Category: Defense

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 […]

April 14, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels said Tuesday they were ready to negotiate a ceasefire with government forces and restart peace talks to halt decades of ethnic bloodshed.The government said it hoped that non-combatants would be able to leave a narrow strip of coastal jungle where they are allegedly held hostage […]

April 13, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan security forces began a two-day ceasefire on Monday, as the government called for the cornered Tamil Tiger rebels to allow thousands of civilians to flee the conflict zone. The Tigers, who are accused of holding the civilians hostage, have suffered months of battlefield setbacks that could finally end […]

April 12, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president on Sunday ordered government troops to halt their offensive against cornered Tamil rebels over the two-day Sinhala and Tamil New Year that starts on Monday. The brief ceasefire is also aimed at allowing more civilians to escape from the remaining rebel-held territory and seek shelter in a […]

April 12, 2009 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels killed five farmers in southern Sri Lanka on Sunday in an apparent revenge attack for military operations against them elsewhere, the army said. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters killed the farmers in the Buttala area in the far south, more than 300 kilometers (187 miles) […]

WASHINGTON, April 9, 2009 (AFP) – International mediators of the conflict that has pitted separatist Tamil Tigers against government forces in Sri Lanka on Thursday called for both camps to cease their “futile” fighting. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) should “permit freedom of movement for the civilians” trapped in the strife-hit northern part […]

April 10, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s army announced Friday it had launched an operation to bring to safety thousands of civilians trapped by fighting with Tamil Tiger rebels. The defence ministry statement came as a New York-based human rights group said civilian casualties were “skyrocketing” in the island’s northeast where the rebels have been […]