Category: Defense

November 20, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lankan security forces on Thursday captured a key defence line of Tamil Tiger rebels after six days of intense fighting that left “scores” of guerrillas dead, the defence ministry said.The rebels are locked in a decades-long war with the government to carve out a homeland for minority Tamils. To […]

November 19, 2008 (AFP) – Amnesty International on Wednesday said Sri Lanka was unable to provide for the basic needs of 300,000 people trapped inside rebel-held areas and accused Tiger guerrillas of using them as human shields.“The abuses carried out by the LTTE make our call for international monitors to be allowed to visit conflict-affected […]

LONDON, November 18, 2008 (AFP) – The Tamil Tigers are likely building up their capacity for receiving weapons shipments with two long airstrips to receive large cargo planes, respected defence analysis group Jane’s said Tuesday. Based on analysis of high-resolution, commercially-available satellite imagery, the London-based group said the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) […]

November 18, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s navy traded fire with a flotilla of Tamil rebel boats off the island’s northeastern coast Tuesday, a day after ground troops captured three guerrilla-held towns, defence officials said. Sri Lankan authorities have restricted access to the embattled areas for journalists as well as for most aid workers, making […]

Nov 18, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank said it had made the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), an organisation linked to the Tamil Tigers, to forfeit its funds to the state under laws against terrorist financing. To receive instant alerts from LBO on your Dialog mobile type ‘lbo’ and send to 678 “A sum […]

November 17, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops on Monday captured two more strategic towns from Tamil Tiger rebels following fierce fighting in the north of the island, the defence ministry said.Security forces battling to dismantle the rebels’ mini-state entered the town of Mankulam, located just south of the Tamil Tiger political capital of Kilinochchi, […]

November 16, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka stepped up air attacks against suspected rebel targets in the island’s north Sunday, a day after ground troops re-captured a highly strategic town, the defence ministry said.Mi-24 helicopter gunships and fighter jets were deployed to pound defence lines of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on the […]

November 15, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lankan security forces on Saturday recaptured the strategically important northern town of Pooneryn from Tamil Tiger rebels after months of heavy fighting, the defence ministry said. Pooneryn had been a Tiger stronghold since 1993 when the rebels dislodged the main military base there. The rebels had used the coastal […]

November 15, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president on Saturday asked Tamil Tigers to surrender after troops claimed re-taking a strategically-important town from the separatist guerrillas following months of heavy fighting.President Mahinda Rajapakse said in a televised address to the nation that security forces had wrested control of the town of Pooneryn and the main […]

November 13, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops on Thursday wrested control of two coastal villages from Tamil Tiger rebels after a series of pitched battles, the military said.The fishing settlements of Devil’s Point and Vallaipadu on the island’s northwestern shore were used by the rebels to smuggle arms from south India and launch attacks […]

November 12, 2008 (AFP) – At least nine Tamil Tiger rebels were killed as Sri Lankan troops fought pitched battles in the island’s north, the defence ministry said Wednesday.The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) endured a “heavy beating” as troops advanced towards Kilinochchi, the rebels’ political capital, the ministry said. It said the bodies […]

November 11, 2008 (AFP) – Government forces in Sri Lanka have wrestled control of a small town from Tamil Tiger rebels in an ongoing military offensive, the defence ministry said on Tuesday.Troops fighting to secure a strategic road along the coast to the northern peninsula of Jaffna have faced stiff resistance from the Liberation Tigers […]