Category: Defense

May 16, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops on Saturday captured the last patch of coastline held by the Tamil Tigers and the rebels would shortly be left without any territory, a top military source said.Two divisions of soldiers that had been fighting along the coastline from the southern and northern ends of the remaining […]

May 16, 2009 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels who are battling Sri Lankan government troops are close to losing their territory and preparing to commit “mass suicide,” the defence ministry said Saturday. The Tigers are “are preparing for a mass suicide after being effectively cut-off of escape routes, both land and sea, and now encircled […]

LONDON, May 16, 2009 (AFP) – British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Saturday warned Sri Lanka there would be “consequences for its actions” if Colombo did not allow humanitarian agencies access to civilians and end the conflict with Tamil Tiger rebels. Brown also called for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to lay down […]

May 16, 2009 (AFP) – The president of Sri Lanka declared Saturday that the island’s separatist Tamil Tiger rebels have been “crushed,” state radio reported.President Mahinda Rajapakse, speaking to a G11 group of developing nations summit in Jordan, said he would return home on Sunday as “a leader of a nation that crushed terrorism,” the […]

May 16, 2009 (AFP) – The president of Sri Lanka declared Saturday that the island’s separatist Tamil Tiger rebels have been “defeated militarily” after decades of bitter ethnic bloodshed.Defence officials said the massive offensive against the rebel army was all but complete, with the entire island under government control for the first time in years […]

May 15, 2009 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan government vowed Friday to finish off the Tamil Tigers within 48 hours, defying international calls for a truce and warnings of a “humanitarian catastrophe” inside the rebel-held zone. The signal that a final offensive against the beleaguered separatist guerrillas was imminent came as United Nations Secretary General […]

May 15, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s navy on Friday captured the wife and two children of a top Tamil Tiger military commander while they tried to escape the island by boat, a navy spokesman said. Their capture came as the Sri Lanka government said it was poised to seize the last patch of land […]

May 15, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers are “slowly giving up” their fight against advancing government troops, the island’s military said Friday as it appeared poised to capture the last tiny strip of rebel territory.A military spokesman told AFP around 10,000 civilians had managed to flee to government areas, and that there was […]

May 14, 2009 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan military on Thursday accused Tamil Tigers of using phosphorus bombs as part of their last-ditch attempt to face off against a massive onslaught by government troops.A military statement said the once-powerful rebel force, now surrounded in a four square kilometre (1.5 square mile) patch of jungle on […]

UNITED NATIONS, May 13, 2009 (AFP) – The UN Security Council on Wednesday urged the warring sides in Sri Lanka to ensure the safety of civilians, voicing “grave concern’ at the “worsening humanitarian crisis” there.It unanimously adopted a non-binding statement that expressed “grave concern over the worsening humanitarian crisis in northeast Sri Lanka, in particular […]

May 14, 2009 (LBO) – US President Barack Obama has called on Tamil Tigers to lay down their arms and the the Sri Lankan government to take greater care to ensure the safety of civilians caught in the conflict.“Going forward, Sri Lanka must seek a peace that is secure and lasting, and grounded in respect […]

May 14, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s government on Thursday rejected international calls for a halt to the war against Tamil Tiger rebels, hours after the UN Security Council called for civilian lives to be spared.“We are not going to succumb to international pressure to stop the offensive,” Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena told reporters. […]