The Sri Lankan government’s endgame shelling of areas controlled by the Tamil Tigers has reached its conclusion — a massive defeat for the secessionist movement and the death of its leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran.
The Associated Press reported the details of Prabhakaran’s death:
Senior [Sri Lankan] military officials said Prabhakaran was surrounded early Monday with the last of his fighters. He and his top deputies drove in an armor-plated van accompanied by a bus filled with armed rebels toward approaching Sri Lankan forces, sparking a two-hour firefight … Troops eventually fired a rocket at the van, ending the battle, the officials said.
Sunjeev Bery 