Category: Politics

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 […]

July 17, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s government on Thursday unveiled new restrictions on how long United Nations and other foreign aid staff are allowed to work on the war-torn island.The new regulations come amid a backdrop of mounting tensions between the government and the United Nations and key member states, who have been highly […]

July 17, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s former colonial ruler Britain has called for trust between multi-ethnic communities to end Sri Lanka’s spiralling violence, while also voicing concerns about rights abuses.British lawmaker Mark Malloch-Brown told reporters in Colombo that London was worried about an escalation in the separatist conflict, which has left scores dead on […]

July 16, 2008 (AFP) – Several human bones have been found in an unmarked grave in Sri Lanka’s eastern district of Batticaloa, police said Wednesday. The site was discovered by a group of people who were digging a well on Tuesday. “We are not sure if it is a mass grave. Several bones were unearthed. […]

July 13, 2008 (AFP) – At least 30 Tamil Tiger rebels and two government soldiers were killed in fresh fighting in the island’s embattled north, the defence ministry said Sunday.The separatist guerrillas were killed in the Wanni region and the adjoining Jaffna peninsula on Saturday, the ministry said. It said 26 rebels were also wounded […]

July 12, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s defence ministry said Saturday troops had destroyed Tamil Tiger bunkers and killed 18 rebels in fighting in the north of the island.Casualty figures on both sides cannot be independently verified as the defence ministry bars journalists from travelling to the frontlines.The military put its own losses at 20 […]

July 12, 2008 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Saturday tightened mobile phone regulations and forced service providers to maintain full details of phone users as part of anti-terrorism moves. Sri Lanka, which has a population of 20 million people, has 12 million telephone subscribers, of which 10 million are mobile phones, Kariyapperuma said. Phone operators were […]

July 11, 2008 (LBO) – Three people died and 16 were injured when gunmen opened fire on a passenger bus in Southern Sri Lanka in an area where Tamil Tigers have previously targeted civilians, the military said. The military said a passenger bus traveling to from Moneragala in the Uva province to Kataragama in Southern […]