Category: Defense

LONDON, June 8, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka is looking to Pakistan for help to bolster its military capabilities as the ceasefire between the government and rebels appears increasingly fragile, specialist publication Jane’s Defence Weekly said Thursday. Sri Lanka has asked Pakistan to facilitate the purchase of military equipment worth around 60 million dollars (47 […]

OSLO, June 8, 2006 (AFP) – Norwegian officials meeting with Sri Lanka government representatives and Tamil Tigers rebels said on Thursday talks broke down when they failed to bring about a face-to-face encounter between the two sides. Peace broker Norway called the two-day talks amid fears for the safety of the 60-member Sri Lanka Monitoring […]

June 7, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka has stepped up security after bomb blasts near the capital raised fears of more attacks, police said Wednesday, as the warring parties prepared for a face-to-face meeting in Oslo. A truce was put in place in February 2002, but an upsurge in violence has claimed at least 650 […]

June 7, 2006 (AFP) – Suspected government troops carried out a bomb attack inside rebel-held territory Wednesday, killing at least five civilians and wounding 14, Tiger guerrillas said. The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said government troops had carried out the bomb attack against a vehicle transporting civilians. “This is the largest attack […]

COLOMBO, June 6, 2006 (AFP) – Suspected Tamil rebels exploded bombs outside a naval base near Sri Lanka’s capital Tuesday, wounding two people while three others were killed in a similar attack elsewhere, the military said.More than 60,000 people have been killed in the island’s separatist conflict since 1972 and four previous peace bids have […]

June 5, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels will this week question the impartiality of truce monitors from Denmark, Sweden and Finland in the wake of a European Union ban on the guerrillas, officials said Monday. The Sri Lankan government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have sent delegations to […]

June 4, 2006 (AFP) – Stepped up international pressure encouraged Sri Lanka’s warring parties to resume talks this week amid hopes of a new power-sharing deal, officials and diplomats said.Sri Lanka’s government is set to open two days of talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Oslo, the capital of peace broker […]

June 4, 2006 (AFP) – Eight inmates, among them two Tamil Tigers being held for firearm offences, broke out of a jail in Sri Lanka’s restive eastern province Sunday after overpowering their guards, an official said.The men, brandishing a firearm, escaped from the main prison in Batticaloa, 300 kilometres (190 miles) east of here, as […]

June 4, 2006 (AFP) – Two soldiers and a bus station guard have been killed in separate attacks in Sri Lanka’s troubled northeast, the military said Sunday.A Claymore mine attack in the district of Mannar killed a soldier and wounded three others while a similar explosion killed another trooper in the northern peninsula of Jaffna […]

June 4, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s warring parties Sunday sent their respective delegations to Oslo, the capital of peace broker Norway, to discuss the safety of Nordic monitors amid a collapsing ceasefire, officials said.A five-member delegation of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was brought by military helicopter to the island’s only […]

June 2, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military Friday sought public support to step up security in the main city of Colombo amid fears of bomb attacks by Tamil Tiger rebels. Military spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe said residents should alert the authorities to any suspicious individuals or activity in their neighbourhoods. He said 11 telephone numbers […]