Category: Politics

COLOMBO, Jan 16, 2007 (AFP) – Commandos in Sri Lanka have found “torture chambers” used by the Tamil Tiger rebels to punish informants and deserters, the country’s defence ministry said Tuesday.The STF said one trooper was wounded in its recent offensive and claimed that a large number of rebels were killed or wounded during the […]

Jan 16, 2007 (AFP) – Commandos in Sri Lanka have found “torture chambers” used by the Tamil Tiger rebels to punish informants and deserters, the country’s defence ministry said Tuesday. Special Task Force (STF) commandos found the chambers at a rebel camp in the eastern district of Ampara during a nine-day offensive, which ended at […]

Jan 16, 2007 (AFP) – A landmark deal between Sri Lanka’s ruling party and the main opposition to bring a political solution to the island’s ethnic conflict collapsed Tuesday as fighting escalated, officials said.Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe met President Mahinda Rajapakse and urged him not to bring opposition lawmakers into the cabinet, a move the […]

Jan 15, 2007 (AFP) – Government forces killed at least five Tamil Tiger rebels during long-range artillery exchanges in Sri Lanka where six civilians were also shot dead, military officials said Monday.The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam targeted army positions in the eastern district of Batticaloa on Sunday and troops retaliated killing three guerrillas, a […]

Jan 14, 2007 (AFP) – At least five soldiers and six civilians were killed in Sri Lanka as Tamil Tiger rebels and government troops traded long-range artillery fire in the island’s restive east, officials said Sunday. The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fired artillery at army positions in Mankerni in the district of […]

Jan 13, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military has been called out to help relief operations in the island’s flood-hit regions where at least 16 people have been killed, the National Disaster Management Centre said Saturday. Military helicopters were deployed to send food for marooned people in the central and and southern regions, which were […]

Jan 13, 2007 (AFP) – British detectives have removed “exhibits” for forensic tests to try to identify the assassins of a Sri Lankan Tamil legislator, the British High Commission (embassy) here said Saturday. A team from Scotland Yard spent 10 days in Sri Lanka advising local police probing the killing two months ago of legislator […]

NEW DELHI, Jan 12, 2007 (AFP) – War-torn Sri Lanka and politically unstable Bangladesh suffered worsening human rights violations in 2006 while other parts of the subcontinent saw scant progress, Human Rights Watch said Thursday.In its annual report, the New York-based watchdog said Bangladesh’s “already poor human rights record worsened, as security forces continued to […]

Jan 12, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan commandos have taken at least eight bases used by Tamil Tiger guerrillas to launch attacks in the country’s east following an operation lasting several days, military officials said Friday. The elite Special Task Force commandos took the eighth base in the district of Ampara early Friday after a […]

Jan 12, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka has reactivated a mass detention centre to hold people rounded up during recent arrests of suspects allegedly linked to terrorism, police said Friday. A first batch of 60 people detained at police stations in Colombo will be sent Friday to the centre in Boossa, around 100 kilometres (60 […]

Jan 12, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Friday appointed a former United Nations official as the country’s top official to lead the ministry of foreign affairs. Palitha Kohona, 58, currently the head of the government’s office coordinating with peace broker Norway, was appointed Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with […]

Jan 12, 2007 (AFP) – At least 14 people were killed and another 61,000 made homeless in south and central Sri Lanka Friday in flash floods caused by heavy monsoon rains, relief officials said. The National Disaster Management Centre said two people were buried alive in a mudslide at Walapane while another was killed in […]