| Sri Lankan troops have killed scores of Tamil Tiger rebels in the past few days and are within "kissing distance" of their political capital, the defence ministry said Sunday. Forces were moving towards the key town of Kilinochchi and inflicting high casualties on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the ministry said. "Troops are now positioned in kissing distances to the outer defence lines of the LTTE's administrative heartland and main garrison township," it said. The military "have caused great damages to LTTE leaving scores killed and as many injured during the past few days," the defence ministry said. It said troops found 11 bodies of Tiger cadres on Saturday. The ministry did not give details of its casualties, while there was no comment from the guerrillas. The LTTE has admitted losing ground to government troops but their leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, has vowed to fight on. The battle zone is inaccessible to journalists and aid workers, meaning claims and counter-claims about the fighting are impossible to verify. The guerrillas, who began their struggle for a separate Tamil homeland in 1972, are facing the Sri Lankan army's biggest-ever push to defeat the rebels militarily. |