By Xinhua,
COLOMBO : The Sri Lankan government said Friday that only about 700 Tamil Tiger rebels remain as a result of a successful military offensive against the rebels launched in 2006.
The government’s defense spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has been confined to an area less than 200 square kilometers in the northeastern Mullaittivu district.
Rambukwella said about 120,000 civilians are being held by the LTTE as human shields, much less than the figure of 200,000 given by some aid agencies.
The spokesman said government troops will continue with the current operation until the LTTE is militarily defeated
He said there will be no negotiations regarding the mechanism of amnesty for Tamil Tiger rebels, as an mechanism is already there and many LTTE cadres who surrendered have been rehabilitated.
Rambukwella stressed that LTTE leader Velupillai Prabakaran cannot be pardoned because he was convicted and sentenced for 200 years of imprisonment by the Sri Lankan court.
The troops have successfully taken nearly all LTTE positions in the Northern and Eastern provinces ever since the current military operations began in July 2006.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakase said Wednesday that the LTTE will be decisively defeated within a few days.
Claiming discrimination at the hands of Sinhalese dominated governments, the LTTE has been fighting for an independent Tamil homeland in the north and east since the 1980s, resulting in the killing of more than 70,000 people.