COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, May 17 (UPI) -- The Sri Lankan Army has begun its final mopping up of Tamil Tiger fighters trapped in the northeastern part of the country, the Ministry of Defense said Sunday.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam made one attempt to break out under cover of darkness, the military said, using boats to cross a lagoon. The effort between 1:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. was crushed, the military said.
The government said that 36,000 civilians were able to get out of the area in one 24-hour period. Officials describe them as hostages held by the Tigers.
The ministry said that the bodies of 70 Tiger fighters had been found.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa returned to Sri Lanka from Jordan where he had been attending an economic summit. Rajapaksa, in a speech to the summit, proclaimed final victory in the 25-year civil war.
The Tigers, founded in 1976, waged a long war for an autonomous Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka. At the height of their success, the group controlled about one-third of the country.
