Colombo - Government troops entered a rebel stronghold in northern Sri Lanka, killing at least 25 Tamil rebels, a military spokesman said Thursday.
Troops advanced to the Mallavai area, 320 kilometres north of Colombo, penetrating as far as the Mullaitivu district where rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran had been living, Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.
During the operation troops killed 25 rebels and captured an irrigation tank as well as three mortars, the spokesman said.