Sri Lanka's military said it had killed 420 rebels during a three-day battle that has now confined the Tamil Tiger separatists to a no-fire zone where tens of thousands of civilians are holed up.
"The only uncleared area left is the no-fire zone," military spokesperson Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.
"We have recovered over 420 bodies over the last three days."
He said that several second-tier Tiger commanders including one known as Colonel Theepan had been killed during the battle.
It is difficult to verify casualty figures given by either side since independent observers are generally barred from the war zone and both sides have been known to distort them.
