Tamil Tigers concede defeat

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) conceded defeat on 17 May 2009 via an Internet publication. The announcement follows several days of intensified violence as government forces cornered Tamil fighters into less than a square mile area in the island nation's northeast region. Officials indicated that the military has freed the last of several thousand civilians and Tamil hostages who were trapped in the war zone and that a body had been recovered believed to be that of LTTE leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran. Authorities are currently in the process of identifying the remains. The military has now taken control of the island's entire coastline for the first time since 1983. Despite the LTTE concessions isolated skirmishes continue.