The Sri Lankan Army has proclaimed the final victory in the bloody war against the Tamil Tigers, after announcing the death of the LTTE leader.

A military source has informed the Reuters news agency that the leader of the Liberation Front Earth Tamil (LTTE), Vellupillai Prabahakaran, has died in the combat zone while trying to flee the military offensive.

"It is confirmed that Prabahakaran was killed while trying to escape in an ambulance before dawn. We are waiting for the official announcement by the president," said a military spokesman who wished to remain anonymous.

The same military sources have reported that hundreds of Tigers have been killed in the fighting. Along with the Tamil leader, Portu Rabbah, number two of the separatist group, and Charles Anthony, son of Prabahakaran are also reported dead.

The Sri Lanka Army has accelerated their offensive against Tamil Tigers guerrillas, entrenched in about 17 square kilometers in the northeast of the country.

The country's president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, gave a 24 hours ultimatum, now expired, to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to lay down their arms. According to sources from the Ministry of Defense, 49,000 civilians have fled yesterday from the conflict area dominated by Tamils. A record number if confirmed, reached after the downing of a defensive sand wall built by the LTTE and opened a corridor to allow the departure of the civilians.

Tamils accuse the army of massacres.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India bemoaned the efforts of rival Pakistan to quash militancy after gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore on Tuesday, warning of similar assaults in the region unless Islamabad completely cracked down.

The nuclear-armed neighbours have exchanged angry rhetoric since the November attacks in the Indian financial capital, Mumbai, which killed nearly 170 people. India and the United States blamed a Pakistani militant group for those raids.

"They've got to address the problem, take courage in both hands, dismantle the infrastructure facilities available there," Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters.

He said "a repetition of these types of incidents may take place" if Islamabad did not deal with militants.

Six Sri Lankan players and a British coach were wounded in the brazen attack by a dozen gunmen on the team's bus in Lahore. Five Pakistani police and the driver of a second bus were killed.