Posts Tagged ‘bbc’
Sri Lanka denies civilian crisis
[BBC] Sri Lanka’s government has denied Red Cross and UN reports of a major humanitarian crisis in the north, where troops are fighting Tamil Tiger rebels. Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa told the BBC that he had a policy of “zero” civilian casualties. The Red Cross believes that hundreds of civilians have been killed and hundreds…
Read MoreIndia’s dilemma in Sri Lanka
[BBC] Any military victory in the civil war in Sri Lanka will almost certainly see pressure for the re-emergence of India in contributing to a settlement. Since the emergence of full-blooded Tamil militancy in Sri Lanka in the 1980s, the two neighbours have circled each other in an uncertain diplomatic tango, sometimes seeing eye to…
Read More‘Crisis unfolding’ in Sri Lanka
[ BBC ] A major humanitarian crisis is unfolding in northern Sri Lanka, with a quarter of a million people trapped by fighting, the Red Cross says. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) estimates that hundreds of people have been killed in fighting between troops and separatist rebels. It called on both sides…
Read MoreFresh media attack in Sri Lanka
[BBC] The editor of a Sri Lankan weekly newspaper and his wife have been assaulted in Colombo in the latest of a series of attacks on journalists. Reporters on the Rivira weekly say four men on motorcycles blocked Upali Tennakoon’s car and attacked the couple with iron rods and other weapons. The pair are in…
Read MoreCivilians ‘killed’ in Sri Lanka
[BBC] Medical staff in Sri Lanka say at least 18 civilians have been killed as the military continues its offensive on the northern bases of Tamil Tiger rebels. Hospital officials said the number killed in fighting around Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu could be much higher. The military said Mullaitivu – the last major rebel stronghold –…
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