New Delhi, Feb 24 : India on Tuesday asked Sri Lanka to appropriately work for the evacuation of civilians from war zones and expressed its willingness to help in this direction.

External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said that India was ready to provide all necessary help to facilitate the process of bringing innocent civilians to safety and to meet their humanitarian needs for relief materials, medicines and medical care.

Colombo  - Government troops entered the last rebel-held town in northern Sri Lanka after heavy clashes overnight, military officials said Tuesday.

Troops entered Pudukudirippu, 385 kilometres north-east of the capital and were consolidating positions Tuesday morning, the army said.

It said Tamil rebels sustained heavy casualties in combat Monday and lost a large amount of weapons in the area.

New Delhi, Feb 22 : The Centre is keeping eye on the developments in Swat Valley in Pakistan due to Talibans and in Sri Lanka due to LTTE cadre facing military action.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Sriprakash Jaiswal on Sunday said the Government of India is aware of the turbulence affecting the region.

"The government is fully aware that the country can face problem and we are ready for it. We have informed our security forces, defence and paramilitary. We have also informed our states to take all necessary measures," Jaiswal said.

Colombo  - The death toll in a massacre of villagers by Tamil rebels in eastern Sri Lanka increased to 21 as the army and police stepped up security in the area, military officials said Sunday.

The military had reported late Saturday that eight civilians were killed in the attack, but a subsequent search overnight revealed that 21 persons including women and children were killed, they said.

Another 20 villagers were left wounded in the attack on Kirimetiya village in Inginiyagala district. Many of the villagers were belonged to the majority Sinhala community.

Colombo  - Tamil rebels stormed a village in eastern Sri Lanka on Saturday, killing at

Colombo, Feb 21 : The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE), on Saturday claimed responsibility of Friday night''s aerial strikes on a main revenue department building near the Sri Lankan Air Force Headquarters in Colombo.

In a statement released on its website, the LTTE said the strikes were suicide attacks carried out by its ''Black Air Tiger'' squad.

They also released photographs of the two Black Air Tigers, Col. Roopan and Lt. Col. Siriththiran with LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran before embarking on their mission.

The attack claimed the lives of two persons and injured 54.