Category: Politics

July 19, 2006 (AFP) – At least 900 people have been killed in a surge of violence in Sri Lanka since December that has left a four-year-old Norwegian-brokered truce in tatters, a monitoring official said Wednesday.Clashes between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels erupted soon after the election late November of President Mahinda Rajapakse. A […]

July 18, 2006 (AFP) – A civilian has been killed and 13 people wounded in separate bomb explosions while two civilians were shot dead in Sri Lanka’s troubled northeast regions, military officials said Tuesday.The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) exploded a mine while soldiers were on routine patrol in the Jaffna peninsula, a […]

COLOMBO, July 17, 2006 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels set off three powerful mines in Sri Lanka’s troubled regions Monday, killing a soldier and wounding 12 other servicemen, the defence ministry said. The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) set off one mine in the Jaffna peninsula, killing a soldier and wounding six others, […]

July 16, 2006 (AFP) – July 16, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka pressed for the release of a soldier captured by Tamil Tiger rebels following a heavy mortar duel at the weekend that killed at least 16 combatants, officials said Sunday.The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) returned the bodies of 12 soldiers killed […]

July 15, 2006 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels Saturday returned the bodies of 12 Sri Lankan soldiers killed by them in the island’s restive east, officials said.The fighting around the rebel-dominated village of Vakaneri was described by Sri Lankan government officials as the worst single incident since a June 17 sea battle in which 15 […]

July 15, 2006 (AFP) – A Tamil rebel official was discharged from hospital here Saturday after treatment for a heart problem and was provided with security as he returned to a guerrilla-held area, officials said.Velayudam Dayanidi, better known as Daya Master, the media coordinator of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was admitted to […]

July 14, 2006 (AFP) – Two powerful Claymore mines were found in Sri Lanka’s central city of Kandy and were defused by the military, the defence ministry said Friday.The two bombs were discovered Thursday night along a street in Kandy where the government’s defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella has a private residence, the ministry said. It […]

July 14, 2006 (AFP) – Two soldiers and a sailor were killed by the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka on Friday, authorities said, as a militant nationalist group denounced the government for allowing medical treatment to a leading rebel.The two soldiers were killed when the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fired mortar bombs […]

July 14, 2006 (AFP) – July 14, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka endured its worst fighting in almost a month on Friday as 12 soldiers and four Tamil Tiger rebels were killed in a fierce exchange of mortar fire, military officials and the Red Cross said.The fighting around the rebel-dominated village of Vakaneri was described […]

July 14, 2006 (AFP) – France Friday asked Sri Lanka’s warring parties to resume peace negotiations amid an escalation of fighting and said a peace deal was still possible in the embattled South Asian nation.The outgoing French ambassador Jean Bernard de Vaivre said the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) must stop using violence […]

July 13, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president ordered protection for a Tiger rebel official undergoing medical treatment in Colombo despite severely strained relations between the two sides, a senior minister said Thursday.Media Minister Anura Yapa said President Mahinda Rajapakse had agreed to provide escorts to the Tamil Tiger media coordinator after he was brought […]

SINGAPORE, July 12, 2006 (AFP) – From Bali to Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Mumbai, Asian civilians are increasingly at risk of dying in bombings by militants, analysts said Wednesday. “Actually there has been a very significant shift in the terrorist strategy,” said Kusnanto Anggoro, researcher at Jakarta’s Centre for Strategic and International Studies.“They are […]