Sri Lankan forces pushing toward the Tamil Tigers' last stronghold in the north captured what appeared to be the rebels' main operations center, the military said Thursday.
It was not immediately clear what impact the capture would have on the raging civil war. Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said the rebels almost certainly have set up a new command center inside their shrinking stronghold in the northeast.
In recent months, the army has pushed the rebels out of much of the territory they once controlled in the north, capturing the group's administrative capital of Kilinochchi and a key stronghold at Elephant Pass.
On Wednesday, soldiers overran a building in the Mullaittivu district they believe was used as the Tamil Tigers' main command center, Nanayakkara said.
The building, which included underground bunkers and an auditorium, was filled with detailed maps showing the military's deployments across the north and east as well as rebel positions, he said.
Most of the equipment had been removed from the building and the rebels must have set up a new center before the army moved in, Nanayakkara said.
Tamil Tiger spokesmen were not available for comment. Independent accounts were also not available because journalists and aid groups are barred from the conflict zone.
Battles continued Wednesday, and the military recovered the bodies of three slain rebel fighters, Nanayakkara said.
With the fighting raging, international aid groups have expressed concern over the fate of hundreds of thousands of civilians reportedly living in the shrinking area controlled by the rebels.
In a statement, the rebels accused the government of killing 17 civilians and wounding at least 50 in extensive shelling on Monday and Tuesday. The military has denied firing into civilian areas.
The military dropped leaflets in the north Wednesday urging civilians to move to a "safety zone" on the edge of rebel territory, from which they will be transported into the government-held area. The military will not fire into that zone, Nanayakkara said.
The government also warned that with the rebels on the run, they might resort to a wave of suicide attacks in the relatively peaceful southern part of the country.
Police spokesman Ranjith Gunasekera said 14 Tamil Tiger suicide bombers were currently hiding in the capital, Colombo, and its suburbs and called on people to be vigilant. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up in the Colombo area in recent weeks.
On Wednesday, a bomb strapped to a bicycle killed two people outside a police station in eastern Sri Lanka. Authorities blamed the rebels for the attack.
The Tamil Tigers are listed as a terror group by the United States, the European Union and India.
They have been fighting since 1983 to establish an independent state for minority Tamils, who have suffered decades of marginalization at the hands of successive governments controlled by the Sinhalese majority. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the violence.
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