Army Chief Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka has told the BBC that troops knew the "general area" where LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was hiding and that "action will be taken to destroy him".
Prabhakaran was hiding near the coast, Lt Gen Fonseka said.
The general said only 300-400 Tamil Tiger fighters remained, but there may be 700 "forcibly armed" people in rebel bunkers.
The government has said that a pause in fighting is not necessary because additional consignments of food, medicine and other essentials have been dispatched to the war zone.
It says that the rebels are a "spent force" confined to an area no bigger than 12 sq km (five square miles).
-DM-
Prabhakaran was hiding near the coast, Lt Gen Fonseka said.
The general said only 300-400 Tamil Tiger fighters remained, but there may be 700 "forcibly armed" people in rebel bunkers.
The government has said that a pause in fighting is not necessary because additional consignments of food, medicine and other essentials have been dispatched to the war zone.
It says that the rebels are a "spent force" confined to an area no bigger than 12 sq km (five square miles).
-DM-
