COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, February 24, SPA -- Sri Lankan forces entered thelast northern town under rebel control Tuesday, the military said, as the government brushed aside international calls for a cease-fire to allow tens ofthousands of civilians to escape the war zone. In recent months, the military has driven the Tamil Tigersout of their major strongholds in the north and confinedthem to a small patch of coastal land along the northeast. The government has vowed to destroy the rebels and end the25-year-old civil war plaguing this island nation, Associated Press reported. After breaching rebel defenses, troops entered the edge ofPuthukkudiyiruppu on Tuesday and were fighting on theoutskirts of the town, the military said. The town's capture would be another devastating blow tothe already reeling rebels and their dreams of creating anindependent state in the north and east. --SPA www.spa.gov.sa/638380