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COLOMBO: Sri Lankan security forces on Saturday recaptured the strategically important northern town of Pooneryn from Tamil Tiger rebels after months of heavy fighting, the defence ministry said.
Pooneryn had been a Tiger stronghold since 1993 when the rebels dislodged the main military base there.
The rebels had used the coastal area to launch artillery strikes against a military airbase on the northern edge of the government-controlled Jaffna peninsula vulnerable to long-range attacks.
The ministry described Saturday's capture of Pooneryn as the "greatest feat against terrorists" along the island's northwestern seaboard.
"Troops of army Task Force One have entered the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) bastion of Pooneryn," it said, adding troops were also closing in on the rebels' political capital further south.
"Pitched battles are still going on in the area," the ministry said. "The terrorists are fast withdrawing" to the northwest.
The air force deployed helicopter gunships to pound suspected Tiger strongholds in the Jaffna peninsula Saturday morning in support of ground troops in the area, the military said.
There was no immediate comment from the Tigers, who had said security forces had moved deep into territory held by them in the northern parts of the country since mid-2007.
The LTTE has been fighting since 1972 to carve out a homeland for minority Tamils from the majority Sinhalese community. Tens of thousands have been killed in the conflict.
The latest reports came as the country's parliament was set to vote Saturday on a new war budget allocating a record 1.6 billion dollars for defence in 2009, up from 1.5 billion dollars this year.
The government of President Mahinda Rajapakse is banking on a military success against the Tamil Tiger rebels after pulling out of a moribund Norwegian-arranged truce in January.
The territory held by the separatist Tiger rebels has shrunk sharply since the guerrillas lost the vast eastern province in July last year after months of heavy combat.
Security forces have in recent months stepped up their offensive in a bid to capture the northern town of Kilinochchi, the Tigers' political capital, but rains and rebel resistance have slowed the operations.
However, with the fall of Pooneryn, the military has taken the northwestern seaboard of the island and is poised to open a new land route to the Jaffna peninsula, which had so far been supplied by sea and air routes.
The military has stopped releasing its own casualties figures in daily bulletins since last month saying it would hinder operations.
However, official figures tabled in parliament show 1,269 troops were killed in the first 10 months of this year. The military has claimed killing more than 7,500 Tiger rebels during the same period.
- AFP/yt
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