Sri Lanka military captures key northern town-govt

COLOMBO, July 16 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan troops have captured a strategically important coastal town from the Tamil Tigers, the defence ministry said on Wednesday, as government forces continue their push against the rebels' northern stronghold. The ministry described the capture of the northwestern town of Vidattaltivu, which it said was the main base of the Tigers' sea wing and their logistics hub for the west, as a "fatal blow" for the rebels. Fighting in the 25-year civil war is now concentrated in the north after the Sri Lankan army, which has vowed to finish off the Tigers this year, drove the rebels out of their eastern enclave in 2007. "Gallant soldiers of Army 58 Division and Commando Brigade have liberated the strategically important Vidattaltivu town this morning," the defence ministry said in its website... [read full story]