Category: Politics

July 31, 2006 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels Monday accused Sri Lanka of violating their truce with a renewed offensive, but Nordic truce monitors said the guerrillas had no intention of quitting the ceasefire. The Swedish-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had lodged a formal complaint against […]

July 31, 2006 (AFP) – At least nine soldiers and 35 Tamil rebels were killed Monday in a major battle for control of a disputed waterway in northeastern Sri Lanka, defence officials said.Nine troopers, including an officer were killed in mortar bombs attacks while another 15 soldiers were wounded, officials said. The defence ministry in […]

July 31, 2006 (AFP) – Heavy fighting between Sri Lankan forces and Tamil Tiger rebels that killed at least 44 combatants Monday was unlikely to lead to full-scale war, the top Scandinavian truce monitor Ulf Henricsson said. The retired Swedish army general who leads the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) said a return to full-scale […]

TYRE, Lebanon, July 30, 2006 (AFP) – Vasanthi Darmadasa was sweeping her employers’ garden when her life changed.An Israeli bomb came thundering out of the sky, destroying the house and killing everyone there — except her.“I was thrown to the ground by the shockwave. I didn’t feel anything in my legs and I did not […]

July 30, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Sunday intensified artillery and mortar bomb attacks against Tamil Tigers and captured an area where the guerrillas had blocked an irrigation canal, a minister said. Backed by artillery and four days of air strikes, security forces moved to the Maavilaru water reservoir, Policy Planning Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said. […]

July 29, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s threadbare truce came under further pressure Saturday following decisions by Finland and Denmark to remove their monitors as Tamil rebels and government troops braced for a showdown. Finland was the first to announce the withdrawal of their nationals from the Swedish-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in line […]

July 29, 2006 (AFP) – A second batch of Sri Lankan migrant workers returned home Saturday from Lebanon in line with an evacuation plan backed by the International Organisation of Migration (IOM), officials said.The group of 335 workers were flown on a chartered Sri Lankan Airlines plane from Damascus, IOM spokeswoman Ranjitha Balasubramanyam said. More […]

July 29, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan war planes bombed Tamil Tiger positions for a fourth straight day Saturday, killing at least eight more rebels, the guerrillas said, as their threadbare truce came under more strain.The pro-rebel Tamilnet.com website said Israeli-built Kfir jets bombed and destroyed a conference center of the guerrillas deep inside rebel-held […]

July 28, 2006 (AFP) – At least six rebels died and eight people were wounded when Sri Lankan warplanes attacked a Tamil Tiger camp, a rebel leader said Friday as both sides traded artillery fire. Three civilians were among the injured during the air raids over Trincomalee district on Thursday, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam […]

HELSINKI, July 28, 2006 (AFP) – Finland said Friday it would recall its ceasefire monitors from Sri Lanka, sparking fears of increased violence between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels on the wartorn island.The Finnish foreign ministry announced it would withdraw its 10 observers on security grounds before a September 1 deadline set […]