Soldiers marched into the village of Visuamadu in the final phase of operations against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a military official said.
"Troops have entered Visuamadu. There's heavy fighting in the area," the official said.
Government forces were now too close to the Tiger positions for the rebels to use their long-range artillery, the official said.
The territory under control of the Tigers has been rapidly shrinking since mid-2007 and the guerrillas lost their last urban centre when the military seized the town of Mullaittivu on Sunday.
During clashes on Tuesday, security forces engaged the rebels in five different areas in the small triangle of coastal territory still held by the LTTE and killed 19 rebels, the military official said.
Two of the rebels killed by troops on Tuesday were believed to be senior field commanders, the officer said. He did not say if the military suffered casualties in the latest fighting.
Government forces are tr