Sri Lankan Government declares victory against the Tamil Tigers?

Sri Lanka's army chief has announced that all combat operations against the Tamil Tigers have ended with the last rebels defeated and all territory captured. The entire island is under government control for the first time in decades, the military said."All military operations have come to a stop with the capture of the remaining ditch,'' army chief Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka said in a statement. "Now the entire country is declared rid of terrorism and over 250 dead bodies of terrorists are scattered over the last ditch,'' he said. Officials said Sea Tiger leader Soosai and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) intelligence chief Pottu Amman died along with rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran while trying to escape in a van and ambulance from troops."Pottu Amman and Soosai were also in the same vehicle with Prabhakaran,'' a top military official said. "The Tigers had only an area of 100 metres by 100 metres, and that has now been taken." Source: Agence France-Presse