Category: Politics
Sri Lanka Tamil Tigers using phosphorus to halt final attack: military
May 14, 2009 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan military on Thursday accused Tamil Tigers of using phosphorus bombs as part of their last-ditch attempt to face off against a massive onslaught by government troops.A military statement said the once-powerful rebel force, now surrounded in a four square kilometre (1.5 square mile) patch of jungle on […]
US, Britain urge Sri Lankans to stop fighting, spare civilians
WASHINGTON, May 12, 2009 (AFP) – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her British counterpart David Miliband called Tuesday on Sri Lankans to stop fighting immediately and allow trapped civilians to escape the conflict.During a visit to Sri Lanka late last month, Miliband and Kouchner urged the government to stop the fighting with the […]
Sri Lanka fighting rages despite calls for halt
May 13, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers put up stiff resistance to advancing government troops on Wednesday, in heavy fighting that saw the beleaguered rebels launch a wave of suicide attacks, the military said.The clashes came as both sides in the brutal conflict faced renewed charges of war crimes, with the United Nations […]
Sri Lanka troops take more rebel territory: military
May 12, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops have made fresh advances into the small patch of territory held by the Tamil Tigers, the defence ministry said Tuesday.A statement said government forces advanced 800 metres (yards) during fighting on Monday, cutting deeper into the roughly four square kilometres (1.5 square miles) of coastal jungle in […]
” by civilian deaths in Sri Lanka
WASHINGTON, May 11, 2009 (AFP) – The United States is “deeply concerned” about civilian deaths in strife-torn Sri Lanka, a State Department spokesman said Monday, calling on the Colombo government and Tamil Tiger rebels to end their fighting.“We’re deeply concerned,” said State Department spokesman Ian Kelly, when asked to comment on reports that more than […]
Sit-down Tamil protestors arrested in London
LONDON, May 11, 2009 (AFP) – British police said they arrested 45 Tamil protestors Monday after they blocked traffic with a sit-down protest outside parliament in London, in response to the killing of civilians in Sri Lanka. The arrests were made as police tried to move protestors off the road at one of the British […]
Australia announces new people-smuggling fight
CANBERRA, May 12, 2009 (AFP) – Australia on Tuesday announced what it called the largest surveillance operation in the country’s history to fight people-smuggling amid a surge in refugees making for its shores.Unveiling the annual budget, the government committed an extra 1.3 billion Australian dollars (990 million US) to strengthening border security, including two additional […]
”’ report
May 11, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Monday protested against a United Nations statement that said a large number of civilians had been killed in a “bloodbath” in the northeast where troops are fighting Tamil rebels.Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona said the government had summoned UN representative Amin Awad to receive a formal protest. “We […]
Rights groups pressure Japan over Sri Lanka conflict
May 11, 2009 (AFP) – Japan must “shoulder its responsibilities” and use its leverage to prevent a civilian bloodbath in Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict, human rights and conflict prevention groups said Monday.Japan, which is Sri Lanka’s largest aid donor and holds two thirds of the island’s foreign debt, needs to “play a more active role” […]
‘s war on the operating table
CHEDDIKULAM, May 10, 2009 (AFP) – The X-ray shows a bullet lodged next to the heart of a Tamil man, one of tens of thousands who have flooded out of Sri Lanka’s northeast to escape the war with the Tamil Tigers.“He said he was shot in the chest six months ago.But we can’t remove it […]
Sri Lanka shrinks safe zone for civilians
May 8, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Friday reduced the size of the “safe zone” for civilians trapped in the island’s northeast where government forces are leading a final assault against Tiger rebels.Military spokesman brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said the civilian safe zone (CSZ) was made smaller as fighting was raging on the outskirts. The […]
Sri Lanka troops kill 35 Tigers: military
May 9, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops killed at least 35 Tamil Tiger rebels during heavy clashes just outside the newly demarcated “safety zone” for war-trapped civilians, the defence ministry said on Saturday.Security forces who captured a mud embankment built by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on Thursday moved deeper into the […]