Colombo: Sri Lanka on Monday formally announced the end of war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) after its chief V Prabhakaran was shot dead while trying to flee in an ambulance from the war zone in northern Sri Lanka. The three-decade long fight by the LTTE for a separate homeland for Tamils came to end after the death of the Tamil Tigers chief. Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse told President Mahinda Rajpakse on Monday in a nationally televised ceremony that Sri Lanka's war against Tamil Tiger rebels has "ended successfully." . "We have successfully ended the war," he told the President, who is his brother and commander-in-chief of the Sri Lankan armed forces. Sri Lankan military commanders also lined up and shook hands with him before starting closed-door talks. The meeting came as state television and defence officials announced that Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and the entire rebel leadership had been killed on Monday by government troops. According to the military, the Tamil Tigers tried to evacuate its leaders early this morning in two vehicles. Army special soldiers of 53 Division intercepted the vehicles moving north and destroyed the convoy after fierce fighting. The military said it had found 150 bodies of LTTE cadres so far and they are in the process of identifying them. Prabhakaran was shot dead as he tried to stage a dramatic breakout from the army encirclement, a military spokesman said. The news of Prabhakaran's death also came along with reports of bodies of his son Charles Anthony and three other top leaders -- Pottu Amman, Soosai and Nadesan being found.
- May 18, 2009