Date:12/11/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/11/12/stories/2007111259941600.htm

International

LTTE chief’s days are numbered: air force chief

B. Muralidhar Reddy

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan Air Force chief, Air Marshal Roshan Goonatilleke has said the days of LTTE chief Velupillai Prabakaran are “numbered” and his force would “go all out to get rid” of him soon.

In an interview to the state run English weekly Sunday Observer, he said it was not a difficult task for the Air Force to get at Prabakaran as he was confined to a very limited area in Wanni.

“I do not think it is that difficult for us to get at him now. We will find him somehow soon. We need a great deal of patience,” he said. Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake told journalists days after the November 2 raid on Kilinochchi in which the LTTE political wing chief Thamilchelvam was killed, that the Air Force would hunt down senior leaders of the LTTE. Air Marshal Goonatilleke told the weekly that the “days of the LTTE leadership are numbered and they would find the whereabouts of Prabakaran soon.” He said the Air Force also sought the support of the civilians to make its strike more accurate. “When people in the area provide information we will be ready to target him,” he was quoting as saying.

Commending the fullest support of the Rajapaksa government in the military operations, he said the Air Force appreciated the commitment of the top political leadership and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa to make the missions successful.

12 rebels killed

AP reports:

Clashes between troops and the Tigers left 12 guerillas and one soldier dead in the restive north, said the military on Sunday.

Soldiers pushed into rebel territory in Mannar district on Saturday and attacked a line of bunkers, killing nine rebels, said a military official . Government forces later attacked another series of bunkers in Vavuniya district, killing two rebels.