Meanwhile, the pro-rebel Web site TamilNet reported that an army artillery attack on a rebel-held village in Mullaittivu killed four civilians Saturday.

Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara denied the rebel claim and said the military attacks only identified rebel positions.

Human rights groups have warned that casualties among civilians living in the shrinking pocket of rebel territory are likely to mount as the government closes in on the insurgents.

Aid groups estimate 250,000 civilians remain in the war zone.

The rebels have been fighting since 1983 to establish an independent state for minority Tamils, who have suffered marginalization at the hands of successive governments controlled by the Sinhalese majority.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in the violence. Published: Sun Jan 18 15:53:06 EST 2009

Thol Thirumavalavan, a regional leader in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is on a hunger strike demanding an “immediate cease-fire,” Ravi Kumar, a spokesman for his Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi party, said in a telephone interview from Chennai, the state capital. Tamil Nadu has a population of 62.4 million people.

“Our party will not stop our protests until demands are met,” Kumar said. Tamil lawmakers threatened to resign from India’s national Parliament last October over the Sri Lankan conflict. Their support is crucial to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s coalition government.

Sri Lanka’s army is attacking the last strongholds of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in the northeast after capturing the group’s political headquarters earlier this month as it tries to end the 26-year civil war. Tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced by the latest fighting and are in danger in the conflict zones, the International Committee of the Red Cross said yesterday.

Tamil Nadu’s ruling Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam party has “impressed” on the federal government that it should step in and stop the war, spokesman T.K.S. Illangovan said in a telephone interview from Chennai. The party wants Pranab Mukherjee, India’s foreign minister, to hold talks with the Sri Lankan government to “stop the genocide,” he said.

“Civilian Tamils are affected in large numbers,” Illangovan said. “This has to be stopped.” More...Discuss this story Published: Sun Jan 18 20:33:13 EST 2009

The Tamil separatists of Sri Lanka (the LTTE) pioneered the modern use of suicide bombers over twenty years ago. Between 1984 and 2006, the LTTE carried out 346 suicide bombing attacks (killing 3,262 civilians and wounding another 3,494). Through 2000, the LTTE accounted for most of the suicide bombing attacks on the planet. More...Discuss this story Published: Sun Jan 18 23:10:15 EST 2009