Sri Lankan Soldiers 'enter Last Stronghold of Tamil Tigers'

Sri Lankan troops have fought their way into the last town held by the Tamil Tiger separatist guerillas, the beginning of the end of Asia's longest-running war, according to government sources.

Troops had entered Puthukkudiyiruppu, a small town on a narrow strip of land in the north-east, controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, after reportedly encountering heavy resistance from rebel fighters.

The town's fall will leave the Tigers with only a handful of small coastal villages and the jungles to hide in. "With the fall of [Puthukkudiyiruppu], we expect no single point of resistance. The Tigers will be on the run," a government source told the Guardian.

The Sri Lankan army allowed a Reuters journalist into the battlezone, offering a rare insight into a war which has been largely off-limits to journalists. Brigadier Shavendra Silva was quoted as saying the town was "the last objective" and was measuring the war in days, not weeks.

Troops under his command were less than 4 miles (6 km) from the 8-mile no-fire zone that the army established on the Indian Ocean island's north-east coast. The Sri Lankan military still expects there to be a final showdown with the Tigers, which since last year has been severely weakened by government forces.

In recent weeks, the rebels have lost their one-time political capital of Kilinochchi and their main military base of Mullaittivu. A sign of the Tigers' desperation came earlier this week when they called for the international community to broker a truce.

However, an official in Colombo, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said there would be "no let up" in the fighting. "This time it is the end. We are concerned that there are 70,000 civilians being kept trapped by the [Tigers] and that has slowed our offensive."

The government says the Tigers have taken to shooting anyone who tries to flee and forced others to stay and fight. Aid agencies estimate the number of civilians trapped in the warzone at more than 200,000.