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Army closing in on Paranthan

COLOMBO: As the deadline set by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the LTTE to either allow civilians cross over to the government-controlled territory by dawn of 2009 or face ban approached, the military on Wednesday claimed to be on the verge of capturing the Paranthan town in Kilinochchi district.

The Defence Ministry said here troops were on the “verge of scoring another historic victory by liberating the strategically located” Paranthan town. It said they gained total control over the Thadduwankoddy and Komarikudakulam villages.

“Troops while advancing towards Paranthan had several confrontations with the terrorist in the area South of B-69 [Pooneryn — Paranthan] road during daytime. Heavy confrontations were reported around 9.30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. resulting severe damages to the terrorists.”

Separately, the Air Force claimed to have made “successive ground-support air assaults at identified LTTE resistance positions”.

In a statement posted on its website, the LTTE alleged that the aerial attack on Chellaihkadai Junction in Murasumoddai in Kilinochchi killed four and injured 15 civilians.

The Tigers said another attack on the same spot injured three more civilians.

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