Sri Lankan troops 'fight for last Tamil-held town'

Sri Lankan troops were advancing inside the last town still held by Tamil Tiger separatists last night.

The government said it had no plans for a truce, despite UN and EU calls for a halt to fighting. Soldiers entered the northern township of Puthukudiyiruppu after heavy fighting on the outskirts, said the military.

It is the last town controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Aside from that the rebels only hold a handful of small coastal villages.

"They are inside Puthukudiyiruppu and fighting to take control," said defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella.

On Monday, the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, urged a "suspension of fighting" to allow tens of thousands of civilians to escape, while the EU called for an outright ceasefire and condemned the LTTE for forcibly keeping people in the war zone. Both followed an LTTE offer of a ceasefire on Monday, in which it refused to surrender.