Category: Defense

February 12, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops declared a new safe zone for civilians Thursday as they battled to finish off the island’s drawn-out ethnic conflict, the defence ministry said. Concern has mounted for tens of thousands of non-combatants trapped in the war zone, with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) saying […]

February 10, 2009 (AFP) – Sixteen patients at a makeshift hospital in Sri Lanka’s war zone were killed when the facility was shelled, the Red Cross said Tuesday, as Colombo accused Tamil rebels of gunning down 19 civilians.The news of Monday’s attack on the hospital in northern Putumattalan came as non-combatants poured across the frontlines […]

February 11, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military on Wednesday denied shelling a makeshift hospital where 16 patients were killed as concern mounted for the safety of non-combatants trapped in the island’s ethnic conflict.Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said security forces were not involved in the attack, which the International Committee of the Red Cross […]

February 10, 2009 (AFP) – Thousands of Tamil civilians streamed out of Sri Lanka’s war zone on Tuesday despite a suicide bombing that killed 30 people at a centre for those escaping the fighting, a military official said.More than 6,500 Tamils crossed the frontlines in the northern Mullaittivu region on Monday, Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said, […]

February 10, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger guerrillas on Tuesday shot dead 17 civilians and wounded nearly 70 others fleeing territory still under rebel control, military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said.Survivors of the attack who arrived at a military post told how Tiger fighters had fired on a group of 1,000 people trying to […]

February 9, 2009 (AFP) – A suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber attacked a camp for civilians fleeing Sri Lanka’s war zone on Monday, killing 20 soldiers and eight civilians, army spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said.He said the female bomber from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) targeted a camp near Visuamadu, an area the military […]

Feb 09, 2009 (LBO) – The United States has condemned a Tamil Tiger suicide attack in northern Sri Lanka that killed 28 people and urged the rebels to let civilians move out of the war zone. “The United States condemns today’s suicide attack on a government centre that was registering internally displaced persons who had […]

February 8, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops have smashed the Tamil Tigers’ mini-state and cornered the remaining rebels, but officials say they must catch their elusive leader to declare final victory. The air force carried out a series of raids on locations where Velupillai Prabhakaran, 54, was suspected to have sheltered over the weekend, […]

February 8, 2009 (AFP) – At least 10,000 civilians have escaped Sri Lanka’s war zone in the last four days, the government said Sunday, as the president warned Tamil Tiger rebels to surrender unconditionally or be killed. The Tigers are fighting for survival after being driven back into a small patch of jungle by a […]

February 8, 2009 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan navy on Sunday sank two boats carrying Tamil Tiger rebels escaping the island’s north-eastern battle zone, killing at least six guerrillas, a spokesman said.Naval craft attacked two boats belonging to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) off the coast of Mullaittivu where the rebels have been […]

February 7, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse warned cornered Tamil Tiger rebels to surrender or face a complete rout as government forces claimed more successes in what is regarded as their fight to a finish.“I want to tell the Tigers ‘lay down arms and surrender to security forces’,” the president told a […]

February 6, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops captured several Tamil Tiger supply bases on Friday, a day after overrunning the rebels’ last and largest naval base, military officials said. There has been growing concern for the safety of civilians amid reports from the International Committee of the Red Cross that “hundreds” have already been […]