Sri Lanka’s military readied on Monday for a final assault on Tamil Tigers boxed into a strip of jungle with thousands of trapped civilians.
More than 23 000 civilians escaped last month from a war zone in Sri Lanka’s north, where the military appears close to crushing rebels.
A Sri Lankan newspaper editor has been detained over alleged links to a Tamil Tiger air attack in the capital, a family member said on Thursday.
Sri Lanka’s navy rescued more than 640 people who fled the war zone in a clutch of small boats as Tiger rebels fired, the military said on Wednesday.
About 2 000 people have fled Sri Lanka’s shrinking war zone over the past two days as troops fight towards a final showdown with Tiger rebels.
Charges by the UN that 2 800 civilians had been killed in Sri Lanka in recent weeks were ”unsubstantiated”, it was reported on Saturday.
At least 32 Tamil Tiger rebels have died in the latest push by Sri Lankan government troops into the rebels’ fiefdom, it was reported on Friday.
At least 15 people were killed and another 60, including a government minister, wounded on Tuesday in a suicide bombing in southern Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka cricket coach Trevor Bayliss voiced fears on Tuesday that extremists would target next year’s Commonwealth Games in India.
At least 15 people were killed on Tuesday and another 60, including a government minister, were wounded in a suicide bombing in southern Sri Lanka.
Soldiers killed 150 rebels carrying out waves of counter attacks, and the pace of refugees fleeing the war zone picked up speed over the weekend.
More than 100 Tamil Tiger rebels have been killed in two days of fighting in Sri Lanka as they tried to break a military stranglehold.
A rights group on Friday urged Sri Lanka to investigate recent attacks against the media, saying it was disappointed with the government’s stance.
The government appealed on Friday for civilians to flee the war zone and said it would open two safe passages in the area for the exodus.
Human Rights Watch called on Thursday on the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigerss to allow civilians trapped in the war zone to flee to safety.
Sri Lankan forces are holding back their strength against Tamil Tiger rebels to comply with international rules of war, a minister said on Monday.
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/ 25 February 2009
Sri Lankan troops have fought their way into the last town held by the Tamil Tiger separatist guerrillas, according to government sources.
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/ 24 February 2009
The elusive leader of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers is not expected to surrender despite losing his de facto state and may instead try to flee by boat.
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/ 21 February 2009
The Tamil Tiger rebels on Saturday called a defiant air raid on the Sri Lankan capital a success, despite the planes missing their stated targets.
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/ 18 February 2009
At least 50 civilians were killed and many more wounded on Wednesday in air attacks in north-eastern Sri Lanka, a pro-rebel website reported.
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/ 17 February 2009
Sri Lanka’s cornered Tamil Tiger rebels have intensified conscription of child soldiers, some as young as 14, Unicef said on Tuesday.
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/ 16 February 2009
Tamil Tiger rebels have prevented thousands of civilians from leaving Sri Lanka’s war zone," the UN said on Monday.
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/ 15 February 2009
Doctors say wounded Sri Lankan civilians are dying for want of proper medical treatment as they lie trapped in a makeshift hospital.
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/ 13 February 2009
Fighting between government forces and rebels are killing about 40 civilians every day, the top health official in the region said on Friday.
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/ 11 February 2009
Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers on Wednesday denied gunning down civilians streaming out of the country’s war zone.
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/ 10 February 2009
Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger guerrillas on Tuesday shot dead 17 civilians and wounded nearly 70 others, military spokesperson Udaya Nanayakkara said.
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/ 9 February 2009
A female Tamil Tiger suicide bomber hiding among a group of civilians fleeing Sri Lanka’s war zone blew herself up on Monday, killing at least 28.
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/ 8 February 2009
Sri Lankan troops have smashed the Tamil Tigers’ mini-state, but officials say they must catch their elusive leader to declare final victory.
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/ 7 February 2009
Sri Lanka’s top defence official on Saturday accused rebels of infiltrating international organisations in a bid to force a ceasefire.
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/ 6 February 2009
Sri Lankan troops on Friday captured more Tamil Tiger bases, as UN chief Ban Ki-moon raised fresh concerns for civilians trapped in the war zone.
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/ 5 February 2009
Sri Lanka is offering an amnesty to Tamil Tiger rebels who lay down arms and surrender, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake said on Thursday.
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/ 5 February 2009
Sri Lanka has rejected a call to negotiate terms of surrender by the Tamil Tiger rebels, the country’s defence secretary has been quoted as saying.