Colombo: Charles Antony, the elder son of Sri Lanka's elusive Tamil Tigers leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, has been injured in fighting with the Sri Lankan troops in the island's embattled north, a military official said in Colombo on Wednesday.
"Prabhakaran's son Charles Antony was injured in the clashes with our troops in Puthukkudiyiruppu area last week. But we got the information in this regard only yesterday (Tuesday)," Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.
Prabhakaran named his elder son after the first LTTE guerrilla who was killed in early 80s.
Claims of Antony's injury come amid reports that Prabhakaran was still in the island's jungle district of Mullaitivu. The reports say that Charles Antony, 24, was commanding the guerrillas along with top leaders of the outfit including Pottu Amman, Banu and Lakshman.
Claiming that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was facing an "imminent defeat", Sri Lanka last week said troops advancing in various directions have confined the rebels to an area of 21 sq km out of which 20 sq km has been allocated as the safe zone for civilians.
Media reports last month said that with the territory held by the guerrillas shrinking fast, Prabhakaran had reportedly sent his wife Madivadani and their youngest son, 10-year-old Balachandran, to a safer location outside Sri Lanka.
Prabhakaran, who founded the LTTE in 1976, was known to have deep underground caves and bunkers in the forests of Mullaitivu, from where he oversaw the war against Indian troops in Sri Lanka during 1987-90.
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