Sri Lankan forces took control of the entire island's coastline Saturday, trapping the Tamil Tigers in a tiny pocket of territory and cutting off any sea escape for the rebels' top leaders, the military said. President Mahinda Rajapaksa vowed to defeat the remaining rebel fighters and end the 25-year-old civil war by Saturday night, according to a report of Associated Press. The latest military success gave the government full control of the coast for the first time in nearly a quarter century. The rebels, who once ran a de facto state across the north, had controlled a formidable navy and sea smuggling operation. Two army divisions moving along two fronts on the island's northeastern coast linked up at the coastal village of Vellamullivaikkal early Saturday, military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said. The rebels, who are fighting for a homeland for minority Tamils, are cornered along with tens of thousands of Tamil civilians in a 1.2-square mile (3.1-square kilometer) strip between a lagoon and the sea.
