Category: Defense

PARIS, February 28, 2009 (AFP) – Thousands of Tamils marched in Paris on Saturday to denounce what they termed the Sri Lankan government’s genocide of the island’s ethnic minority in its bid to wipe out Tamil Tiger rebels.Government forces have pushed the Tigers into a narrow piece of land and say they hope to completely […]

March 1, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Sunday rejected fresh calls for a ceasefire with Tamil Tigers rebels as security forces hit stiff resistance in their efforts to secure final victory in the island’s ethnic conflict.Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona said any ceasefire would be unnecessary if the Tigers accepted international appeals to surrender. “When the […]

February 28, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops have entered the last urban area still in the hands of Tamil Tiger guerrillas after heavy fighting, the defence ministry said on Saturday.Soldiers entered Puthukkudiriruppu on Friday despite heavy resistance from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the defence ministry said in a statement. Government forces […]

February 26, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops have killed at least 11 Tamil Tiger rebels in the battle for the last urban area still in the hands of the guerrillas, the defence ministry said Thursday.The deaths occurred Wednesday when soldiers pushed toward Puthukkudiriruppu, a town on a narrow strip of land in the northeast […]

February 25, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops has opened the main highway to the northern Jaffna peninsula for the first time in nearly two decades after wresting the route from rebel control, the military said Wednesday.Government troops operated a food convoy Tuesday along the A-9 highway that had been under rebel control since 1990, […]

CHENNAI, February 25, 2009 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan Tamil committed suicide by setting himself on fire to protest civilian casualties in Colombo’s military offensive against the Tamil Tiger rebels, Indian police said Wednesday.The Sri Lankan army claims to have driven back the rebels into less than 75 square kilometres (28 square miles) of jungle […]

February 24, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military said Tuesday it was trying to establish how the Tamil Tigers managed to buy light planes abroad, smuggle them onto the island and establish a rebel air force.According to the island’s defence ministry, the raid was the last air attack likely to be carried out by the […]

February 24, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan government troops were Tuesday advancing on the last urban area in the north of the island still in the hands of Tamil Tiger rebels, the military said.Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said soldiers were “on the fringes of Puthukkudirirppu,” a small town on a narrow strip of land in the […]

February 24, 2009 (AFP) – The elusive leader of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels is not expected to surrender despite losing his de facto state and may instead try to flee by boat, the country’s top defence official said Tuesday. Tiger chief Velupillai Prabhakaran, 54, could use a human smuggling ring to escape by boat, […]

CHENNAI, February 22, 2009 (AFP) – An ethnic Tamil activist committed suicide by setting himself on fire in protest against the war in Sri Lanka, Indian police said on Sunday. Siva Prakasam, 55, set himself ablaze during an anti-war rally on Saturday in Chennai, capital of the southern state of Tamil Nadu, a police spokesman […]

February 23, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels Monday said they were ready to comply with international calls for a ceasefire but would not lay down their arms.With rebel forces cornered in the northeast of the island by government troops, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) appealed to foreign powers to step […]

February 23, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers appealed Monday for international action to halt a major offensive against their shrinking fiefdom, but the island’s military rejected any talk of a truce. With rebel forces cornered in the northeast of the island by a massive attack by government forces, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil […]