COLOMBO, Nov 15: Government troops on Saturday captured the last LTTE bastion in the north western coast, clearing the entire western coastline of Tamil Tigers, the defence ministry said.

The Pooneryn town was captured against stiff resistance by the LTTE, President Mahinda Rajapakse announced on Saturday, calling upon the guerilla leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran to surrender and return to the negotiation table.

“It is the greatest service you can do to the people in the Wanni,” Mr Rajapakse told Mr Prabhakaran referring to the Tamil civilians under rebel control. Describing his military as ‘war heroes’, the president said that with the capture of Pooneryn, government troops would be able to open the land route to Jaffna from the south, via Mannar which is the alternative to the main A-9 highway that connects the South with the North.

Military officials said Air Force jets and MI-24 helicopter gunships had been bombarding the LTTE in Pooneryn and Paranthan for the past one month.

Analysts say it is expected that the army would shortly move to the northern area of Paranthan further east and thereafter facing the options of either heading south to take Killinochchi where the rebel headquarters is located or heading north to take Elephant Pass.

Reuters adds: Surrender is a highly unlikely prospect because Prabhakaran who made suicide bombing an effective weapon of war long before Al Qaeda did orders his fighters to take cyanide in case of capture and is rumoured to carry a cyanide capsule himself. Control of Pooneryn means that, for the first time since 1993, the government controls a land route all the way to a ferry that can easily bring supplies to Jaffna.

It will also ease military supply lines while cutting off Tiger routes, Colombo-based defence analyst Iqbal Athas said.

“From their secret bases in Tamil Nadu, the Tigers will not be able to bring war material into the western coast,” Athas said, referring to the nearby Tamil-majority state across the Palk Strait in India.

Athas said it foreshadowed a brutal battle for Kilinochchi, the capture of which would give the military strategic and morale gains while energising Rajapaksa’s political base.

“Capturing Pooneryn is very significant, but now they have a more responsible task of securing the areas captured,” he said. “The rebels are throwing all they have to secure Kilinochchi.”