COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Sri Lankan soldiers captured a Tamil Tiger rebel camp and a factory in the war-ravaged north as government forces closed in on the beleaguered rebels, pushing them into a shrinking enclave, the military said Sunday.
A defence ministry statement said soldiers seized "a highly fortified camp" in the village of Maruthampuvel in the rebels' last stronghold of Mullaittivu on Saturday.
It did not provide details of casualties, but said soldiers found eight bodies of rebel fighters killed in fighting elsewhere in the region.
Army commander, Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka told reporters Saturday that troops have boxed the rebels into an area of 450 square kilometres and expected to capture the entire region soon.
The military has vowed to destroy the rebel group this year. Government forces in recent weeks have captured the guerrillas' de facto capital of Kilinochchi.
On Saturday, soldiers captured a rebel boat-manufacturing factory near Maruthampuvel where troops found two fast attack vessels and seven small boats used by rebels for suicide attacks, the statement said.
The Tamil Tigers have a naval wing that rams small vessels packed with explosives into government naval ships in suicide attacks.
Rebel spokesmen could not be contacted for comment because communication to the north has been severed.
With reporters banned from the war zone, Sri Lanka's media must rely largely on government and rebel statements for information about the war.
Meanwhile, the pro-rebel Web site TamilNet reported that an army artillery attack on a rebel-held village in Mullaittivu killed four civilians Saturday.
Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara denied the rebel claim and said the military attacks only identified rebel positions.
Human rights groups have warned that casualties among civilians living in the shrinking pocket of rebel territory are likely to mount as the government closes in on the insurgents.
An estimated 250,000 civilians remain in the war zone, many of them having fled from other areas ahead of advancing troops, according to aid groups.
The rebels said they are protecting civilians who voluntarily moved to the district, but Human Rights Watch has accused the rebels of preventing people from fleeing.
Meanwhile, neighboring India has expressed concerns at the humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka's north, India's External Affairs ministry said in a statement Sunday.
Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, who held talks with top Sri Lankan officials on Saturday, conveyed India's concerns and "the need to ensure the safety and security of the internally displaced civilian population," the statement said.
The rebels have been fighting since 1983 to establish an independent state for minority Tamils, who have suffered marginalization at the hands of successive governments controlled by the Sinhalese majority.
More than 70,000 people have been killed in the violence.
