Category: Defense

April 21, 2009 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan army on Tuesday seized more territory from the Tamil Tigers as the rebels ignored a government deadline to surrender, the defence ministry said. The attack saw government forces effectively slice the last small strip of jungle held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in two, […]

April 20, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s top defence official has called on the international community and the United Nations to put pressure on Tamil Tiger rebels to lay down arms and surrender.He said the latest influx of refugees from the small strip of land remaining under rebel control showed the civilians wanted to escape […]

April 20, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan security forces captured a defence line of cornered Tamil Tiger rebels on Monday and rescued at least 5,000 civilians being held as human shields, a military spokesman said.Soldiers took control of the three-kilometre (two-mile) embankment at Puthumathalan, inside the government-designated “no-fire” zone, spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said. “We captured […]

April 20, 2009 (AFP) – More than 35,000 civilians Monday fled the last area under the control of Sri Lanka’s cornered Tamil Tigers, President Mahinda Rajapakse said, adding that the rebels’ “complete defeat” was imminent. Showing aerial video from a military spy plane over the tiny area where the Tigers are staging a last stand, […]

April 20, 2009 (AFP) – Tens of thousands of civilians on Monday escaped from the area still held by Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers, signalling that the rebels’ “complete defeat” was imminent, President Mahinda Rajapakse said. Showing AFP aerial video from a military spy plane over the tiny area where the Tigers are staging a last […]

April 19, 2009 (AFP) – As Sri Lanka’s decades-long civil war moves into what appears to be a bloody end game, all eyes are on a small strip of coastal jungle, looking for signs of the elusive leader of the Tamil Tigers. The rotund rebel chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, a 54-year-old with decades of experience surviving […]

April 19, 2009 (AFP) – Nearly 3,000 civilians escaped from Sri Lanka’s war zone and sought shelter with security forces, the defence ministry said Sunday as troops stepped up an offensive against cornered Tiger rebels.The non-combatants escaped Saturday evening from the remaining area under the control of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the […]

April 18, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops on Saturday kept up their offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels cornered in the northeast, the defence ministry said, ignoring mounting international appeals for a ceasefire.The island’s government accused the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of firing heavy artillery and mortars from an area it has designated […]

April 16, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka said Thursday it had made fresh advances into the area still held by Tamil Tiger rebels, ignoring global calls for a truce to rescue thousands of civilians trapped by the fighting. Arguing the civilians were being used as a human shield, the island’s defence ministry said its forces […]

April 15, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops resumed their offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels in the northeast at the end of a 48-hour ceasefire, the two sides said early Wednesday.The government had wanted the Tigers to free civilians during the break in fighting, but military officials said there was no large exodus over the […]

April 15, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops resumed their all-out offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels in the north of the island on Wednesday following a brief holiday ceasefire, officials said. They were also consolidating positions in recently captured areas, and on Tuesday recovered several surface to air missiles and hundreds of landmines stored by […]

April 15, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan security forces resumed their offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels in the north of the island on Wednesday following a brief holiday ceasefire, the two sides said.The navy attacked two Tamil Tiger boats that tried to approach the coastline on Wednesday, killing at least 10 guerrillas, navy spokesman Captain […]