Sporadic fire in Sri Lanka on run up to peace talks

Oct 22(AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels set off a Claymore mine and fired on troops in northern Sri Lanka Sunday, wounding three people, the defence ministry said amid moves to arrange peace talks next weekend.Four previous peace attempts ended in failure.The powerful blast went off in the Jaffna peninsula while troops were on a cordon-and-search […]

Peace brokers face tough battle in clearing way for Sri Lanka peace talks

Oct 22 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s warring parties were bracing for talks aimed at saving a tattered truce, but arranging next weekend’s parley is becoming a logistical “minefield” that could blow up before the meeting begins. Peace broker Norway’s breakthrough last week, when it coaxed the rebel Tamil Tigers to talks, appears to have been […]

Security stepped up after bombing of Sri Lankan port

GALLE, Sri Lanka, Oct 19, 2006 (AFP) – Police and troops stepped up security in Sri Lanka’s port city of Galle Thursday, one day after a bold suicide attack that killed at least two people, a police official said. Additional troop reinforcements were poured into the area while military patrols were also stepped up, even […]

‘s popular Galle

GALLE, Sri Lanka, Oct 18, 2006 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels staged an audacious suicide attack against Sri Lanka’s historic port of Galle Wednesday, killing at least two people and destroying three navy craft, officials said.The attack in Galle — a popular tourist destination regarded as Sri Lanka’s Riviera — came as foreign envoys pushed […]

Sri Lanka slaps curfew on port town after suicide attack

COLOMBO, Oct 18, 2006 (AFP) – Authorities imposed an indefinite curfew on Sri Lanka’s port town of Galle Wednesday after Tiger rebels launched a suicide bombing against a key naval base there, Media Minister Anura Yapa told AFP. Police were ordering people off the streets and traffic was being diverted, the minister said, adding that […]

Oct 18, 2006 (AFP) – A seaborne attack by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels on the Sri Lankan port town of Galle on Wednesday has highlighted the guerrillas’ lethal “Sea Tiger” arm, whose suicide wing claims to have inspired Al-Qaeda.Suspected rebel suicide bombers using at least five boats infiltrated Galle’s harbour and attacked a key naval […]

Police open fire to quell rioting after Sri Lanka port attack

Oct 18, 2006 (AFP) – Police opened fire and wounded three people Wednesday in a bid to quell rioting in the southern Sri Lankan town of Galle after Tiger rebels staged a suicide bombing against the naval port there, officials said.Mobs tried to attack shops owned by minority Tamil businessmen at Kittangi, a suburb of […]

Two killed in major suicide attack on Sri Lanka port

Oct 18, 2006 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels disguised as fishermen staged a suicide attack against Sri Lanka’s southern port of Galle Wednesday, killing at least two sailors and destroying three gunboats, officials said.The attack in Galle — an historic city and popular tourist destination — came as foreign envoys pushed for the Sri Lankan […]

Sri Lanka exhumes bodies of French charity workers

Oct 18, 2006 (AFP) – The bodies of 15 aid workers massacred in Sri Lanka were exhumed in the northeastern town of Trincomalee on Wednesday in a fresh bid to determine who killed them, police said.The victims were among 17 mostly Tamil workers with the Paris-based Action Against Hunger (ACF) who were gunned down August […]

Sri Lanka jets bomb Tiger territory: rebels

Oct 18, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lankan war planes bombed Tamil rebel-held territory in the island’s restive east Wednesday, killing a woman and wounding two others, the guerrillas said.The air force had been carrying out tit-for-tat attacks since the guerrillas attempted to assassinate army chief Sarath Fonseka in April.Two Israeli-built Kfir jets attacked the village […]

Counting the dead after Sri Lanka suicide attack

DAMBULLA, Oct 17, 2006 (AFP) – Through a narrow doorway leading to the dead, the grim routine of cataloguing the slain from Sri Lanka’s latest suicide bombing ground on late into the night.Dazed young sailors, some smelling of alcohol, crowded round the doorway in a building set apart at one end of the hospital grounds […]

‘t want to talk: analysts

Oct 17, 2006 (AFP) – The worsening cycle of violence in Sri Lanka, where Tamil Tiger rebels this week launched their bloodiest-ever suicide attack, is a sign that neither side in the brutal ethnic conflict is ready to sit down for talks slated for next week, analysts said Tuesday.In the latest carnage, more than 100 […]

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