Colombo - Government troops Thursday closed in on the former rebel administrative town in northern Sri Lanka with the Army Commander Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka declaring that the fall of the town was imminent. "The fall of Kilinochchi is imminent within the next 48 hours," the Commander was quoted as saying by the state run Daily News operated news alert service.
Kilinochchi, located 380 kilometres north of Colombo, was the headquarters for the Tamil rebels' political office as well as their own "administrative" sectors from where they were running their own civil administration including a "police service" and "courts."
Fonseka's comments came as troops made steady progress by capturing Paranthan, a key town located five kilometres north of Kilinochchi, and the important Iranamadu junction six kilometres south of the town earlier on Thursday.
Paranthan is the gateway to the northern Jaffna peninsula. Its capture is strategically important to the security forces as it cuts off a main rebel route, the spokesman said.
At least 50 rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were killed and twice the number were wounded in the fighting, the military said, but made no mention of government troop casualties.
Government troops are now making their way towards the last two key rebel strongholds - the districts of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu. Parts of the two districts have already been captured.
Tamil rebels claimed that four civilians were killed and 16 others were injured in airstrikes on Wednesday in a village close to Paranthan.
The pro-rebel Tamilnet website said that air force bombers had dropped bombs on a civilian settlement causing the casualties, a claim denied by the air force.
A public appeal has been made by the government calling all civilians to leave the rebel-held areas and enter areas controlled by the army where they would be put up in camps, but so far only about 1,000 people have responded to the call.
Some 350,000 civilians have been displaced due to the fighting, but rebels have not permitted civilians to leave, refugees said.
The government earlier vowed to crush the rebels by the end of last year, but heavy monsoon rains in November and rebel resistance has delayed the offensive.
Since military operations were launched in August 2006, government troops have captured areas in the north and east of the country.
The military claims to have killed over 12,000 rebels and said it lost some 2,500 soldiers. However, there has been no independent confirmation of figures given by the military.
