Sri Lankan troops say they have taken more territory from Tamil Tiger rebels in the northern Jaffna peninsula.

The army says troops seized the town of Pallai, a key Tiger position, after heavy fighting, and that it hopes to capture the entire north soon.
Pallai is south of Muhamalai, the northernmost defensive line of the rebels in Jaffna, which the troops captured on Tuesday. The Tigers have not yet commented on the latest fighting in Jaffna.
Military spokesman, Brig Udaya Nanayakkara, said troops had encountered small pockets of resistance as the army advanced about 5km (3 miles) south from Muhamalai into the former rebel stronghold of Pallai. He said the Tigers had pulled back their heavy guns.
The main aim of the army is to open Elephant Pass, which links the Jaffna peninsula to the mainland. Government troops are already at the southern end.
The BBC's Roland Buerk in Colombo reports that the military has said the Tigers appear to be abandoning their positions on the Jaffna peninsula to make a last stand in the jungles of Mullaitivu, their last main base.
The Tigers' administrative and political capital, Kilinochchi, fell last week.
Earlier this week, the Tigers' political head, B Nadesan, dismissed the fall of Kilinochchi as an ""insignificant setback in the context of a liberation struggle"".
""Kilinochchi town was captured more than once by the Sri Lanka military earlier. Similarly, we have also recaptured the town on earlier occasions,"" Mr. Nadesan said in an interview with the pro-rebel TamilNet website on Monday.
Correspondents say the fall of Pallai is another blow for the Tigers, who are being harried by the government's offensive.
(Source: BBC)