Category: Defense

August 1, 2008 (AFP) – Pakistan, a key supplier of small arms to Sri Lanka, has proposed a defence pact to boost military cooperation between the two countries, Pakistani officials said Friday.Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi made the offer to his Sri Lankan counterpart Rohitha Bogollegama on the sidelines of a South Asian meeting […]

July 26, 2008 (AFP) – At least 66 Tamil Tiger rebels and eight government soldiers have died in the latest fighting in northern Sri Lanka, the island’s defence ministry said Saturday. The fighting on Friday was centred around Jaffna, Mannar, Vavuniya and the Weli Oya regions, the ministry said.There was no immediate comment on the […]

July 27, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is ramping up security in its already tightly-guarded capital to unprecedented levels as it prepares to host regional leaders for a major summit amid an escalating war on the Tamil Tigers. India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will bring thousands of his own security personnel, helicopters and bullet-proof cars, […]

July 27, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is rounding up dozens of stray dogs ahead of a major South Asian summit, which will also see the island’s largest deployment of police dogs to sniff out explosives, officials said Sunday.The Colombo Municipal Council said dozens of strays over the weekend had been captured near the Bandaranaike […]

July 25, 2008 (AFP) – Heavy ground battles across Sri Lanka’s north claimed the lives of 59 Tamil Tiger rebels and two soldiers, the defence ministry said Friday.Fresh fighting broke out on Thursday and Friday in the northeastern district of Mullaittivu as troops moved deeper into rebel-held areas, the ministry said. There was no immediate […]

July 24, 2008 (AFP) – At least 25 Tamil Tiger rebels and four soldiers have been killed in fighting and air strikes across Sri Lanka’s northern region, the defence ministry said Thursday. The ministry said the clashes between troops and members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) happened Wednesday and brought the number […]

July 22, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s separatist Tamil Tiger rebels declared Tuesday a ceasefire with the military during a 10-day meeting of South Asian leaders starting here this week.There was no immediate comment from Colombo on the ceasefire. Sri Lanka’s army chief said last week that his forces had wiped out two-thirds of the […]

July 20, 2008 (AFP) – More than 5,000 Tamil Tiger rebels have been killed by Sri Lanka’s military since the beginning of the year, the defence ministry said Sunday.The ministry said its latest figures showed 5,036 rebels and 446 of its own soldiers had died in fighting between the start of the year and Friday […]

July 20, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka troops have entered a town held by Tamil Tiger guerillas for 21 years, within days of over-running a nearby coastal base, the military said. Sri Lanka’s defence ministry said the area, in the Mannar district, was a stronghold of the Tamil Tigers, and troops had advanced about two […]

July 19, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s army chief said Saturday his forces had wiped out two-thirds of the Tamil Tigers’ military capability, and that the decades-old conflict with the rebels was at its tail-end.Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) would gradually start collapsing, the state-run Daily News paper […]

July 18, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lankan air force jets bombed three large Tamil Tiger rebel “logistics vessels” off the northeastern Mullaithivu lagoon early Friday morning. Air force officials told LBO the rebels were trying to unload heavy weapons off their Mullaithivu jungle stronghold. Two of the rebel boats were destroyed in the air strike […]

SINGAPORE, July 17, 2008 (AFP) – From Pakistan to Sri Lanka and southern Thailand, people are dying in Asia’s numerous conflict zones — but progress in resolving the unrest is unlikely at Asia’s main security meet next week, observers say. Ministers and top officials from Asia, Europe and the United States gather in Singapore on […]