COLOMBO, Jan 1: Sri Lankan troops on Thursday captured a key town from Tamil Tiger rebels in the island’s north, the defence ministry said, adding that the fall of the Tigers’ political capital was “imminent.” After intense clashes that left at least 50 guerillas dead, the fall of Paranthan, near the Tigers’ political capital Kilinochchi, effectively cut off the rebels’ main supply line to several other strongholds, the ministry said in a statement.

Army chief Sarath Fonseka said his forces were poised to retake control over Kilinochchi shortly as the air force stepped up attacks against pockets of rebel resistance.

“(The) fall of Kilinochchi is imminent within the next 48 hours,” Lieutenant General Fonseka was quoted as saying by the state-run Daily News service.

The defence ministry said fighting raged around Kilinochchi and that the air force had carried out at least eight bombing raids against suspected Tiger targets on Thursday.

At least 50 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels have been killed and twice as many wounded in heavy fighting since Tuesday, the ministry added.

The ministry did not say if security forces suffered any casualties.

“Unable to withstand the fury of the combined army and air force onslaught, LTTE terrorists withdrew from the town in total disarray,” the ministry said.

Paranthan is about six kilometres (four miles) from Kilinochchi, which is the military’s main objective.

Military officials said government forces were heading toward Kilinochchi following the success at Paranthan, which had been under rebel control for 10 years.

“LTTE resistances and counter-attacks were outflanked by the intense military armour attacks and concentrated artillery and mortar fire,” the defence ministry said.

“The fighting was fierce and prolonged for hours until terrorists were completely beaten by the determined soldiers.” The Tigers made no comment on the military’s claims, but in a statement on Wednesday night said four civilians were killed and 18 wounded in two air raids inside areas they held.

The guerillas have vowed to defend their political base after the military announced it intended to capture Kilinochchi and dismantle the de facto state run by the separatist movement.

The Tigers lost strongholds in the east of the island last year, since when they have been steadily on the retreat in the north.

Soldiers have also stepped up pressure on the LTTE’s military base in the northeastern town of Mullaittivu.

President Mahinda Rajapakse on Thursday declared that 2009 would be “the year of heroic victory” over the rebels.

The latest fighting came as a government ultimatum — designed to allow 300,000 civilians in areas under their control to leave and seek shelter in government-held areas — expired on Wednesday.

Rajapakse announced last week that he would re-impose a formal ban on the Tamil Tigers if civilians were not allowed to leave by Dec 31.

However, any ban would be largely symbolic given the scale of the current military offensive against the LTTE.

An original ban was lifted in September 2002 ahead of an Oslo-backed peace process, which collapsed when Rajapakse pulled out of the truce last January.

The Tigers have been waging a long campaign for independence for Sri Lanka’s minority Tamil community.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the violence since 1972, making it Asia’s longest running ethnic conflict.

—AFP