Category: Politics

KILINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka, July 5, 2006 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels run a de facto state in this northern town, but face increasing isolation and deadly battles with the Sri Lankan government which they contend is preparing for war.The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been stung by a ban slapped on them by […]

July 5, 2006 (AFP) – Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels set off a mine in northern Sri Lanka on Wednesday, killing a soldier, the defence ministry said.The victim was on a routine patrol along a main road in the district of Vavuniya when he was hit by a Claymore mine, defence ministry spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe said.The […]

Reporters Without Borders condemned the fourth murder of a media professional in Sri Lanka since the start of 2006 after freelance journalist Lakmal Silva, who specialised in defence questions was killed in a southern Colombo suburb.Reporters Without Borders voiced its fears on the subject, in June 2006, after pro-government media made threats against five Sri […]

July 4, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka stepped up already tight security Tuesday as Tamil Tiger rebels prepared to celebrate “Black Tiger Day” honouring the 261 men and women who have staged suicide bombings, officials said.The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) arranged Hindu religious services across the territory under their control to mark Wednesday’s […]

KILINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka, July 3, 2006 (AFP) – Truce monitors from Denmark, Finland and Sweden must quit Sri Lanka by September 1, a Tamil rebel leader said Monday, as fresh violence on the island nation left eight more dead.Monitors from the three Nordic and European Union member countries must leave as they cannot be considered […]

July 3, 2006 (AFP) – At least eight people were killed and dozens injured Monday in three mine attacks by Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka’s northern and eastern regions, the defence ministry said. The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) used a remote-controlled device to detonate a bomb hidden inside a three-wheel taxi […]

July 3, 2006 (AFP) – The chief negotiator for Northern Ireland’s main Roman Catholic party, Sinn Fein, was quoted by Tamil rebels in Sri Lanka as saying a European Union ban on the guerillas was a “huge mistake.” Martin McGuinness travelled to the rebel-held town of Kilinochchi for talks with the political leadership of the […]

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka, July 2, 2006 (AFP) – Roadside killings and night-time knocks on the door have replaced mortars and suicide bombs as the new terror in this northern Sri Lankan city.And it is increasingly the residents here who suffer, many say, as the government and Tamil separatist groups carry out a vicious “undeclared war” […]

July 2, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tiger rebels hit back Sunday at claims by the United Nations that more than 1000 children are enlisted as soldiers, saying its reports are grossly exaggerated.The United Nations Children’s Fund released a list of 1,387 children last week that it said were rebel soldiers amid increasing violence in […]

July 2, 2006 (AFP) – A freelance Sri Lankan journalist was gunned down near the capital Colombo on Sunday, police said, but rejected claims that the killing was linked to the ongoing Tamil separatist conflict.Sampath Lakmal, who was in his mid twenties, had worked as a freelance journalist at two Sinhalese language newspapers and a […]

July 1, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan gunboats sank a suspected Tamil Tiger rebel craft off the island’s northern military port of Kankesanthurai, the navy said Saturday. The rebel boat caught fire and sank after it was hit by naval fire about eight kilometres (five miles) from the entrance to the military facility, navy spokesman […]