Sri Lanka Tiger supremo wounded in air attack: report

Dec 16, 2007 (AFP) - 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, Prabhakaran's de facto number two, S.P. 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 Lanka's powerful defence secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, vowed the