General

Top Tiger officially dead

Sri Lanka’s rebels finally admit that their “supreme commander” was killed

The Tamil Tigers are finally admitting that their leader is no more. For the past week, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have denied that Vellupillai Prabhakaran was killed in the final battle of Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war. Even when government forces displayed Prabhakaran’s corpse for the cameras, the Tigers insisted that their founder was alive and in hiding. But in a statement released today, the LTTE conceded the truth. “We announce today, with inexpressible sadness and heavy hearts, that our incomparable leader and supreme commander…attained martyrdom fighting the military oppression of the Sri Lankan government on May 17.”

The Washington Post

Looking for more?

Get the Best of Maclean's sent straight to your inbox. Sign up for news, commentary and analysis.
  • By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.