Sri Lanka troops enter last rebel stronghold

Sri Lankan troops entered the last urban area held by Tamil Tigers, the defence ministry said yesterday, as the UN repeated calls for the rebels to free civilians in the war zone.

Government forces fought their way on Friday into the small town of Puthukkudiriruppu, despite heavy resistance from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and fought pitched battles elsewhere, the ministry said.

Troops who entered the town "found the LTTE's high-tech satellite communication centre" and met "stiff resistance" as they advanced into built-up areas, the ministry statement said.

Security forces seized a 1.5-kilometre stretch of rebel bunkers in an area east of Puthukkudiriruppu after heavy fighting yesterday, the ministry said, adding that 13 rebels were killed in the fighting.

At least nine more guerrillas were killed in Friday's fighting, the ministry said, but it did not say if security forces suffered any casualties.

A military spokesman said troops destroyed 10 boats belonging to the Sea Tigers, the rebels' naval unit.

The LTTE did not comment on the latest fighting, which has raised alarm over the safety of tens of thousands of civilians trapped in the war zone.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said last month hundreds of civilians had perished in the fighting.

Civilians "now face very great danger from fighting between the Sri Lankan government forces and the LTTE. And there is strong evidence the LTTE are preventing them from leaving," UN humanitarian chief John Holmes said.

"I urge again all those with any influence on the positions of the LTTE to use that influence now to persuade them to let the civilian population go. There is no time to lose," he told the Security Council in New York on Friday.