Sri Lanka declares victory over Tamil Tigers

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa said today his country has militarily defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels.

Mr Rajapaksa said Sri Lankan armed forces had finally defeated the rebel group after 25 years of civil war. He spoke at an international gathering in Jordan.

Earlier today, Sri Lankan troops took control of the coastline and surrounded the remaining rebel fighters.

The military reported that fighting was still raging this evening evening.

Sri Lanka’s military said it had taken control of the island’s entire coastline and cut off any sea escape for Tamil Tiger leaders trapped in a tiny slice of remaining rebel territory.

Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said two army divisions moving along the island’s north-eastern coast linked up to deny the rebels sea access for the first time in its quarter-century separatist uprising.