Category: Politics

May 1 (AFP) – At least 200 people have been killed in the bloodiest month in Sri Lanka since peacebroker Norway arranged a truce four years ago, but the warring parties say their ceasefire is still holding.Sri Lanka’s government said it was committed to upholding the hugely strained ceasefire even as seven more people were […]

May 1 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s Tamil rebels have moved an unspecified number of fighters along the island’s northeastern coast in defiance of a ban on sea transport, a pro-rebel website reported Monday.The boats of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were closely followed by naval craft and came under attack late Sunday from […]

TRINCOMALEE, May 1 (AFP) – There’s nothing quite like a bloody bombing followed by a strict night curfew to deliver the kiss of death to normal day-to-day life in a town, as residents of Trincomalee will testify.Although the curfew in the strategic northeastern Sri Lankan port town only begins at 10:00 pm, the streets empty […]

May 1 (AFP) – A Claymore mine exploded in Sri Lanka’s port town of Trincomalee on Monday, killing five people after political parties called off May Day rallies in fear of an attack, officials said.The dead included four civilians, local military officials in Trincomalee, 260 kilometres (160 miles) northeast of Colombo, said by telephone. The […]

Apr. 30 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s main political parties have agreed to call off May Day rallies scheduled for Monday because of fears that large gatherings could attract suicide bombers, a government minister said.Plan Implementation Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said there was a consensus among political parties to avoid large meetings after a female suicide bomber […]

TRINCOMALEE, Apr. 30 (AFP) – The governor of Sri Lanka’s Northeast Province has played down civilian casualties inflicted during military strikes on Tamil Tiger areas, saying they were lower even than those caused by one recent Tiger bombing. “Considering the amount of firepower, the collateral damage is minimal,” Rear Admiral Mohan Wijewickrama said in an […]

Apr. 30 (AFP) – At least 18 rebels were killed and many more wounded when Tamil Tiger guerrillas on Sunday launched a major attack against a breakaway faction in eastern Sri Lanka, military and rebel sources said.The battle was one of the bloodiest incidents in an escalation of violence in recent weeks that has severely […]

Apr. 30 (AFP) – Four children were killed in government air strikes in northeastern Sri Lanka last week, the United Nations children’s agency said Sunday, urging the reopening of schools in the affected area.UNICEF, which sent a mission to the rebel-held areas of Trincomalee district, said two schools were damaged in the bombardment. “Four children […]

Apr. 30 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Sunday protested an allegation by Scandinavian truce monitors that government forces may have been responsible for extrajudicial killings. Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse met Ulf Henricsson, the head of the truce monitoring mission, to demand an explanation for Saturday’s statement, a top government official said. The Sri Lanka Monitoring […]

April 30 (AFP) – Sri Lankan security forces fired artillery guns at suspected Tamil Tiger positions after the rebels carried out an abortive attack on a fishing community and wounded at least two civilians, police said.Troops kept up the barrage against the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) after the guerrillas stormed into a […]

Apr. 29 (AFP) – A woman soldier has died of her injuries, bringing to 11 the number of people killed in a suicide bomb attack against Sri Lanka’s army chief, a hospital spokeswoman said Saturday. The soldier died at the national hospital in Colombo on Friday, spokeswoman Pushpa Soysa said. The dead include 10 victims […]