Tigers blunt Sri Lanka's drive to capture powerbase

[Alamuti Lotus]

Source: AFP

COLOMBO (AFP) – Dogged resistance by Tamil Tiger guerrillas appears to have held up a Sri Lankan military offensive in the north aimed at smashing the rebels' de facto state, analysts and military sources say.

A bullish government earlier this month said it was poised to capture the Tigers' Kilinochchi powerbase, 330 kilometres (206 miles) north of Colombo.

That drive, however, could take longer than anticipated with the separatist Tigers digging in, an army stretching to defend territory already seized, and poor weather hampering operations, the sources say.

Security forces had banked on a quick fall of Kilinochchi, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's (LTTE's) political capital.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081020/wl_asia_afp/srilankaunrest