Sri Lankan Troops Seize Tamil Rebels’ Political Offices

Government forces have captured the main political headquarters of Tamil Tiger rebels on the outskirts of the guerrilla stronghold of Jaffna, civilians and the Sri Lankan army said Tuesday.

Tamil residents of Jaffna arriving in the government-held town of Vavuniya told reporters that the army had seized the Kondavil-based facility of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, three miles north of Jaffna.

A military statement said two government divisions came across many antipersonnel mines and rebel resistance in the latest fighting.

The advance by the 51st Division on the eastern flank was slowed by the minefields while the 52nd Division, advancing on the western flank, captured a large rebel training camp in the suburb of Urumpirai, about three miles northeast of Jaffna town, the statement said.

Also on Tuesday, the International Committee of the Red Cross pulled out of its local office in Jaffna to avoid the approaching warfare. A Red Cross statement said its convoy of about 30 vehicles and 220 people safely reached the northern port town of Point Pedro.

The predominantly Hindu Tigers have waged war for 12 years against the government, largely composed of Buddhist Sinhalese, in an effort to establish a Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka’s north and east. About 50,000 people have died in the conflict.