Sri Lankan soldiers seized a large swath of Tamil Tiger rebel-held territory while scattered battles elsewhere in the embattled north killed 26 rebels and two soldiers, the military said Monday.

Fighting has escalated in this Indian Ocean island in recent months. Government forces say they are steadily moving into rebel territory, capturing villages and small towns and causing heavy casualties among the insurgents.

The government has vowed to crush the rebels and dismantle their de facto administration by the end of this year.

In the latest fighting, army troops took control of about 46 square miles of rebel-held territory in the Mannar region Sunday following months of fighting, said military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara.

He did not provide any casualty details.

Nanayakkara said the capture of the fertile rice bowl area was “a significant breakthrough made by the security force as it cuts off one of the rebels’ main supply routes from their de facto state in the north.”

Soldiers meanwhile killed 13 rebels in clashes Sunday in the Welioya region, a military statement said. Another 13 rebels and two soldiers were killed in battles in Mannar and Vavuniya districts.

Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan was not immediately available for comment.

It was not possible to independently verify the military’s claims because journalists are banned from the northern jungles where much of the fighting takes place. The two sides often exaggerate the casualties inflicted upon their enemy and lower their own losses.

The Tamil Tiger rebels have fought since 1983 to create an independent state for ethnic minority Tamils, who have been marginalized by successive governments controlled by Sinhalese. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict.