Sri Lanka army marches to edge of Tamil Tiger capital

By C. Bryson Hull

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's military battled within 2 km of the separatist Tamil Tigers' headquarters town and allowed civilians to flee before a final siege, the army said on Saturday.

Battles raged just outside Kilinochchi, seat of the Tigers' quasi-government in the north of the Indian Ocean island, with Mi-24 attack helicopters rocketing a bunker line while ground troops fought insurgents, the military said.

"Troops are 2 km away from Kilinochchi town limits," military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said. "People already have left Kilinochchi now so they are definitely east of the A9 road. That is why we have given them this safe passage."

The A9 is the main north-south highway, and most of the Tiger-held ground is to its east toward the port of Mullaitivu. The army has created a 10-km square no-fire area to allow civilians to go south, Nanayakkara said.

Aid workers say 200,000 people are trapped in the line of fire because the Tigers will not let them leave, and they fear the army after so many years of war, despite the safe passage promise.

Soldiers have slogged closer and closer to Kilinochchi, 330 km north of the capital Colombo, over the past month with the goal of wiping out the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and ending a war that has raged for a quarter-century.

Battles on Friday killed at least 20 rebels and wounded 31, while three soldiers were killed and 20 wounded, the army said.

The figures are difficult to independently verify since the war zone is off-limits to journalists and distortions by both sides are common. The Tigers have been silent on battlefield casualties for weeks and could not be reached for comment.