Sri Lanka pushes ahead with war on rebels

Battle tanks rumbled north, attack helicopters flew overheard and artillery fire roared through the jungles as Sri Lankan forces pushed ahead yesterday with an offensive aimed at capturing the Tamil Tigers' last strongholds and crushing the rebel group.

Two days after the military seized the rebels' administrative capital of Kilinochchi, the government led a victory tour of the newly seized areas in the north, providing journalists a rare glimpse of the war zone and the damage left behind.

The army was using Paranthan Junction, a strategic crossroads the military captured on Thursday, as a staging area to send troops into the fight for two of the biggest prizes remaining in the battle, the rebel-held areas of Elephant Pass to the north and Mullaittivu to the east.