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 COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - Government forces captured the last Tamil rebel base in Sri Lanka's volatile east on Wednesday, the army chief said, dealing a major blow to the two-decade fight for an independent homeland.
The fall of Thoppigala gives the government control over the entire eastern province for the first time in nearly 14 years. The Tamil Tiger rebels still control parts of northern Sri Lanka, where they maintain a de facto state.
The rebels have fought since 1983 to create an independent homeland for Sri Lanka's ethnic minority Tamils, who suffered decades of discrimination by majority Sinhalese-controlled governments. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the fighting.
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