Sri Lankan forces overran the Tamil Tigers' northernmost defense line Tuesday, forcing the beleaguered rebels to retreat from one of their strongest fortifications, the military said, according to AP. The capture of Muhamalai on the Jaffna peninsula came as government troops pushed the rebels deeper into their shrinking heartland in the northern jungles in hopes of finally crushing the insurgency. Troops seized the insurgents' administrative capital of Kilinochchi last week, and the military said it was poised to capture the strategic base of Elephant Pass. «Our forces are moving, and very confidently, and they are moving forward,» defense spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said. He said the government hopes to clear the entire north of rebels in the «coming weeks,» effectively ending the 25-year-old civil war that has killed more than 70,000 people on this Indian Ocean island nation.
