Sri Lanka believes LTTE supreme commander Prabhakaran ‘shot dead’

The chief of Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Velupillai Prabhakaran, has been shot dead along with his son and other Tiger commanders, Sri Lankan army has reportedly claimed in its latest statement.

According to a news report, the Sri Lankan army has killed Tiger supreme Velupillai Prabhakaran along with his son and other Tiger rebels. The Sri Lankan government, in a statement, said the troops shot him dead while he was trying to flee Lankan army. It said Prabhakaran and his top commanders came out of their hiding place and in a small convoy of van and an ambulance and tried to escape from the war zone. But they were shot dead by the Sri Lankan special forces. Prabhakaran’s body has reportedly been identified by the army and taken to an army camp in Colombo. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa said:

"I am proud to announce ... that my government with the total commitment of our armed forces has in an unprecedented humanitarian operation, finally defeated the LTTE militarily.”

Sri Lanka's army chief, Lt. Gen. Sareth Fonseka, reportedly said:

“He was killed with two others inside the vehicle. There will be a formal announcement later.”

He also said: “We can announce very responsibly that we have liberated the whole country from terrorism.” Two others killed along with Prabhakaran are yet to be identified. But they are believed to be his closest associates — LTTE intelligence chief Pottu Amman and Sea Tigers' chief Soosoi. According to a report, the Sri Lankan army has recovered 150 bodies of LTTE cadres but the bodies are still being identified. All civilians held hostage by the LTTE have now been freed from the battle zone, a report added. Prabhakaran's death would mark the end of a decades-old battle by the Tiger leader for an independent ethnic homeland for minority Tamils across northern and eastern Sri Lanka. In a dramatic announcement, the rebels have acknowledged that their quest for separate state in Sri Lanka has reached its “bitter end”, indicating Asia’s longest running civil war was all but over. In a statement Selvarasa Pathmanathan, the Tigers' chief of international relations, said:

"We have decided to silence our guns. Our only regrets are for the lives lost and that we could not hold out for longer."