Posts by pearlaction
Sri Lanka: Urgently Evacuate Civilians
[Human Rights Watch] A humanitarian evacuation of civilians is desperately needed right now. Sri Lanka should urgently work with concerned governments to help civilians flee the fighting. Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.(New York) – The Sri Lankan government and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) should immediately agree to a…
Read MoreSri Lanka faces war ‘catastrophe’
[BBC] The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned of an impending humanitarian catastrophe in north-eastern Sri Lanka. Up to 150,000 people may be trapped in the area by fighting between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels. The ICRC has reiterated calls for a mass evacuation of civilians and for far more aid…
Read MoreMany Sri Lankan Tamils giving up on country
[AP] The assailants broke in after the fighting between ethnic rebels and the military erupted again into full-scale war, storming through his family’s home and calling his name. Thanabalasingham Surendran, a member of Sri Lanka’s Tamil ethnic minority, fled to the capital, Colombo. But unknown “messengers from military intelligence” kept calling and demanding extortion money.…
Read MoreSri Lanka has purchased cluster bombs from Pakistan
[Pakistan Daily] In a July 2008 interview with Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, Major General Mohammad Farooq, Director General of the Defense Export Promotion Organization, claimed that Pakistan’s defense exports have tripled to around USD 300 million because of the quality of its ammunition, anti-tank guided missiles, rocket launchers and shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles. It has been reported…
Read MoreSri Lanka patients tell of shooting, shelling and trapped relatives
[Doctors Without Borders] As heavy fighting continues in northern Sri Lanka, over 200,000 civilians remain trapped in the conflict in the Vanni region. But, over the past few weeks, some 35,000 people have managed to flee to the city of Vavuniya, 80 km south of the conflict zone. They tell of a beleaguered population living…
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