Advancing troops in the Manner theatre yesterday captured the building of the Mantai West Pradeshya Sabha which had been occupied by the LTTE, around 6 p.m.

Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said the offensive which had commenced in the early hours, also captured part of the Mantai West – Adampan road, the main supply route of the Tigers.

The Army had also destroyed LTTE artillery, heavy weapons, frontline bunkers and fortifications, making the Tigers retreat to the hinterland, he said.

The casualty figures were not known.

"Eight families consisting 29 members who fled Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu areas, had surrendered to the troops. They were resettled in an Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camp in Nanaddan, 18 km South East of Manner town," Nanayakkara said.