Sri Lankan government triumphs in nation's civil war

Video

Play VideoSri Lanka declares victory against Tamil Tigers Play VideoUN official heads to Sri Lanka to resolve humanitarian crisis

Sri Lanka's army commander says troops have completely wiped out the Tamil Tiger rebels and reunited a nation split by a long separatist war. Defense officials have also confirmed the deaths of several Tamil Tiger leaders.

After days of military action aimed at crushing the rebels, the Sri Lankan government has embraced victory and put an end to a civil war that has lasted for 25-years.

The army has confirmed the death of the group's chief and other high ranking rebel leaders.

Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, military spokesman, said, "Some of the dead bodies we recovered, during the confrontations and it was confirmed that LTTE leader's son Charles Anthony is dead and we found his dead body."

Earlier, the Sri Lankan government said that all civilians trapped in war zone had been rescued, and that it had refused the ceasefire offered by the defeated rebels.

Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said, "There are no civilians in that area, all the civilians from that area were evacuated yesterday, and after evacuating all the civilians only we commence our offensive operations targeting LTTE with full force."

President Rajapakse is scheduled to address parliament on Tuesday to announce the victory, where he is expected to announce a formal conclusion to the decades-old conflict.

The Tamil Tigers began to fight for a separate homeland in the north-east in the mid-1980s. Estimates say nearly 100-thousand people have died in the fighting.

The government launched its current military offensive against the rebels in 2006, resulting in the recapture of lost territory.