Colombo: Sri Lanka's press on Saturday toasted the military's capture of the Tamil Tiger political capital, hailing it as a "watershed" event in the drawn out battle with the separatist rebels.
Security forces on Friday took the northern town of Kilinochchi, which was the rebels unofficial capital for a decade, after nearly two years of heavy fighting that claimed thousands of lives on both sides.
"The fall of Kilinochchi... Marks a watershed in the current humanitarian mission to liberate northern Tamil civilians from the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) tyranny," the state-run Daily News said.
The Island newspaper said the Tigers decision to give up Kilinochchi and move to the adjoining coastal district of Mullaittivu was a "tacit" admission that it cannot go on fighting.
The Tigers, through the pro-rebel Tamilnet.com website said the army had entered a "virtual ghost town" as the guerrillas had moved their civilian administration further northeast.
The Island scoffed at the rebel reaction saying the "LTTE's spin doctors" were "running in search of fig leaves to cover their nudity".
The Daily Mirror said the government must move swiftly and work out a political solution to resolve the conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives since 1972.
Similar calls were made by the Sinhalese-language Rivira and Divaina newspapers.
"So now the government has first to ensure that the Tamil people in the area (island's north) who have suffered for long are provided with all that they need to get back to their normal lives," the Daily Mirror said.
Having pulled out of a Norwegian brokered truce last January, government forces are now moving towards Mullaittivu, the last rebel-controlled northern area where the LTTE are known to have their main military facilities.
