Colombo: Two top LTTE leaders Daya Master and George have surrendered to the Sri Lankan Army. Daya was the media in-charge of the LTTE while George was the outfit's official interpreter. They surrendered to the Army troops in the north east.
According to the Sri Lankan army, around 3,000 LTTE men have surrendered.
Sri Lankan troops have launched a final assault on the LTTE and captured more territory from them, after the Tamil Tigers ignored a 24-hour deadline to surrender.
Sri Lankan forces have breached the eastern coast of the no-fire zone, where the LTTE's top brass is believed to be hiding.
According to reports, the Lankan forces have virtually sliced the small 17 km strip of land held by the Tigers into two.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has said that the government's offer of surrender to the LTTE still stands. He said that Prabhakaran and his aides could lay down their arms after all the civilians have been rescued from the no-fire zone.
AP adds:
Earlier on Tuesday, Sri Lanka's Tamil rebels said that 1,000 civilians died in a government raid on their territory. The military however denied the accusation.
Government forces said they rescued thousands of civilians on Monday after they broke through a barrier built by the rebels to protect their territory.
By Tuesday evening, the military said 52,000 had escaped. Thousands of civilians also took to the sea, packing onto small boats to flee the coastal strip of land that the military has backed the rebels into.
Naval boats patrolled the waters, pulling those fleeing aboard their own vessels before transporting them to camps, where Tamils who have escaped the war are being held.
On Monday, more than 2,000 people in about 100 boats were picked up.
But as troops have pushed the rebels into an ever-shrinking sliver of territory, both sides have accused the other of endangering civilians.
Rights groups say the rebels are holding many against their will to use as human shields. But those groups have also accused the government of indiscriminate shelling in the tightly packed region in its bid to end the 25-year war. Both sides deny the allegations against them.