Sri Lankan military fights to surround rebels

Sri Lankan today forces battled to take complete control of the country’s coastline and surround the reeling Tamil Tigers in a final push to destroy the rebel group and end the country’s civil war, the military said.

As the fighting raged, hundreds of desperate war refugees escaped the conflict zone and a top UN official headed here on an urgent mission to safeguard the tens of thousands of civilians still trapped amid the heavy shelling.