Sri Lanka's decades-old war against Tamil Tiger rebels is close to being completed, the island's army chief was quoted as saying Tuesday as the military reported further gains in the rebel-held north. Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka said the military had killed thousands of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters in the past two-and-a-half years. "Over 80 per cent of the war against the LTTE has been completed after regaining 80 per cent of the areas under them and killing over 12,000 of their cadres," the state-run daily quoted Fonseka as saying.