T he Sri Lankan army says it has cornered Tamil Tiger rebels in the northeast of the country. Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka said rebel resistance was crumbling fast and that they could only escape by sea as they were surrounded on three sides. His claims cannot be independently verified and there has been no response from the Tamil Tigers. A day earlier the rebels said they killed 51 soldiers - a claim denied by the army. The Tigers have lost a considerable amount of territory to government forces in the last few months, including key strongholds Kilinochchi and Elephant Pass. See map of the region The Sri Lankan forces said they were poised to capture the last major rebel-held town of Mullaitivu, with Lt Gen Fonseka saying his troops had captured 17km of territory in as many days in the area, leaving the rebels with just a 40km stretch of coastline. A defence ministry statement said soldiers had seized "a highly fortified camp" in the village of Maruthampuvel in Mullaittivu on Saturday, Associated Press reported. The statement also said eight rebel fighters had been killed in the region. The two sides have differed in their reports of casualties, with the rebels earlier claiming they killed 51 soldiers near the town of Dharmapuram in northern Sri Lanka, but the army saying it had taken control of the area, killing 20 rebels with only seven soldiers dead. Independent journalists are prevented by the government from travelling to the conflict zone, so it is impossible to verify the casualty claims made by both sides. The Jaffna peninsula and its capital have been regarded as the heart of the 25-year-old separatist insurgency. The Tigers have been fighting for a separate homeland for 25 years. At least 70,000 people have been killed in the insurgency.
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