Troops have captured rebel capital, Sri Lankan president says

Sri Lanka's president says government forces have captured the rebel capital of Kilinochchi.

Mahinda Rajapaksa told a nationally televised news conference that troops took control of the town Friday for the first time in a decade. He appealed to the Tamil Tiger rebels to lay down their arms.

The capture of Kilinochchi is a huge blow to the rebels and their 25-year-old war for a separate state for the nation's Tamil minority.

Rebel officials could not be reached for immediate comment. They have said in the past they would fight on if Kilinochchi fell.

A suspected Tamil Tiger suicide attacker on a motorcycle detonated a bomb near the air force headquarters in the heart of Colombo during Friday's afternoon rush hour, killing two airmen, said police Ranjith Gunasekara.

The bomb also wounded 30 people, including nine airmen, said Gunasekara.

Fighting has escalated in recent months as government troops have moved deep into rebel territory and captured a number of key bases and towns at the edge of Kilinochchi.

Authorities have vowed to crush the rebels and end their 25-year campaign for an independent state for ethnic minority Tamils.

The rebels have fought since 1983 to create an independent homeland for ethnic minority Tamils after decades of marginalization at the hands of successive governments controlled by the Sinhalese majority. More than 700,000 people have been killed in the violence.