Colombo  - A civilian hospital hit by repeated shelling over the past few days during fighting between government forces and Tamil rebels in north-eastern Sri Lanka has been closed and the patients shifted away to safer locations, a Red Cross spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Colombo  - Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday expressed confidence of defeating Tamil separatist rebels within days and ending the civil war they have been fighting against the government for the past three decades.

"I am confident that in a few days, we will decisively defeat the terrorist force that many repeatedly kept saying was invincible," Rajapaksa said in an address to the nation marking the 61st anniversary of the island nation gaining independence from Britain.

Colombo, Feb. 3, : Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan on Tuesday equaled the world record held for long by Pakistani cricketer Wasim Akram for most One Day International wickets at Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Murali took the crucial wicket of Yuvraj Singh to equal the world record.

Right handed off spinner Muralitharan needed just two wickets to surpass the Akram''s tally of 502 wickets in today's match. But he could only take one wicket in his spell of
10 overs.

He is already carrying the world record for most wickets in the long form of cricket also.

Colombo - The army advanced into the last Tamil rebel strongholds in northern Sri Lanka as local and international concern about civilian casualties heightened Tuesday.

Fighting was reported from the Mullaitivu district, including an area surrounding a government hospital located in Pudukudirippu, 385 kilometres north-east of the capital where shelling was reported over the past two days.

Colombo, Feb3 : The Sri Lankan Defense Ministry declared on Tuesday that its troops have captured a two-storey deep underground bunker complex believed to have been occupied by Tiger chief Velupillai Prabhakaran.

The bunker was found in a coconut plantation in Mullaittivu District and has electricity generators, air conditioning and medical supplies.

Twenty rebels died while trying to defend the bunker.

However, there was no sign of Prabhakaran''s presence. The military believes that he has fled from the island by boat.

Chennai/Colombo, Feb. 2 : Tamil Nadu and South Zone fast bowler Laxmipathy Balaji has been recalled to the Indian team. He will replace Munaf Patel in the squad that is playing an ODI series in Sri Lanka.

Munaf sustained a groin injury and was forced to return home after the second ODI.

A cricinfo report said that Balaji last played for India in an ODI in 2005 in Sri Lanka before a stress fracture forced him out of the game.