Category: Politics

February 3, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lankan government troops on Tuesday captured the last of several jungle airstrips used by the Tamil Tigers to launch air strikes across the island, the defence ministry said.The two-kilometre (1.25-mile) long runway and hangar for light aircraft was seized by troops advancing on the village of Thirivilaru in Mullaittivu […]

Feb 03, 2009 (LBO) – The United States and other powerful donors involved in Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict have urged Tamil Tiger rebels to surrender, to prevent further civilian casualties, saying their days were numbered. The co-chairs also urged the government and the rebels to declare a “temporary no-fire period” to allow for evacuation of […]

February 2, 2009 (AFP) – Shells hit a crowded hospital in northeast Sri Lanka, killing at least nine people and raising fears Monday for thousands of civilians caught in a final military push against cornered Tamil Tiger rebels. The hospital, which is in rebel-held-territory and houses around 500 patients, took direct hits in two separate […]

February 2, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka issued a stark warning to civilians trapped in fighting with Tamil Tiger rebels Monday, a day after shells hit a crowded hospital in the northeast combat zone, killing at least nine people.A government statement said the fight against the cornered Tigers was at “the decisive stage” and that […]

LONDON, January 31, 2009 (AFP) – More than 50,000 demonstrators marched through London in a Tamil rally on Saturday demanding an end to the fighting in Sri Lanka.“More than 50,000 were at the demonstration,” a spokesman for London’s Metropolitan Police said. “There has been one arrest for possession of an offensive weapon.” The spokesman said […]

February 1, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels failed to let hundreds of thousands of civilians leave the island’s northeastern war zone before a government deadline, the defence ministry said Sunday.President Mahinda Rajapakse had given until Saturday night for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to allow the civilians to move to […]

CHENNAI, February 1, 2009 (AFP) – India’s large Tamil population is demanding that New Delhi ensure the safety of 250,000 of their brethren boxed into the battle zone in Sri Lanka’s north. Protesters have poured into the streets in Tamil Nadu state, home to 62 million Indian Tamils, in the past week to call for […]

February 1, 2009 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military said Sunday it would move to “liberate” civilians trapped by fighting with Tamil Tiger forces, after a deadline expired for the rebels to allow non-combatants to leave the war zone.International concern over the fate of tens of thousands of men, women and children stuck in the encircled […]

January 31, 2009 (AFP) – The Red Cross said Saturday it was in talks with Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger rebels to release more wounded civilians trapped in the island’s embattled north.Sri Lanka’s government, which denies it targets civilians, has rejected international calls for a ceasefire and says the military is in the final phase of […]

January 31, 2009 (AFP) – The Sri Lankan military reported a lull in fighting Saturday with cornered Tamil Tiger rebels, as the Red Cross tried to negotiate the evacuation of more civilian wounded from the conflict zone. “There have been no incidents, no casualties, no terrorist killed or military items recovered from terrorists,” in the […]