தர்மபுரத்தில் மேலும் ஒரு புலிகளின் நிலவறை கண்டுபிடிப்பு. (படங்கள்)

தர்மபுரத்தில் மேலும் ஒரு புலிகளின் நிலவறை இராணுவத்தினால் கண்டுபிடிக்கப்பட்டது. தர்மபுரத்தில் ஒரு வாரத்தில் கண்டுபிடிக்கப்பட்ட இரண்டாவது நிலவறை இது ஆகும். இது 80 ஒ40 சதுர அடி அளவில் அமைந்த சகல வசதிகளையும் கொண்ட இடமாக இது காடசியளிக்கின்றது. அதியுயர் தொழில் நுட்ப சாதனங்களை தன்னகத்தே கொண்ட இவ் கட்டடம் புலிகளின் முக்கிய கட்டளை பிறப்பிக்கும் தளமாக செயல்பட்டு இருக்கலாம் என நம்பப்படுகின்றது. இவ் இடம் பிரபாகரன் அடிக்கடி வந்து போன இடமாக இருக்கும் எனவும் நம்பப்படுகின்றது .






Sri Lanka captures Tiger command



The Sri Lankan military says its troops have captured a command centre for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), commonly known as the Tamil Tigers, finding maps and briefing rooms vital to the separatist movement's operations.

"We have captured the main LTTE command centre in Dharmapuram," Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, an army spokesman said on Thursday, adding that troops were conducting clearance operations in the area.

"We think it is a very significant place because they had maps of our brigade-level camps," Nanayakkara said. "This must have been a key centre they used."

Ground troops have pushed further into rebel-held territory in the north of the country over the past few weeks, and claimed to have taken the Dharmapuram facility on Thursday.

One hospital official in the region said that zones the military had named as "safe areas" had been shelled during the ongoing operation.

The separatist group could not be reached for comment, but TamilNet, a website with links to the movement, said that at least 46 civilians had been killed since the bombings began in the region on Tuesday.

The website also accused government forces of launching an attack on areas declared safe.

UN protests


Also on Thursday, the UN accused the Tamil Tigers of not allowing several staff members to leave Tamil territory.

"The LTTE's denial of safe passage is a clear abrogation of their obligations under international humanitarian law," the UN said.

The convoy, which arrived in a northern region known as the Vanni on January 16 for a humanitarian mission, had been due to leave on Thursday.

The Tigers have been steadily retreating since 2007 and have now been surrounded in the Mullaittivu district where they are thought to have many military bases.

Ashok Mehta, a retired general who served with an Indian Army peacekeeping force in Sri Lanka in the 1980s, told Al Jazeera: "The Tamil Tigers' aim is to live to fight another day and therefore they will try to relocate themselves."

The Sri Lankan government had set an objective of routing the Tigers by the end of 2008, and now Sri Lanka's army says it hopes to suppress any remaining resistance by April.

The separatists have been seeking independence for the island's minority Tamils since 1972, arguing that they are marginalised by the majority Sinhalese.