Sri Lanka’s military Thursday seized a final strip of Tamil Tiger rebel-held land and secured total control of the key Jaffna peninsula in the north, an official said.

Sri Lankan troops on Friday captured Elephant Pass, the Tamil Tigers’ last stronghold on the Jaffna peninsula, seizing control of a symbolic highway and isolating the retreating rebels in a shrinking slice of northeastern jungle.

Sri Lankan forces sweeping down from the north captured an important Tamil Tiger base on the Jaffna peninsula Thursday, further boxing in the retreating rebel group, the military said.

The Sri Lankan military says it has captured an important Tamil Tiger base on the edge of the Jaffna peninsula.

Sri Lankan troops established a land link Saturday to the Jaffna peninsula, the heartland of the country’s ethnic minority Tamils, by seizing a strategic rebel stronghold on the west coast, the military said.