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LTTE denies Tiger chief is injured

COLOMBO: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on Saturday denied claims made by the Sri Lanka military that its leader Velupillai Prabakaran was injured in an aerial raid on November 26 and 28 and maintained that he is hale and hearty.

“Our leader [Prabakaran] is like the sun. No one can extinguish him. Do you think we will ever keep our leader in such a place where he is vulnerable to attacks? He is leading us from the front. He is not injured”, a spokesperson for the LTTE, who claimed to have met Prabakaran three days ago, said.

The spokesperson conceded that the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) conducted aerial raids on areas under the control of the LTTE on November 27 and 28.

However, he was not sure about the claim made by the SLAF about the aerial raid on November 26.

Separately, the English newspaper Daily Mirror, in a report on the defence situation, said quoting unidentified military intelligence sources that Prabakaran may have suffered a minor bruise on his right shoulder during the SLAF air raid.

“The underground bunker in which Prabakaran was hiding at the time was partially destroyed. During this attack, part of the camouflaged bunker at his safe house situated in a housing scheme, had fallen on Prabakaran’s right shoulder, injuring him”, the daily said.

Further, the paper claimed that the attack against the LTTE’s political head S.P. Thamilselvan on November 2 and the one against Prabakaran were carried out on the basis of information from civilian sources in Wanni.

“People even in Kilinochchi are now reportedly having close links with the armed forces”, it said.

“Pottu Amman’s LTTE intelligence is now reportedly trying to locate civilians who were having links with the military”, the paper said.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka military claimed to have captured at least five bunkers along the Uyilankulama, the entry-exit point to Madhu Church ahead of SLA defences in Mannar in the north, killing eight cadres of the LTTE.

It said that one soldier was killed in the confrontation.

TamilNet in a report maintained that the Tiger militants thwarted an attempt made by troops to enter LTTE defence lines at Kokkuthoduvaai in Vanni, killing four troops and injuring more than nine.

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