Category: Defense
Sri Lanka military says Tamil Tiger leader alive, surrounded
May 18, 2009 (AFP) – The leader of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels is alive but totally surrounded by government troops in a small jungle area, a military spokesman said Monday. Military sources said about 200 Tiger fighters were believed killed on Monday, but the military has not yet released photographs of the bodies.Brigadier Udaya […]
Tamil Tiger leader killed by Sri Lanka troops
May 18, 2009 (AFP) – The leader of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers, Velupillai Prabhakaran, was shot dead Monday while trying to flee advancing troops, defence officials told AFP.Prabhakaran was in a small convoy of a van and ambulance along with several close aides which tried to drive out of the battle zone, but was attacked […]
Tamil Tiger deputies dead, island under govt control: military
May 18, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops on Monday killed the two deputies of the leader of the Tamil Tigers, the military said, declaring the entire island to be under government control for the first time in decades.“The Tigers had only an area of 100 metres by 100 metres, and that has now been […]
All combat over, Tiger rebels defeated: Sri Lanka army chief
May 18, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s army chief announced Monday that all combat operations against the Tamil Tigers have ended with the last rebels defeated and all territory captured. “Now the entire country is declared rid of terrorism and over 250 dead bodies of terrorists are scattered over the last ditch,” he said. “All […]
EU calls for independent enquiry into Sri Lanka conflict
BRUSSELS, May 18, 2009 (AFP) – The European Union on Monday called for an independent enquiry into alleged human rights violations during the conflict between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels in northern Sri Lanka.EU foreign ministers, in an agreed statement, said the European Union was “appalled by the loss of innocent civilian lives as […]
Sri Lanka declares final victory over Tigers
May 18, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military declared a final victory Monday in its decades-old conflict with the Tamil Tigers, after routing the remnants of the rebel army and killing its leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.“All military operations have come to a stop,” army chief Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka said in a statement after troops overran […]
‘s fate a mystery as rebels routed
May 17, 2009 (AFP) – Scouring a tiny beach and lagoon peninsula in Sri Lanka’s northeast are thousands of government troops, examining the faces of the dead, hunting for hidden bunkers under the jungle floor.They are looking for any sign of the leader of the defeated Tamil Tiger rebels, Velupillai Prabhakaran, who built up what […]
Defeated Tigers will not be allowed to regroup: Sri Lanka
May 17, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s army chief vowed Sunday the Tamil Tigers would not be allowed to regroup and pledged that the rebels, once seen as one of the world’s deadliest guerrilla outfits, would soon be forgotten.The government said a massive offensive against the separatist Tigers was all but complete, with the entire […]
Sri Lankan military says all trapped civilians rescued
May 17, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops have rescued all civilians held by Tamil Tiger rebels, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said on Sunday.“More than 50,000 people have come out of that area in the past three days and with that we have rescued all the civilians held as a human shield by the […]
Sri Lanka troops kill 70 escaping Tigers: army
May 17, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops on Sunday killed at least 70 Tamil Tiger rebels trying to escape across a shallow lagoon using boats, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.The guerrillas tried to break out of the pocket of land where they have been holed up in the northeast of the island, Nanayakkara […]
‘s Tamil Tigers admit defeat
May 17, 2009 (AFP) – The Tamil Tigers have given up their fight against a Sri Lankan government offensive and “have decided to silence our guns,” a statement carried by the pro-rebel Tamilnet website said Sunday.“This battle has reached its bitter end,” said the admission of defeat from the rebels’ chief of international relations, Selvarasa […]
Sri Lanka troops move in to finish off Tamil Tigers: spokesman
May 17, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops were Sunday moving in on the final patch of jungle still held by Tamil Tigers and were set to capture “every inch of land” from the rebels, a military spokesman said.Government forces were pressing on with the blistering offensive despite the Tamil Tigers announcing they would “silence […]