Sri Lankan fighter jets attacked a jungle base used by the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, as the military tries to defeat the rebel group after capturing its political base earlier this month, Bloomberg reported.
Velupillai Prabhakaran is "running short of safe houses and escape routes," the Defense Ministry said on its Web site. Soldiers are closing in on the last LTTE bastions at Puthukkudiyirippu and Mullaitivu in the northeast, it said.
The air force targeted an LTTE hideout frequented by Prabhakaran in raids on jungle bases late yesterday, the ministry cited Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara, an air force spokesman, as saying. The LTTE hasn't commented on the attacks.
LTTE fighters moved into jungle areas of Mullaitivu after losing control of their headquarters at Kilinochchi on Jan. 2. While the military estimates the group has between 3,000 and 5,000 fighters left, some analysts say there may be as many as 10,000 who will now conduct a guerrilla war.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government last year scrapped a six-year truce with the LTTE and vowed military victory in the 26-year conflict that has killed at least 70,000 people. The Tamil Tigers, who are fighting for a separate homeland in the north and east of the country, lost control of the eastern region 18 months ago and were driven from territory in the northwest by army advances last year.