Category: Defense

May 12, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s truce prevents Tiger rebels from venturing out to sea, but “Sea Tiger” sailors are openly defying the ban and testing the resolve of the government and Nordic peace monitors, officials say.The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) sparked a fresh row over their right to operate their deadly […]

May 12, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s airforce bombed a rebel airfield in the island’s north to “deter further attacks” by the guerrillas after they sank a navy gunboat and killed 18 people, the government said Friday. The airforce carried out a “limited operation” to bomb the airfield of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam […]

May 12, 2006 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger Friday rejected a ceasefire ruling against them and demanded “sovereign rights” as Sri Lanka’s military hunted for the bodies of 18 people killed in a major sea battle.The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) insisted they will operate naval and air wings and slammed Scandinavian ceasefire monitors […]

May 11, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka has vowed tough action to stem a wave of killings following the latest Japanese bid to save faltering peace efforts, diplomats and government officials said Thursday.The Sri Lankan government assured Japan’s special peace envoy Yasushi Akashi that it will halt excesses and end the “culture of impunity,” a […]

May 11, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels sank two navy gunboats in separate incidents and were firing at a ferry transporting some 700 troops, a spokesman for the Scandinavian truce monitors told AFP.“They are now attacking Pearl Cruiser and are putting the lives of our monitors in danger,” Olafsdottir said, adding that […]

May 11, 2006 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels sank two Sri Lankan navy gunboats in sea battles on Thursday and attacked a ferry transporting 700 soldiers, Scandinavian truce monitors said, as the military hit back with air strikes.The military called in jets to bomb suspected Tamil Tiger positions after the sinkings at two locations along […]

May 11, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military hit back with air strikes on Thursday after a fierce sea battle with Tamil Tiger rebels left at least 45 dead, according to the navy, and punched another hole in a flimsy three-year truce.In January, suspected Tamil Tiger rebels blew up another Dvora gunboat, killing 15 sailors, […]

May 10, 2006 (AFP) – Investigators have yet to find any evidence that a woman suicide bomber who tried to assassinate Sri Lanka’s army chief was really pregnant as some local media reports had claimed, police said Wednesday.Logs at the army headquarters showed the bomber entered the military compound and staged the attack last month […]

COLOMBO, May 10, 2006 (AFP) – A top Japanese envoy Wednesday warned that the international community cannot restore Sri Lanka’s faltering ceasefire and urged the government and Tamil rebels to decide for themselves on war or peace.Peace emissary Yasushi Akashi ended his four-day visit calling on both Colombo and the Tiger rebels to scale down […]

COLOMBO, May 9, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels Tuesday sought foreign help to halt alleged military attacks against them and warned that the island could face “doom” if they decided to retaliate.The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) appealed to Japanese envoy Yasushi Akashi to persuade the Sri Lankan government to […]