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Lankan troops closing in on rebel capital after fall of key towns

AFP, Colombo
Sri Lankan troops yesterday captured two strategic towns from Tamil Tigers as they closed in on the rebels' political capital, the defence ministry said.
With the fall ofThunukkai and Uyilankulam, the military was just 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) south of Kilinochchl, the centre of Ilie de facto state run by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (ETTE), the ministry said in a statement.
"At present, troops arc deployed at Akkarayankulam, 12 kilometres south of the Kilinochchi town," the statement said. "Heavy clashes occurred throughout past few days and the LTTE are fleeing from the area as they are unable to withstand the advancing troops."
A military spokesman here said details of casualties in Friday's clashes were not available, but
added that 21 rebels and two soldiers died in fighting on Thursday.
President Mahinda Rajapakse announced Tuesday that troops were on the final push to dismantle the LTTE's de facto state in the north after the military ejected the rebels from the east in July 2007.
The Tigers have tacitly admitted that troops were advancing on them, but have not commented on details of the latest battles.
Meanwhile, the military found suicide bombing kits inside a Roman Catholic church in Colombo on Friday, the defence ministry said.
Acting on a tip-off, soldiers searched the church and discovered material and accessories for making suicide kits of the type generally used by the LTTE, the ministry said.
There was no immediate com-
ment from the church
Separately, the military also uncovered eight sticks of dynamite, 'detonators and steel balls hidden in sand in the central district of Kandy, the ministry said,
It also accused the UTE of gunning down a Sinhalese university student late Thursday in eastern Batticaloa district.
Tens of thousands have died on both sides since the rebels began fighting in 1972 for an Independent homeland for minority Tamils on the majority Sinhalese island.
The latest deaths raised to 6,020 the number of rebels that the government says have been killed pince January. The ministry says 562 soldiers have died during the same period.
Colombo has scrapped a truce and poured a record 1.5 billion dollars into this year's war effort in what it says is an all-out bid to crush the rebels.