Tag: news

February 22 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s sacked national heritage minister Anura Bandaranaike has been re-appointed to his former post Thursday, a spokesman from the presidential secretariat said. Bandaranaike was removed with former aviation minister Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathi Sooriyarachchi.

Feb 22, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s navy sank two suspected Tamil Tiger boats off the island’s north-western coast Thursday, killing at least nine people, a military official said. Navy craft attacked the suspected rebel boats off the coast of Puttalam district, a navy spokesman said. “There were six men in one boat and three […]

COLOMBO, Feb 21, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels mark the fifth anniversary of their Norwegian-brokered truce this week but the fighting rages on, with nearly 4,000 people killed in the past year.The ceasefire, signed separately by the Tamil Tiger chieftain and Sri Lanka’s then premier, came into effect on […]

COLOMBO, Feb 21, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka on Wednesday asked neighbouring India to intensify a crackdown on suspected Tamil rebel gun-running across the narrow strip of sea dividing the two South Asian countries.Sri Lanka’s defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said the interception last week by the Indian coastguard of a boat loaded with weapons indicated […]

COLOMBO, Feb 21, 2007 (AFP) – At least three people, including a policeman, were killed and 16 wounded Wednesday in a mine attack in eastern Sri Lanka, police said.The road side blast targeting a police vehicle was caused by a Claymore-type bomb at Ottamawadi in the district of Batticaloa, a police official said by telephone. […]

COLOMBO, Feb 21, 2007 (AFP) – Norway Wednesday called for a fresh commitment from Sri Lanka’s warring parties to maintain its peace brokering efforts on the eve of the fifth anniversary of a truce that now holds only on paper. His remarks came amid calls by the government’s former Marxist ally, the JVP — or […]

COLOMBO, Feb 20, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka Tuesday condemned as an “abominable act of terrorism” the firebombing of a train from India to Pakistan that killed 68 people. Sri Lanka, which is battling a separatist campaign by Tamil rebels, said terrorism was a scourge that affected many nations and that the international community “must […]

COLOMBO, Feb 20, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lankan military aircraft bombed rebel-held territory on Tuesday, killing at least two villagers, the Tamil Tiger guerrillas said, as the military reported four more deaths. Sri Lanka’s separatist conflict, led by the Tamil Tigers, has claimed over 60,000 lives. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said Israeli-built […]

February 17 (LBO) – An international journalist rights body has voiced concern as yet another Sri Lankan journalist went missing this week. Media organisations have described Sri Lanka as one of the most dangerous places for journalists in South Asia. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has voiced deep concern about the disappearance of Subramaniam Ramachandran, the […]

COLOMBO, Feb 17, 2007 (AFP) – One civilian was killed and six other people were wounded when suspected Tamil Tiger rebels set off a fragmentation mine in northern Sri Lanka on Saturday, the defence ministry said.The blast blamed on the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was aimed at an army bus carrying troops […]

COLOMBO, Feb 16, 2007 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s air force bombed suspected Tamil Tiger rebel targets in the northern Jaffna peninsula on Friday, the defence ministry said.War planes pounded the towns of Sorampattu and Palai, destroying mortar positions, the statement said. But the pro-rebel Tamilnet.com said the military targeted civilian settlements in the north in […]