Sri Lanka fighting kills 26 soldiers

Sept 9, 2006 (AFP) – At least 26 troops were killed and over 125 wounded Saturday in new fighting as Tamil rebels resisted an army advance into guerrilla-held territory in northern Sri Lanka, military sources said.Hundreds of Sri Lankan troops were involved in the offensive along the de facto border between government- and rebel-held areas […]

’s tsunami hit coastline

September 8, 2006 (LBO) – Sri Lanka Friday flagged off construction work on a road project which links the tsunami hit coastlines from the south up to the east of the island. The Matara-Wellawaya road, jointly funded by ADB and the European Union, is closely linked to a network of tsunami-affected roads to be rehabilitated […]

Booby-trapped taxi explodes in Sri Lanka

Sept 8, 2006 (AFP) – Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels placed a body in a booby-trapped taxi that exploded Friday in northern Sri Lanka, wounding six people, police said. The blast occurred in the town of Vavuniya, 255 kilometres (160 miles) north of the capital Colombo, with a police officer and four school children among the […]

Sri Lanka state media slams Norway over peace bid

Sept 8, 2006 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s peace broker Norway came under a scathing attack from the media here Friday amid diplomatic moves to inject new life to a collapsing ceasefire.The state-run Daily News said Norwegians had “failed” as peacebrokers and took exception to reported remarks from Norwegians that they disagreed on an international crackdown […]

Sporadic clashes in Northern Sri Lanka after Tiger warning

Sept 7, 2006 (AFP) – Tamil Tiger fighters shot dead at least two civilians in Sri Lanka’s troubled Jaffna peninsula, the defence ministry said Thursday, a day after the rebels warned of retaliatory strikes.Two others were wounded in Wednesday night’s attack by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the ministry said. There were also […]

Government starts to resettle displaced Muslims in eastern Sri Lanka

TRINCOMALEE, Sept 7, 2006 (AFP) – Thousands of Muslims who fled their homes in this coastal district began returning home Thursday as fighting between troops and Tamil Tiger rebels died down, officials said.Some 85 busses transported refugees within this district from relief centres in Kantalai and take them to their homes in the Muslim fishing […]

Sri Lanka lags reforming nations in South Asia: Report

Sept 06 (LBO) – Once the leader in reform, Sri Lanka is now lagging other reforming economies in South Asia, and the country has become a more difficult place to do business, a World Bank report released today said. ‘Doing Business in 2007: How to Reform’ has found that only India and Pakistan had introduced […]

Norway bids to save Sri Lanka peace process

COLOMBO, Sept 6, 2006 (AFP) – Norway’s top envoy sought to salvage Sri Lanka’s peace process in talks with Tamil Tigers on Wednesday as the rebels vowed retaliation for heavy bombing that led to the capture of a key town. “There is no particular agenda, but obviously today’s situation will be discussed,” Erik Ivo Nurnberg […]

’s trade deficit ballooned in July as port strike hit exports

Sept 06 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s trade deficit expanded by more than 50 percent in the seven months to July, spurred by rapid import growth and falling exports, the Central Bank said. In July exports fell by 7.9 percent to 516 million US dollars, after striking port workers interrupted exports, but oil imports which come […]

Central Bank extends freeze on TRO bank accounts to investigate alleged tiger links

Sept 06 (LBO) – The Central Bank said Wednesday it would extend a freeze on all bank accounts of the charity, Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) by six months to investigate alleged terrorist links, following an order from Sri Lanka’s High Court. All banking transactions of the TRO were suspended over the weekend, freezing 75 million […]

More deaths in fresh fighting in Eastern Sri Lanka

Sept 6, 2006 (AFP) – At least two Sri Lankan soldiers were killed and 13 others wounded Wednesday in clashes with Tamil Tiger rebels in the country’s restive north-east, military officials said.The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) shelled military positions at Maavilaru village in Trincomalee district where security forces on Monday regained control of […]

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