By IANS,
Colombo : The fall of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’s (LTTE) political hub Kilinochchi is imminent with ground troops entering the perimeter of the town, the Sri Lankan military said Friday.
“The fall of Kilinochchi is imminent as security forces have already entered into the Kilinochchi town perimeter from the northern, southern and western edges of Kilinochchi town,” the defence ministry said.
It said the troops engaged in “multi-pronged offensive operation” continued their military thrust on LTTE defences in Kilinochchi town, 350 km north of here, after capturing the adjoining townships of Paranthan and Iranaimadu in the early hours of Thursday.
The LTTE has no option but to “flee towards the jungle patches in Puthukuduyiruppu and Vishvamadu in the East of Iranaimadu tank as troops are aggressively advancing towards the heart of Kilinochchi in all fronts without leaving any room for the LTTE to operate there”, it stated.
The fall of Kilinochchi would mark the rebels’ biggest loss after the fall of the Jaffna peninsula 13 years ago.
It would mean a massive politico-military victory for the government, which had already flushed the rebels out of their former strongholds in the east in 2007.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa had last week threatened to brand the Tamil Tigers a terrorist group if it did not allow Tamils living in its control to move to government-held areas at the beginning of 2009.
There was no immediate word from the LTTE, which has been fighting against the Sri Lankan government for a quarter century to carve out a separate state for Tamils in the northern and eastern parts of the island. Thousands have died since late 2005 in the escalating fight.