COLOMBO: Sri Lankan government troops have overrun a hideout of the Tamil Tiger rebels' feared intelligence chief, the Defense Ministry said yesterday.
But there was no sign of Pottu Amman, who along with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is believed to have either fled the island or still be hidden in a narrow strip of jungle.
“The safehouse was used by both Pottu Amman and (his deputy) Kapil Amman, two of the most-wanted terrorists,” the ministry said in a statement.
It said the hide-out was discovered during clearing operations at Iranapalai on Tuesday.
Amman and Prabhakaran are also wanted by neighboring India in connection with the 1991 assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Government troops say they have cornered the separatist rebels in the northeast, having dismantled their northern ministate in over a year of fierce fighting.
The ministry said the Tigers were still fighting back.
“The LTTE terrorists had made a desperate attempt to breach the military forward defenses, only to be left in total disarray,” it said of Tuesday's fighting.
Tiger guerrillas also fired anti-aircraft missiles at two military helicopters evacuating wounded troops from the battlefield yesterday, defense officials said, but added the choppers were not hit.
It was not immediately clear what type of missile had been used, but the guerrillas brought down several planes in the mid-1990s. Since then, they have not shot down a Sri Lankan aircraft, but have destroyed many in ground attacks.
