Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels said yesterday their commando units had fought their way to the outskirts of Jaffna town, cultural capital of a would-be Tamil homeland.
The government, which has fought against a Tamil Tiger insurrection since 1983, acknowledged in a statement that the guerrillas had breached some army defences on the Jaffna peninsula at the extreme north of Sri Lanka.
The rebels said in a statement from their office in London that they had captured a strategic bridge close to Jaffna town after cutting across a key highway and isolating troops.
"The commando units of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in a dramatic offensive push took control of a section of the strategic Navatkuli bridge barely three kilometres from Jaffna town, the statement said.
In its most spectacular victory since the war started, the LTTE captured Elephant Pass, the gateway to the peninsula, on April 22nd. Since then they have steadily advanced, trapping thousands of government troops.
A government statement in Colombo said the LTTE had launched a huge pre-dawn attack throwing in waves of rebels at troops desperately battling to hold Jaffna. It said a large number of Tamil fighters attacked troops manning defences at Ariyalai and Tanankillappu.
"The LTTE's movement will depend on the kind of opposition they face and where," a Colombo-based diplomat said by phone.
The government statement said the LTTE had fired a heavy volume of artillery and mortars but the troops had fought back, repulsing a number of human waves.
It said that intense fighting was continuing in the Ariyalai sector while troops were holding well in Tanankillappu close by.
"However, the terrorists have managed to breach a few gaps in the army defences at Ariyalai," the statement said.
It said the troops were supported by artillery and the Sri Lanka air force and that reinforcements had already been deployed in areas where fighting was taking place.
"Although there were a large number of casualties among the attackers, LTTE human waves continued to assault without any respect for the lives of junior LTTE cadres," it said, adding that troops too had suffered casualties but details were not immediately available.
Residents in the northern government-held town of Vavuniya who hear the rebels' clandestine radio said the LTTE had asked civilians in some areas of the peninsula to move to safer areas.
Residents reached by phone said the Voice of Tiger radio had listed several places which they wanted civilians to leave.
The government has vowed never to abandon Jaffna and earlier this week it rejected an offer from the rebels of a temporary ceasefire to withdraw its troops.
The Deputy Defence Minister, Mr Anuruddha Ratwatte, told parliament on Tuesday: "The government would never agree to a ceasefire. We will never give Jaffna to LTTE."
In the past few days the government had rushed in new weapons and ammunition for its embattled troops in Jaffna.
The government said yesterday it had raised taxes on cigarettes and liquor to raise some $20 million for the war.
Last week it imposed strict regulations giving itself wide powers to seize property and vehicles as it put the country on a war footing to battle the LTTE threat. It also imposed censorship on foreign media.
India has sounded an unenthusiastic note on third-country efforts to end the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka as a Norwegian special envoy headed to New Delhi.
"It is in response to his request that we are prepared to receive him," a foreign ministry spokesman told reporters. "He is coming here to share thoughts with us, that's all."
Norway's ambassador to India said that a team led by Mr Erik Solheim, who was appointed in March as special adviser in Oslo's efforts to help end Sri Lanka's war was due this afternoon in New Delhi.