COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan army has captured the LTTE’s fifth airfield located near the former rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi, which was taken over by the military early this month, the defence ministry said on Thursday.

This is the final airstrip of the rebels, according to the ministry.Meanwhile, the Military Headquarters in Colombo said the government troops had secured total control of the northern Jaffna peninsula.

The peninsula has been seen as the focus of the LTTE over the past 30 years with the rebels never being able to keep it fully under their control consistently. Jaffna was largely controlled by the military since 1995 but the insurgents held some eastern parts of the peninsula.

Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara confirmed on Wednesday that the whole of the peninsula had been ‘liberated from the Tiger terrorists’. Last week troops captured the Elephant Pass base, the guerilla separatists’ final stronghold in the peninsula.

The military has denied suffering any casualties. The army’s latest victory coincides with the arrival of India’s National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan to the country. Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse told TV channels that Mr Narayanan had stated that Sri Lanka had the best army chief in the world, referring to Army Commander Lt-Gen Sarath Fonseka.