Rights group slams Sri Lanka for not saving Tamil civilians

Apr. 25 (AFP) – Sri Lankan security forces stood by as Sinhalese mobs murdered Tamils after a suspected Tamil Tiger bomb attack earlier this month at a busy market, a human rights watchdog charged Tuesday.The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the Colombo government failed to respond to attacks by Sinhalese men armed with […]

More killings send tension soaring in Sri Lanka

Apr. 25 (AFP) – Tension gripped Sri Lanka’s north-eastern Trincomalee district Tuesday after an overnight killing of a hotel owner police say was designed to provoke inter-communal riots. The man was gunned down around midnight on the same day suspected Tamil Tiger rebels hacked to death a mother feeding her baby, police said. “The latest […]

Woman suicide bomber kills 10, wounds Sri Lanka army chief

Apr. 25 (AFP) – A Tamil Tiger suicide bomber pretending to be pregnant blew herself up Tuesday seriously wounding Sri Lanka’s army chief and killing 10 others, police and doctors said.More than 30 people were also injured by the blast inside the high security zone of Colombo’s main military base, police said. The attack on […]

Sri Lankan troops kill two Tiger suspects amid new tensions

Apr.24 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops shot dead two men who were trying to set up a Claymore mine Monday intended for security forces in the island’s east, a defence official said.The men were killed at Vandaramullai in the district of Batticaloa as army soldiers conducted an operation to clear the main road of mines […]

Sri Lanka seeks Tiger ban in Europe as toll hits 14

Apr. 23 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Sunday asked the European Union to designate Tamil Tiger rebels as terrorists, saying such a move could nudge them into resuming talks on a collapsing ceasefire.The request came as 14 more people were killed in fresh violence linked to the latest clashes with Tamil Tiger guerrillas in the island’s […]

More blasts in Sri Lanka as Norway mounts new peace bid

Apr.21 (AFP) – Three policemen were killed and three injured in two mine attacks in Sri Lanka Friday, police said, as Norway launched a fresh bid to save the island’s tottering peace process. At least 65 people were killed in the bombings alone while the Tigers said more than a dozen were killed in attacks […]

Four more killed in Sri Lanka violence

Apr. 20 (AFP) – At least four people were killed in Sri Lanka on Thursday as a Norwegian peace envoy headed for talks with Tamil Tiger rebels on saving the island’s ceasefire, officials said.Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels shot dead a rival activist in the eastern town of Batticaloa on Thursday and fought a gun battle […]

Tigers put off truce talks amid fresh violence

Apr. 20 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels announced Thursday that they were indefinitely postponing peace talks aimed at saving a truce with Colombo as four more people were killed in fresh violence in Sri Lanka.– Amal Jayasinghe The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) told Norwegian peace envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer that talks scheduled for April […]

Norway envoy holds talks with Sri Lanka PM on saving truce

Apr.19 (AFP) – Norway’s new peace envoy to Sri Lanka has held talks with Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake on moves to salvage the island’s tottering ceasefire, government officials said Wednesday.Jon Hanssen-Bauer advanced his meeting with the prime minister to Tuesday, shortly after arriving in the island amid an upsurge in violence which the Colombo government […]

Ten killed in Sri Lanka, foreigner among injured

Apr. 19 (AFP) – Ten more people have been killed in Sri Lanka, police and Tamil Tiger rebels said Wednesday, as two Claymore mine blasts wounded four people.A foreign national, believed to be a Southeast Asian, was among those wounded Wednesday, police said adding that his vehicle was hit by a Claymore mine in the […]

More bloodshed as Norway pushes for Sri Lanka peace

Apr. 19 (AFP) – Another 10 deaths were reported Wednesday in Sri Lanka’s embattled north and east as Norway’s new peace envoy launched a fresh attempt to salvage the island’s collapsing ceasefire.Two Claymore mine attacks also rocked the troubled regions Wednesday, wounding at least five people including a Korean businessman and two of his Sri […]

Gunbattle in Sri Lanka as Norway moves to save truce

Apr. 18 (AFP) – Troops found more Claymore mines in Sri Lanka Tuesday after suspected Tiger rebels attacked police and killed a constable amid moves by peace broker Norway to save a shaky truce, police said.Two bombs were found Tuesday in the northeastern Trincomalee district and defused by security forces, they said. Suspected Tamil Tiger […]

Page 411 of 538