Sri Lankan troops seized the last Tamil Tiger rebel base in the volatile east on Wednesday, a triumph that gave the government control of the region for the first time in 13 years, the army chief said.

The Tigers, however, warned Sri Lanka’s military that the fight was far from finished. “If they are coming into our territory, they will find stiff resistance from our people,” said Rasiah Ilanthirayan, the Tigers’ military spokesperson.

The fall of the eastern province is a significant blow to the LTTE dream of establishing an independent homeland in the nation’s north and east. “The modus operandi may have changed, but the fighting will continue,” said S Puleedevan, a top rebel official, in the northern rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi, where the Tigers maintain a de facto state.

President Mahinda Rajapakse praised Sri Lankan soldiers who “captured the last stronghold of the terrorists located in Thoppigala. “I remember with honour all heroes of war...who sacrificed their lives or were wounded in this exercise, carried out on behalf of the country,” Rajapakse said.

Meanwhile, Ilanthirayan accused the government of carrying out an air raid on a rebel-held northern village, killing two civilians and wounding 11 others. Air force planes pounded Alambil village in northern Mullaitivu district, Ilanthirayan said.

However, air force spokesperson Group Capt Ajantha Silva said the target was a rebel sea base and denied attacking civilians. “We had identified it and we are sure about the target,” he said.