than 70,000 people since it started. The LTTE, which the United States classifies as a terrorist group, is fighting to create an independent state for ethnic minority Tamils in north and east Sri Lanka since 1983.
Analysts say the military has an advantage in the latest phase of the war given its superior air power, strength of numbers and swathes of terrain captured in the island's east. But they still see no clear winner on the horizon.
REBELS CLAIM ADVANCE
The rebels, who are fighting for an independent state in the north and east of the island for ethnic minority Tamils, said they killed 30 Sri Lanka soldiers, thwarting an offensive in its stronghold of Mallavi in northern district of Mullaiteevu.
"At least 30 SLA soldiers were killed and more than 60 troopers sustained injuries in an intense fighting. Three dead bodies of SLA soldiers were also recovered by the Tigers," the group said in its pro-rebel website www.tamilnet.com.
The website also posted pictures of dead bodies of the three soldiers with arms captured by them in the operation.
Rebels, meanwhile, on Friday attacked troops in the eastern district of Ampara, where the military and the government had claimed they had wiped out the rebels last year.
"LTTE terrorists attacked STF (Special Task Force) who were conducting search operation at --Pothuwil in Ampara. STF officers have retaliated immediately," the military said.
The military offensive in the northern offensive continued amid a South Asian regional summit in Sri Lanka which endorsed fighting terrorism in all its forms.
The Tamil Tiger rebels had declared a 10-day unilateral truce starting from July 26 as a goodwill gesture for the summit in Colombo but the announcement was dismissed by the government which said it had not received official notification and was sceptical about the declaration.
The government deployed more than 19,000 extra police and soldiers in the capital for the meeting.
(Editing by Mary Gabriel)
