Category: Politics
Sri Lanka govt vows to crush Tigers after suicide bombing
March 10, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s government on Tuesday vowed to finish off the Tamil Tiger guerrilla rebels who were blamed for a suicide bomb that killed 15 people and badly injured a senior politician. There has been no reaction from the guerrillas, who have launched scores of similar suicide bombings in the past.Tuesday’s […]
Sri Lanka Tigers hit food ship; 150 dead in weekend fighting: military
March 9, 2009 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan military said Monday its troops have killed at least 150 Tamil Tigers in a weekend of fierce fighting inside the rebels’ shrinking fiefdom in the northeast of the island. Army spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said the Tigers, boxed into an area of less than 50 square kilometres (19 […]
Sri Lanka fighting kills over 100 Tigers: govt
March 8, 2009 (AFP) – More than 100 Tamil Tiger rebels have been killed in two days of fighting in Sri Lanka as they tried to break a military stranglehold, the defence ministry said Sunday.They died when the army beat back a series of counter-attacks by the Tiger rebels against advancing government forces in the […]
Sri Lanka fighting kills 32 Tigers: ministry
March 7, 2009 (AFP) – At least 32 Tamil Tigers were killed in heavy fighting in Sri Lanka’s embattled northeast, where government troops have cornered the rebels, the defence ministry said Saturday. “The LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) end game is reaching its final phase,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that dozens […]
Media rights group presses Sri Lanka
WASHINGTON, March 7, 2009 (AFP) – A rights group on Friday urged Sri Lanka to thoroughly investigate recent attacks against the media, saying it was disappointed with the government’s stance.Board members of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) met in Washington on Thursday with the Sri Lankan ambassador, Jaliya Wickramasuriya, to lodge their […]
” govts: Canada
OTTAWA, March 5, 2009 (AFP) – The 37-year conflict raging in Sri Lanka was borne out of “repressive” governments in Colombo, Canadian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs said Thursday.“I am sure all Canadians share the government’s revulsion at the continuing humanitarian catastrophe in Sri Lanka, a civil conflict born of a succession of repressive […]
Red Cross worker killed in Sri Lanka war zone
March 5, 2009 (AFP) – A local Red Cross employee was killed in Sri Lanka’s war zone, where troops have cornered Tamil Tiger rebels, an official said on Thursday. “One of our male workers was killed on Wednesday afternoon by shrapnel,” of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) spokeswoman Sarasi Wijeratne said. Wijeratne […]
Sri Lanka offers new safe exit for trapped civilians
March 5, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Thursday offered a new safe passage for thousands of civilians trapped in the island’s war zone as fresh fighting erupted, leaving at least 33 rebels dead, the defence ministry said.A pitched battle raged in the village of Chalai on Thursday, a day after a local Red Cross employee […]
Tamils march in Paris to protest Sri Lankan offensive
PARIS, February 28, 2009 (AFP) – Thousands of Tamils marched in Paris on Saturday to denounce what they termed the Sri Lankan government’s genocide of the island’s ethnic minority in its bid to wipe out Tamil Tiger rebels.Government forces have pushed the Tigers into a narrow piece of land and say they hope to completely […]
Sri Lanka rejects truce calls as Tigers resist
March 1, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Sunday rejected fresh calls for a ceasefire with Tamil Tigers rebels as security forces hit stiff resistance in their efforts to secure final victory in the island’s ethnic conflict.Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona said any ceasefire would be unnecessary if the Tigers accepted international appeals to surrender. “When the […]
Sri Lanka troops enter last Tiger stronghold: military
February 28, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops have entered the last urban area still in the hands of Tamil Tiger guerrillas after heavy fighting, the defence ministry said on Saturday.Soldiers entered Puthukkudiriruppu on Friday despite heavy resistance from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the defence ministry said in a statement. Government forces […]
Sri Lanka says 11 rebels killed in battle
February 26, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops have killed at least 11 Tamil Tiger rebels in the battle for the last urban area still in the hands of the guerrillas, the defence ministry said Thursday.The deaths occurred Wednesday when soldiers pushed toward Puthukkudiriruppu, a town on a narrow strip of land in the northeast […]