Sri Lanka Says It Captured Key Rebel Defense Line

A Sri Lankan soldier stands guard as members of Sri Lanka's hard line nationalist party Jathika Hela...

A Sri Lankan soldier stands guard as members of Sri Lanka's hard line nationalist party Jathika Hela Urumaya, also known as National Heritage, parade in streets carrying Sri Lankan national flags during a march in honor of the Sri Lankan defense forces in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008. Sri Lankan air force jets bombed a rebel training camp in the north as ground forces waged new battles with Tamil Tiger rebels across the front lines, the military said Wednesday.(AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

(AP)

Sri Lankan troops broke through a strategic front in the country's civil war on Thursday, overrunning an important rebel defense line north of the Tamil Tiger's de facto state, the military said.

While government forces have pushed deep into rebel-held territory from the south in recent months, the rebels have managed to counter repeated strikes launched by the military from the northern Jaffna peninsula.

But on Thursday, after three days of heavy fighting, troops broke through and captured the rebels' first line of defense at Muhamalai, advancing 800 yards, military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said. The rebels still maintain two other defense lines.

As the fighting has intensified, international organizations have ramped up their warnings about the fate of hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians in the rebel-controlled area. Amnesty International said Wednesday tens of thousands of people are now without shelter.

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Thursday's victory was significant because it marked the first time during the recent fighting that government forces were able to pierce rebel fortifications in the area and because rebel troops fought ferociously to hold off the advancing troops.

"They had a lot of casualties and we are going toward the second line of defense," Nanayakkara said. A Ministry of Defense statement said scores of rebels were killed in the fighting.

Rebel spokesmen could not be reached for comment because most communication lines with the north have been severed. But a rebel-affiliated Web site reported Wednesday that Tamil Tiger fighters killed 36 soldiers during the recent fighting along the defense line.

The Tamil Tigers have fought since 1983 to create an independent state for the country's ethnic minority Tamils, who have suffered marginalization by ethnic Sinhalese-controlled governments. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the violence.

In April, Tamil Tiger fighters killed scores of troops along the northern front when they feinted an attack on government positions, quickly retreated and then pounded the pursuing soldiers with artillery.