SL Security Forces victorious; "Vakarai Town liberated"
SL security forces claimed victorious as Vakarai town was liberated a few hours ago in the eastern Batticaloa, on Friday the 19th of January.
The LTTE terrorists had fled the Vakarai Town area unable to withstand the intrusive thrust of the armed forces. Following an hours long effort the SL army troops finally liberated the Vakarai town and hospital which was used as an artillery launching pad by the terrorists keeping civilians as human shields.
According to military sources, the ground troops are presently consolidating their defences in the Vakarai town area.
More information will follow.
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Sri Lankan troops liberated a key town in Eastern Sri Lanka as they continued their offensive to evict the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE, also called the Tamil Tigers) from the Eastern Province of the country. 

The town of Vakarai, which has been under the control of the LTTE since 1996, was a key stronghold for the LTTE and one of their last major bases in the East. Sri Lankan troops met little resistance as they moved into the town at around noon local time, as the Tamil Tigers were believed to have fled further North.

A Sri Lankan defense ministry statement on its website said the LTTE had fled the town area "unable to withstand the intrusive thrust of the armed forces". A statement from the Media Center for National Security said "triumphant troops are presently consolidating their positions and clearing the terrain to resettle displace civilians."

The Tigers have so far failed to comment on the fighting. 

Leading up to the capture of the town, around 12,000 civilians, whom the government claimed the LTTE were using as Human Shields, were reported to have fled to the safety of government controlled areas. This added to the 20,000 who had already fled to government controlled areas since heavy fighting began in December 2006.

Basic necessities for them were provided by the security forces. The government stated that it would make all efforts to resettle the civilians as soon as normalcy is restored in the town.

The fall of Vakarai is expected to badly disrupt Tamil Tiger activities in the East, an also seriously dent their supplies to the North.