KILINOCHCHI (Sri Lanka), Jan 4: Sri Lanka’s army said on Sunday it was moving in on the jungle stronghold of the Tamil Tiger rebels in a final assault aimed at ending the longest-running ethnic war in Asia.

Troops captured Kilinochchi, the de facto capital of the rebel state within a state on Friday, and the general leading the assault said his forces were now advancing on Mullaittivu, their last major centre of control.

“We are taking the offensive to the Mullaittivu jungles where (rebel leader Velupillai) Prabhakaran is hiding,” Maj-Gen Jagath Dias told reporters flown into Kilinochchi for a short and carefully supervised visit to show the city was in army hands.

“We will hunt him down.”

—AFP