Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Sri Lankan fighter jets attacked a jungle base used by the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, as the military tries to defeat the rebel group after capturing its political base earlier this month.
Velupillai Prabhakaran is “running short of safe houses and escape routes,” the Defense Ministry said on its Web site. Soldiers are closing in on the last LTTE bastions at Puthukkudiyirippu and Mullaitivu in the northeast, it said.
The air force targeted an LTTE hideout frequented by Prabhakaran in raids on jungle bases late yesterday, the ministry cited Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara, an air force spokesman, as saying. The LTTE hasn’t commented on the attacks.
LTTE fighters moved into jungle areas of Mullaitivu after losing control of their headquarters at Kilinochchi on Jan. 2. While the military estimates the group has between 3,000 and 5,000 fighters left, some analysts say there may be as many as 10,000 who will now conduct a guerrilla war.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government last year scrapped a six-year truce with the LTTE and vowed military victory in the 26-year conflict that has killed at least 70,000 people. The Tamil Tigers, who are fighting for a separate homeland in the north and east of the country, lost control of the eastern region 18 months ago and were driven from territory in the northwest by army advances last year.
Jaffna Highway
Soldiers on Jan. 9 seized the main highway to the northern Jaffna Peninsula, taking full control of the area for the first time in 23 years. Communications among Tamil Tiger units have been reduced since the group suffered the defeats, the ministry said.
More than 230 civilians in areas of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu liberated by the army are seeking refuge in centers for displaced people, the ministry said on its Web site. About 200 civilians trying to escape the fighting by sea were detained by the navy, TamilNet reported on its Web site yesterday.
The LTTE’s Peace Secretariat, in a statement issued yesterday, accused the army of shelling civilian areas in the north, saying the artillery fire on Jan. 11 was the “worst in recent times.”
As many as 40 civilians were injured when villages were struck by missiles fired by land, air and sea, TamilNet reported on its Web site two days ago.
The government says ending the conflict is essential for the country’s $32 billion economy, which will likely see its growth weaken to between 5 percent and 5.5 percent this year, according to the central bank.
The LTTE, which says Tamils are discriminated against by the ethnic Sinhalese majority, is fighting for a separate homeland in the north and east of Sri Lanka. Tamils made up 11.9 percent of Sri Lanka’s population of 20 million in 2001 and the Sinhalese almost 74 percent, according to a census that year.
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