Sri Lankan troops attack Mullaittivu

Colombo, Jan 4: Sri Lankan troops on Sunday, Jan 4 went into a hot pursuit of Tamil Tigers launching a ground and air assault on their last bastion Mullaittivu on the east coast.

Mullaittivu is stated to be the military headquarters of the LTTE where Sri Lankan military brass suspects that the LTTE leaders including its supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran may be hiding.

Meanwhile, the army has launched another strong offensive to seize the strategic Elephant Pass, which would give Sri Lankans a surface link to the Tamil dominated Jaffna province.

Earlier, LTTE received a heavy blow on Friday after losing town of Kilinochchi.

Kilinochchi was the 'de facto capital' of the Tamil Tigers, who have been demanding a separate state for the ethnic Tamil minority.

The town had been in the hands of rebels for the last one decade and it took advancement of months for the Sri Lankan army to recapture it.

In his address to the nation to announce the capture, President Rajapaksa said, "We should pay the gratitude of the whole nation to those heroic soldiers who achieved that victory."

Both sides have claimed to inflict heavy casualties on each other in the ongoing operation.

ANI