Sri Lankan troops recaptured Kilinochchi, the former seat of the Tamil Tiger rebel movement, after days of heavy fighting, military officials said Friday.
Sri Lankan military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara addresses reporters in Colombo on Friday.
The loss of the northern city is the latest in a series of reversals for the rebels, who have fought for an independent ethnic Tamil state for 25 years. News of the victory prompted celebrations in Colombo and other cities.
There was no immediate response from the Tamil Tigers.
The Tigers ran a parallel administration from Kilinochchi with their own "police force, courts, prisons and taxes, and had declared government plans to retake the city a "daydream." But after Sri Lanka launched a new offensive against the rebels in the fall, the rebels moved their nerve center and logistics bases to Mullaitivu on the northeastern coast.
The recapture of Kilinochchi follows that of the "notorious" Iranamadu junction just south of Kilinochchi on Thursday, and the capture of the town Paranthan, four kilometers (2.5 miles) away, on Wednesday, according to the military.
The gains are the most significant for government forces since mid-November, when they secured control of the country's west coast.
Both Paranthan and Kilinochchi are located along the A-9 highway that connects mainland Sri Lanka to the northern Jaffna peninsula.