Category: Defense

COLOMBO, January 7, 2009 (AFP) – A powerful explosion ripped through a railway track just outside the Sri Lankan capital on Wednesday causing disruption to commuter services, police said. Police said there were no casualties following the blast at Mount Lavinia, but the Colombo-bound track was damaged and train services were suspended pending investigation. “Fortunately […]

January 6, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops were battling Tuesday to flush out Tamil Tigers from the Jaffna peninsula after taking the rebels’ political headquarters in the northern mainland, the military said.Security forces were pushing into remaining rebel-held territory in the Jaffna area after taking a part of the Elephant Pass, a causeway linking […]

January 5, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops backed by tanks and helicopter gunships moved against the remaining Tamil Tiger jungle strongholds after taking their political headquarters, the army said on Monday.Soldiers were fanning out from positions in the north of the island and heading towards remaining rebel pockets after seizing the Liberation Tigers of […]

January 5, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops battling Tamil rebels Monday captured part of the highly strategic Elephant Pass in a second major success just days after taking the guerrillas’ political headquarters, the army said.Military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said the southern part of Elephant Pass, a causeway linking the northern Jaffna peninsula to the […]

January 4, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankans celebrated the fall of the Tamil Tigers’ de facto capital with street parties, but military observers say bloodier battles may still lie ahead as the rebels take refuge in the jungles.by Amal Jayasinghe “This is certainly not the end of the war,” Sithadthan said. “We can say this […]

KILINOCHCHI, January 4, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka said Sunday its troops were battling towards the jungle headquarters of the Tamil Tigers, two days after retaking their main city in a military assault that the government said would crush the guerrillas once and for all.Government soldiers consolidating their new positions in Kilinochchi, the former Tamil […]

KILINOCHCHI, January 4, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s army said Sunday it was moving in on the jungle stronghold of the Tamil Tiger rebels, in a final assault aimed at ending the longest-running ethnic war in Asia.Flush with confidence after retaking their main city two days ago, the army vowed to capture rebel leader Velupillai […]

January 3, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops advanced Saturday on the military headquarters of the Tamil Tigers, a day after capturing the rebels’ de facto political capital in the north of the island. The defence ministry said forces were moving towards Mullaitivu, the jungle district along the northeastern seaboard, where the Tigers are known […]

January 3, 2009 (AFP) – At least three people were wounded in a bomb blast in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo on Saturday, a day after a suicide bomb attack killed two people elsewhere in the city, police said. The latest explosion was outside a mosque in Colombo’s commercial area of Pettah, police said, adding that […]

Jan 02, 2009 (LBO) – A suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber blew himself up Tuesday near Sri Lanka’s air force headquarters just after the government announced the fall of a key rebel held town in the north, military officials and witnesses said.The attack came minutes after the government announced the capture of Kilinochchi, in northern […]

January 2, 2009 (AFP) – A suicide bomber carried out an attack outside an air force base in Colombo on Friday, killing two airmen and wounding 36 other people, police and a hospital spokeswoman said.The powerful explosion came just hours after President Mahinda Rajapakse announced the army’s capture of the Tamil Tiger rebels’ political capital […]

January 2, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan security forces have fought their way to the perimeter of the Tamil Tiger political capital of Kilinochchi in the island’s north, the defence ministry said Friday.Three columns of troops were moving on Kilinochchi, the headquarters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the ministry said in a […]