Nov 22, Colombo: Sri Lanka Army Commander Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka says that Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) now have around 3,000 fighters with 2,000 of them forcibly recruited, and would die as the security forces close in on Visvamadu close to the heart of rebel stronghold Kilinochchi.

Participating in an interview with the state owned Sinhala daily Dinamina, he said that at this juncture Prabhakaran would decide to flee from the country as some others would surrender.

The Army Commander said that there would be a chance for the Tiger leader to flee in a dinghy boat or in a low lying fast aircraft. He added that the Navy and the Air Force should take measures to prevent him fleeing the country.

The Army Commander also said that Prabhakaran is now injured according to verified evidence and he is a patient running from bunker to bunker without medicine.

However, a recently released report by the University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) quoting sources from the Vanni says since early September the LTTE has conscripted 9,000 ‘very young’ persons who are now under training.