Source:
The Telegraph (UK)Sri Lankan troops closed in for what they said would be the last hours of their 25-year war against Tamil Tiger rebels on Saturday night, claiming their foes were planning to commit "mass suicide" rather than surrender.
By Colin Freeman
Last Updated: 6:47PM BST 16 May 2009
Cornered by the Sri Lankan army on a tiny spit of coastline along with up to 20,000 civilians, the rump of the Tiger force was said to be fighting hand-to-hand in an effort to defend a territory the size of several football pitches.
But the Sri Lankan miltary said intelligence reports indicated that the few hundred remaining fighters had been ordered to take the cylindrical cyanide capsules which they keep hanging around their necks at all times. The movement's ruthless leadership decrees that if facing imminent capture, fighters should poison themselves rather than being taken alive.
According to a Sri Lankan ministry of defence statement, the Tigers were "preparing for a mass suicide after being effectively cut-off of escape routes, both land and sea, and now encircled in a mere 3.5 square kilometres (1.3 square miles) of land."
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/srilanka/5335734/Sri-Lanka-declares-victory-as-troops-close-in-on-Tamil-Tigers.html