Lankan forces kill 32 Tamil rebels in north

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COLOMBO, Mar 7 (AP): Sri Lankan soldiers assailed the last slice of land still controlled by ethnic Tamil separatists, killing at least 32 rebels, the defense ministry said Saturday.

However, the army could only confirm it killed 7 guerillas in Friday's battle for territory in the coastal area of Mullaitivu.

The military has driven the Tamil Tigers from nearly all their northern strongholds in an all-out offensive aimed at ending the South Asian island's quarter-century civil war.

Up to 200,000 civilians are cornered along with the holdouts in a strip of jungle and beach along the northeastern coast measuring just 50 square kilometres.