By IRNA,
New Delhi : In a major success, Sri Lankan troops captured the last rebel bastion of Pudukudiriyirippu in the island’s embattled north where they killed at least 420 LTTE cadres in fierce fighting, the military said.
Bodies of 420 rebels killed in intense clashes with advancing troops in the past three days have been recovered from the war zone, Indian official media reported quoting Sri Lankan military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara.
He said the army has captured the entire Pudukudiriyirippu area that was under the control of the Tamil Tigers, who have lost many of their key leaders in the latest fighting.
Important Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leaders killed in the clashes included Vidusha, Nagesh, Durga, Deepan and Patabi, Nanayakkara said, adding another senior rebel leader Banu was injured.
Unconfirmed reports, meanwhile, said that the LTTE has taken hostage all civilians in the 20 square km-long ‘No Fire Zone’.
“The remaining LTTE cadres … are now facing a total annihilation as the soldiers are engaged in a man-to-man combat against them,” the military said.
At least 100 rebels were killed during Saturday’s fighting alone, according to the battlefield reports.
Soldiers managed to retrieve bodies of all rebels who were killed on Saturday, Nanayakkara said.