Sri Lanka’s elusive Tamil rebel supremo was wounded in an air strike last month by security forces shortly after his annual policy broadcast, a privately-run newspaper here reported Sunday.The Nation newspaper said Velupillai Prabhakaran, leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), was wounded in an underground bunker in the northern district of Kilinochchi on November 28. “A section of the bunker had crumbled and some falling debris had struck the LTTE leader,” the newspaper said, quoting sources in rebel-held territory.
The paper added that Prabhakaran, who delivered his annual policy statement a day earlier, which pledged to continue fighting, was treated at an underground medical unit and recovered fully from “minor” injuries. There was no immediate reaction to the report either from the Tigers or Sri Lankan defence authorities.
Last month, PrabhakaranÂ’s de facto number two, SP Thamilselvan, was killed in an air attack by the Sri Lankan military. Prabhakaran, 53, then vowed to avenge the killing of his political chief. The attack on Prabhakaran reportedly took place a day after Sri LankaÂ’s powerful defence secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, vowed the military would target the rebel leadership.
“The killing of Thamilselvan sent a very powerful message: they know we have good intelligence on their movements,” Rajapakse told AFP in an interview last month at the heavily-fortified defence ministry in Colombo. “We are after him (Prabhakaran). We are specifically targeting their leadership,” he said.
Arms purchases: Sri Lanka will meet with Indian and Russian delegations this week on possible arms purchases including air defence weaponry as clashes with Tamil Tiger rebels escalate, press reports here said Sunday. Defence officials from India and Russia will hold separate talks with Sri Lankan authorities on improving systems used against the low-flying Czech-built Zlin Z-143 operated by Tiger guerrillas, the reports said.
India which has provided a radar system to Sri Lanka’s military was expected to hold talks on upgrading the equipment and improving the air defence capability of government forces, the Sunday Times here said. The military is seeking to upgrade its fleet of Mi-35 helicopter gunships and talks with the Russian delegation from Monday will focus on buying a “major consignment” of Russian-made weapons, the Lakbimanews weekly said.
There was no immediate comment from the defence ministry or the Russia and Indian diplomatic missions in Colombo. Sri Lanka has been trying to upgrade its weapons and air defences since Tamil Tiger rebels earlier this year began flying light aircraft smuggled into the country in pieces to be later re-assembled.
