Tamil Tigers admit defeat after battle reaches 'bitter end'

Tamil Tigers admit defeat after battle reaches 'bitter end'

www.timesonline.co.uk

Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels admitted defeat today after a final flurry of suicide attacks on the government forces which have surrounded them in a tiny patch of coconut grove on the northeastern coast.

The Tigers’ surrender -– after 26 years of fighting for an ethnic Tamil homeland -- was announced in a statement by Selvarasa Pathmanathan, their chief of international relations, on the pro-rebel Tamilnet web site.

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Finally they have accepted the defeat; this bloody war has killed thousands of civilians, soldiers & top level politicians. Am happy to see this is finally ended. Hope they will not reunite and start the war once again as their top line leaders are yet to be caught or living out side the country.

Hope everything settle downs once for all.

www.timesonline.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

I doubt it.

I think they are simply admitting defeat to prevent being totally wiped out. This is a stalling tactic to rebuild their base after the many defeats they have suffered.

reply to post by Ace High


May be but the govt soldiers are in control of their land and coastal lines now (which allows them to import arms); if they could spy and find the LTTE's moves and ambitions successfully then reuniting wouldn't be that easy for them.

News update

Military: Troops kill 3 Tamil Tigers leaders

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNN) -- The Sri Lankan military said Monday that they killed three top leaders of the Tamil Tigers and the son of the rebel group's founder.

CNN was unable to confirm the account because of safety and access reasons.

The deaths were the result of continuing armed encounters with the last remnants of the rebel group, who are now cornered in a small stretch of land in the country's north, according to the military.

The offensive against the rebel group is in its last stages, the Sri Lankan government has said.

The rebels said Sunday that they have decided to "silence our guns." If they follow through, the action will potentially mark the end of a bloody civil war that has lasted 25 years and killed as many as 70,000 people.

While authorities said they have killed Charles Anthony, the son of the group's founder, there has been no word on the whereabouts of the man himself, Vellupillai Prabhakaran.

Source

It is good to see the Sri Lankan army is doing their best to eliminate the rebel groups top line leaders; Hope to see peace in that part of the world

Breaking News

Sri Lanka Says Tamil Tiger Leader Is Dead

The leader of the Tamil Tigers has been shot dead while trying to flee government troops, according to a Sri Lankan defence official.

Velupillai Prabhakaran, 54, was reportedly trying to escape from the area in an ambulance with two close aides but was ambushed and killed.

"It was confirmed Prabhakaran was killed when trying to flee in an ambulance before dawn," the military source said on condition of anonymity.

"We are waiting for the official announcement by the president."

Four others sources confirmed the account but there has been no official comment from the military.

State TV also broadcast what it said were images of the corpse of Prabhakaran's son and heir apparent, Charles Anthony, for the first time.

Over the weekend, the Tamil Tigers announced they were laying down their arms after a 26-year fight for an independent homeland.

Meanwhile, more than 1,000 Sri Lankans gathered to protest outside the British High Commission in Colombo.

Some threw rocks, breaking windows as others hurled a burning effigy of Britain's foreign secretary David Miliband over the compound's wall.

Mr Miliband has been critical of the Sri Lankan government's prosecution of the war and Britain has backed calls for a war crimes probe.

So urce

[edit on 18-5-2009 by Enceladus]