A website of the LTTE has quoted Soosai as stating as follows on the losses suffered by the LTTE: "In Mullaitivu three of our fighters perished. Major Dharmendra, a fighter who was assigned to provide support to him (Soosai) and a civilian fighter we call "Petrol Iyah," died in the calamity. In Vattuvagal and Chaalai we didn't suffer any losses to personnel. In Vadamaradchy east we lost three fighters manning the forward defence lines. An LTTE woman cadre who had come to Vadamaradchy East on leave died in the flooding. Loss of lives of our cadres was limited to those I have mentioned. We suffered some additional property damage. In Trincomalee and in Batticaloa two observation posts were washed away. The losses are not that significant."
However, non-Tamil and non-LTTE sources have been giving differing estimates of the LTTE cadres killed, varying between 1,200 and 5,000. According to them, large quantities of arms, ammunition and explosives stockpiled by the Tigers have been destroyed. Tiger camps at Nagar Kovil in Jaffna, Mahalnadu, Welvetithurai, Thandamanarau, Malati, Mathagal, Mankarni and Sea Tiger camps at Mullaitivu, Nayaru, Chmmaale, Championpaththu and Chalai have been completely destroyed. Four Tiger radar centers positioned along the Mullaitivu coastal belt have been damaged beyond repair.About 200 boats belonging to the Sea Tigers as well as 1,500 boats belonging to fishermen, who are sympathetic to the LTTE, have also been badly damaged.
Mystery surrounds the fate of Prabakaran, the leader of the LTTE. While a statement on the disaster attributed to him was disseminated by the LTTE on December 29, 2004, he has neither been seen nor heard since December26, 2004. The only senior LTTE leaders, who have been active visiting the devastated areas, are Tamilselvan, the head of the political department of the LTTE, who has been liaising with the representatives ofnon-governmental organisations engaged in relief work, Col.Soosai, the head of the Sea Tigers, Col.Bhanu, who is the overall LTTE commander for Batticaloa-Amparai District in the Eastern Province, and some of their juniors.
All statements critical of the government and appealing to the international community have been mainly coming from these three leaders. According to one report, Prabakaran, Pottu Amman, his intelligence chief, and some other senior leaders of the LTTE were attending a special Christmas service in a Mullaitivu church on the morning of December 26, 2004, when the Tsunami struck the church and they have not been seen again. Nor have their dead bodies been found.
.The government-owned Sri Lankan Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) stated on January8, 2005, quoting a Vice- Admiral of the Sri Lankan Navy, that Prabakaran and Pottu Amman were among the dead or reported missing, but the LTTE immediately denied this as a mischievous fabrication. Even Soosai has been quoted in some reports as saying that there were at least 1,600 fatalities in Mullaitivu. If Prabakaran was located there at the time of the disaster as claimed by non-LTTE sources, it should not be a surprise if he was among the victims. However, the SLBC is since reported to have retracted its statement without giving any reason.
22. One has to treat these reports with considerable skepticism for the present due to the following reasons: