Tag: news

Oct 14, 2006 (AFP) – The bodies of 15 aid workers massacred in Sri Lanka will be exhumed next week in a fresh bid to determine who killed them, their French employer said Saturday as sporadic fighting continued in the troubled north of the island.The aid victims were among 17 mostly Tamil workers with the […]

HELSINKI, Oct 14, 2006 (AFP) – The European Union on Saturday urged Sri Lanka’s leaders and the Tamil Tiger rebels to end fierce fighting which threatens peace talks due this month, after a week of raging violence there.“The presidency urges the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE to ensure that humanitarian aid deliveries be […]

VAVUNIYA, Sri Lanka, Oct 13, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military and the Tamil rebels opened a new front in the east after a fierce battle in the north killed 130 soldiers, casting a shadow over peace talks later this month. More than 60,000 people have been killed in the three-decades-old conflict. Troops and the […]

WASHINGTON, Oct 11, 2006 (AFP) – The United States said it was “deeply concerned” Wednesday by intense fighting in Sri Lanka that has jeopardized new efforts to revive a peace agreement between the government and minority Tamil rebels.McCormack said Washington was working closely with its fellow co-chairs “to find a way forward to an end […]

Oct 12, 2006 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger rebels inflicted heavy losses on Sri Lankan troops in fierce fighting that reportedly killed 244 combatants and wounded over 430, dashing peace hopes, officials said Thursday.Some 60,000 people have been killed overall in the three-decades-old conflict between minority Tamils seeking an independent homeland and government forces. Defence officials […]

Oct 12, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s cabinet announced Thursday they had stopped drawing their salaries with immediate effect as the government was set to raise its defence spending by 45 percent.Media Minister Anura Yapa told reporters that cabinet agreed to draw only allowances they were entitled to and not accept the salaries paid to […]

Oct 12, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s military said Thursday 129 soldiers were killed and over 500 wounded in fighting with Tamil Tiger rebels in the island’s north on Wednesday, while claiming 200 rebels also died.The defence ministry said 55 soldiers were killed in heavy clashes along the de facto front line in the Jaffna […]

Oct 12, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president offered cabinet posts to the main opposition on Thursday in a bid to strike a bipartisan deal to end the island’s ethnic bloodshed, his office said. The parting of the ways with the Marxists has pushed the government closer to the main opposition which has more clout […]

Oct 11, 2006 (AFP) – At least 85 people were killed and more than 400 wounded when a new military offensive Wednesday met with ferocious resistance from Tamil Tiger rebels in northern Sri Lanka, both sides said. Intense fighting halted the government’s onslaught into rebel territory, which was backed by Israeli-built Kfir jets and naval […]

Oct 11, 2006 (AFP) – At least 75 Sri Lankan troops and 10 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed Wednesday and more than 400 soldiers wounded in a major battle in the island’s north, according to the warring parties.The military maintained that they were “compelled” to launch the offensive as a “defensive measure” to neutralise a […]

COLOMBO, Oct 11, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s peace broker Norway Wednesday asked the government and Tamil Tiger rebels to cease hostilities after the two parties agreed to end an eight-month deadlock in their negotiations. Norway’s top peace broker Erik Solheim welcomed the agreement between the Sri Lankan administration and the rebel Liberation Tigers of […]