Category: Defense

August 2, 2011 (AFP) – Human rights campaigners on Tuesday accused Sri Lanka of whitewashing military abuses in its official report on the island’s decades-long ethnic war, which ended in May 2009. A defence ministry report released on Monday admitted for the first time that civilians may have been killed during the war, though the […]

August 1, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Monday released its own documentary to counter a programme by Britain’s Channel 4 that alleged war crimes by government troops in their final assault on Tamil Tiger rebels. The hour-long video, produced by the Defence Ministry and called “Lies Agreed Upon”, was shown to an invited audience […]

August 1, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Monday admitted for the first time that civilians may have been killed during its military push against Tamil Tigers rebels in 2009 that has been dogged by allegations of war crimes. A defence ministry report entitled “Humanitarian operation factual analysis” said they followed a “zero civilian casualty […]

July 9, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka has arrested a Briton for allegedly helping a British TV channel produce a documentary accusing Sri Lankan troops of war crimes, a media report said on Saturday. A Colombo magistrate on Friday agreed to a police request to detain the suspect, a British citizen of Sri Lankan origin, […]

June 17, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka has offered its attack helicopters and transport aircraft for UN peacekeeping operations, two years after the end of the island’s civil war, an air force spokesman said Friday. The Sri Lankan air force was ready to deploy its Ukraine-manufactured Mi-24 helicopter gunships as well as Chinese-made Y-12 fixed-wing […]

June 4, 2011 (AFP) – The United States said Saturday it remained “deeply concerned” about alleged Sri Lankan war crimes as it distanced itself from a junior US military officer who questioned the credibility of the accusations against the island. The US government, along with other Western nations, rejected an invitation to attend a seminar […]

June 2, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s top military commander offered on Thursday to probe “specific allegations” of war crimes during the country’s fight against Tamil Tiger separatists that ended two years ago. Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya said no civilians were killed by his forces, but he was open to investigating alleged rights abuses in […]

June 02, 2011 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s armed forces developed new, unorthodox tactics and techniques to win the war against Tamil Tiger separatists, learning from 30 years of battlefield experience, senior officers said. Field commanders and troops learned to be flexible and sometimes ignored conventional wisdom in the almost three-year military campaign that crushed the […]

May 31, 2011 (LBO) – A government fertiliser subsidy given to farmers was a key factor in generating public support for Sri Lanka’s military campaign that defeated Tamil Tiger separatists, a defence official said. The Indian and Sri Lankan governments maintained close ties and clear communications lines at the highest levels that ensured any issues […]

May 30, 2011 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is to hold an international seminar starting Tuesday to share lessons on its bloody defeat of Tamil rebels, but major nations have declined to send delegations amid war crime allegations. The island’s government said the massive military offensive that finally defeated the Tamil Tigers two years ago was […]

May 25, 2011 (LBO) – India will destabilise Sri Lanka again if the island endangers her big neighbour’s geo-strategic interests in future just like New Delhi initially sponsored Tamil separatists, an international terrorism expert has warned. He referred to how India is seen to have supported violent groups in Pakistan and Bangladesh as well as […]

May 24, 2011 (AFP) – A leading human rights group urged governments on Tuesday to boycott a conference on fighting insurgents organised by Sri Lanka, which wants to share its experience of defeating separatist militants. Sri Lanka will host the three-day meeting “Defeating Terrorism – Sri Lanka Experience” in the capital Colombo next Tuesday and […]