Category: Defense

May 02, 2012 (LBO) – A senior United States official in charge of security assistance programs and policy had visited Sri Lanka and for talks with defence officials and to see the progress on de-mining, the US embassy in Colombo said. He had also visited Kilinochchi and Vavuniya, where a 30-year civil war ended in […]

Jan 11, 2012 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is maintaining high defence spending and sizeable military to guard against any possible resumption of violence by Tamil Tiger separatists who are trying to regroup, a senior defence official said. The island’s intelligence services had picked up evidence of attempts to reactivate the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam […]

Dec 07, 2011 (LBO) – State-run Sri Lankan Airlines is planning flights to Nepal and Bangladesh in 2012 and is increasing frequencies to India from December 23, the carrier said in a statement. Flights to Chennai will increase to four frequencies a day or 28 a week, from December 23. “We are developing Colombo into […]

Dec 02, 2011 (LBO) – Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. company said it has delivered two Bell 412 helicopters to the Sri Lanka Air Force at its facility in Piney Flats, Tennessee in the United States. The two new helicopters from Bell, which had previously supplied a fleet of transport helicopters to the air force […]

November 4, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s war-time minefields were two-thirds smaller than initially estimated and most have been cleared since the country’s ethnic conflict ended in 2009, the military said on Friday. The army said it had originally estimated mine-infested areas totalled some 6,215 square kilometres (2,399 square miles) in the island’s embattled northeast. […]

September 30, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka wrapped up its two-year rehabilitation of surrendered Tamil Tiger rebels with the re-uniting Friday of 1,800 men and women with their families. President Mahinda Rajapakse addressed the last of the 12,000 former members of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to pass through the programme at […]

September 26, 2011 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan general serving as a UN diplomat in New York is prepared to face a US court to deny charges his men committed war crimes during the island’s civil war, reports said Monday. A civil case has been filed in New York on behalf of two people whose […]

Sept 23, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lankan and Indian navies ended a joint exercise off the island’s east coast Friday that included anti-piracy and interdiction operations, key concerns of both nations in protecting maritime commerce and coastlines. The High Commission of India said the ‘SLINEX 2011’ a joint exercise was held off the eastern port […]

August 28, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s navy is setting up new bases along the island’s north western and eastern coasts to bridge security gaps that existed during the separatist Tamil Tiger insurgency, its commander said. The Navy said with strengthened presence and expanded operational capabilities it will be in a better position to guard […]

LONDON, August 28, 2011 (AFP) – An independent inquiry into the death of an Iraqi prisoner in British custody in Iraq will clear the army of systematic torture but individual soldiers will be strongly criticised, a report said Sunday. The British probe has been investigating the death of hotel receptionist Baha Mousa, who died two […]

Aug 11, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka and the United States will co-host a regional military airlift exercise in the island from August 22 to 26 to strengthen disaster relief co-ordination between the US and Asia. Pacific Airlift Rally (PAR) is a biennial, military airlift symposium sponsored by US Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) for states […]

August 7, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry plans to protest to the United States after fighter jets intruded into the island’s airspace last week, the local Sunday Times newspaper said. The Sunday Times said the External Affairs Ministry planned to hand a protest note to the US embassy in Colombo. The squadron of […]