Sri Lanka’s military said it captured a strategic rebel-held town in the island’s restive east on Friday as more than 10,000 refugees fled the area and Tamil Tiger rebels withdrew. The capture of the town of Vakarai around 150 miles northeast of Colombo comes after weeks of fighting between the Tigers and the military. Some on foot, others on tractors, the refugees left the rebel-held town of Vakarai on the island’s northeast coast at dawn and were heading south towards government-held territory a few miles away, some carrying white flags. “Some of the people are making their way down the coast, others are coming through jungle in vehicles,” Selvaraj Jeyaraj, project coordinator for the Italian Red Cross, told Reuters by telephone from Batticaloa.
Sri LankaÂ’s military said earlier that government forces killed nine Tamil separatists in the latest clash on Friday between the two sides. Deputy Military spokesman Maj Upali Rajapakse said the pre-emptive strike against the Tamils was conducted as they were preparing to attack army troops in Batticaloa.