Category: Politics
” during hostage rescue
May 17, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka said Sunday there was no “bloodbath” during its “rescue” of tens of thousands of civilians held hostage by Tamil Tiger rebels.“There was no bloodbath as some people feared,” Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told reporters.“Everybody has come out safely and they are being looked after by the government.” […]
‘s son, three top leaders killed: military
May 18, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Army special forces soldiers have found a body suspected to be of Charles Anthony, the elder son of Tamil Tiger chief Velupillai Prabhakaran Monday morning, the defence ministry said in a statement. The body was found in the Karayamullavaikkal area, on a small coastal strip in the island’s […]
Sri Lankan student in coma after Australia acid attack
SYDNEY, May 18, 2009 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan student in Sydney had acid thrown in his face and was in an induced coma after a home invasion early Monday sparked by the conflict in his troubled homeland, police said.Police appealed for calm among the Sinhalese and Tamil communities in Australia’s largest city following the […]
”
NEW DELHI, May 18, 2009 (AFP) – India asked Sri Lanka on Monday to “address the root causes of the conflict” with ethnic Tamils and to provide aid to tens of thousands of civilians displaced in the last months of the war. India is home to millions of Tamils in the southern state of Tamil […]
‘s death
NEW DELHI, May 18, 2009 (AFP) – India is to ask Sri Lanka for scientific confirmation of the death of the Tamil Tigers leader so it can close a case connected to the murder of former premier Rajiv Gandhi, police said Monday. Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, his intelligence chief Pottu Amman and rebel women’s […]
‘s fate a mystery as rebels routed
May 17, 2009 (AFP) – Scouring a tiny beach and lagoon peninsula in Sri Lanka’s northeast are thousands of government troops, examining the faces of the dead, hunting for hidden bunkers under the jungle floor.They are looking for any sign of the leader of the defeated Tamil Tiger rebels, Velupillai Prabhakaran, who built up what […]
Defeated Tigers will not be allowed to regroup: Sri Lanka
May 17, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s army chief vowed Sunday the Tamil Tigers would not be allowed to regroup and pledged that the rebels, once seen as one of the world’s deadliest guerrilla outfits, would soon be forgotten.The government said a massive offensive against the separatist Tigers was all but complete, with the entire […]
Sri Lankan military says all trapped civilians rescued
May 17, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops have rescued all civilians held by Tamil Tiger rebels, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said on Sunday.“More than 50,000 people have come out of that area in the past three days and with that we have rescued all the civilians held as a human shield by the […]
Sri Lanka troops kill 70 escaping Tigers: army
May 17, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops on Sunday killed at least 70 Tamil Tiger rebels trying to escape across a shallow lagoon using boats, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.The guerrillas tried to break out of the pocket of land where they have been holed up in the northeast of the island, Nanayakkara […]
‘s Tamil Tigers admit defeat
May 17, 2009 (AFP) – The Tamil Tigers have given up their fight against a Sri Lankan government offensive and “have decided to silence our guns,” a statement carried by the pro-rebel Tamilnet website said Sunday.“This battle has reached its bitter end,” said the admission of defeat from the rebels’ chief of international relations, Selvarasa […]
Sri Lanka troops move in to finish off Tamil Tigers: spokesman
May 17, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan troops were Sunday moving in on the final patch of jungle still held by Tamil Tigers and were set to capture “every inch of land” from the rebels, a military spokesman said.Government forces were pressing on with the blistering offensive despite the Tamil Tigers announcing they would “silence […]
‘s Tamil Tigers plan mass suicide: defence ministry
May 16, 2009 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels who are battling Sri Lankan government troops are close to losing their territory and preparing to commit “mass suicide,” the defence ministry said Saturday. The Tigers are “are preparing for a mass suicide after being effectively cut-off of escape routes, both land and sea, and now encircled […]