Prabhakaran's son, six other top LTTE leaders killed: SL army

The army believes that its special forces have encircled Prabhakaran, Tigers' intelligence head Pottu Aman and Sea Tigers' chief Soosoi who are boxed into a 100m x 100m area, north of Vellamullivaikkal and they would be ringed in soon.

The body of 24-year-old Anthony, chief of LTTE's air wing, was found during mop operations in the last rebel-held territory in the no-fire zone this morning, the defence ministry said.

The bodies of LTTE political head B Nadesan, LTTE peace Secretariat chief Pulidevan and Tigers' special forces military leader Ramesh were found in the war zone, it said.

Troops also recovered the bodies of Tigers' police wing chief Ilango along with senior rebel leaders Sundaram and Kapil Amman.

However, there was no word on the fate of the outfit's supremo Prabhakaran about whom there have been lot of speculative reports in the last two days that he is dead.

The deaths of the top LTTE leaders came a day after Tamil Tigers conceded defeat saying the decades-old battle has reached its "bitter end" and they have decided to "silence" their guns.

Nadesan, a former constable of Sri Lankan police, was heading the political wing of the Tamil Tigers. S Pulidevan was the head of "LTTE peace secretariat" while S Ramesh was the chief of Tamil Tigers' special forces.

According to the defence sources, the body of Anthony was found after an unsuccessful attempt by the Tamil Tigers to evacuate their leader's son early this morning.

Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said some rebels continued to offer resistance as troops conducted "mopping-up operations" in the area.

Anthony was known to be the head of Information and Technology department of the LTTE. It is believed that Prabhakaran was compelled to recruit his son to the outfit to avoid criticism over his hypocrisy.

The LTTE leader was often criticised for sending thousands of child soldiers to war while giving a luxurious life and best of education to his own children.

Anthony was injured in March while fighting the security forces alongside other prominent LTTE leaders like Banu and Lakshman.

Prabhakaran named his eldest son after Charles Anthony, a close and loyal confidante of his, who was killed in confrontations with the Sri Lankan Army in early 1980s.

Prabhakaran's son, who returned from Ireland in 2006, was believed to have got a degree in aeronautical engineering.

Confronting the LTTE fighters, who tried to escape, the Army early yesterday killed 70 Tiger rebels and destroyed six boats, the military said.

After being cornered, LTTE  said it had no other option but to silence its guns.

"We remain with one last choice -- to remove the last weak excuse of the enemy for killing our people. We have decided to silence our guns," LTTE's chief of international relations Selvarasa Pathmanathan said.

"This battle has reached its bitter end," Pathmanathan said, adding that "our only regrets are for the lives lost and that we could not hold out for longer."

The rebels' statement followed President Mahinda Rajapaksa's declaration on Friday in Jordan that the LTTE has been defeated militarily.

"My government with the total commitment of our Armed Forces, has in an unprecedented humanitarian operation, finally defeated the LTTE militarily," Rajapaksa had said.

"I will be going back to a country that has been totally freed from the barbaric acts of the LTTE," he said.

The over three-decades old conflict for a separate Tamil state waged by LTTE has left more than 70,000 dead in pitched battles, suicide attacks, bomb strikes and assassinations.