Posts Tagged ‘bbc’
Is the end near for Sri Lanka’s rebels?
[BBC] On the face of it, President Mahindra Rajapaksa has fulfilled his election promise to defeat the Tamil Tigers and end their military campaign for a separate homeland in the north and east of the country for good. But dig a little deeper and the matters become much more complicated. Although the Tamil Tigers are…
Read MoreArmy ‘takes key Sri Lanka pass’
[ BBC ] The Sri Lankan army has captured Elephant Pass, the strategic causeway linking the Jaffna peninsula with the mainland, the president has said. Mahinda Rajapaksa said Tamil Tiger rebels had been completely dislodged. The Tigers have made no comment yet. Troops took Kilinochchi, the HQ of the rebels, last week and began a…
Read MoreGrievous blow to Sri Lankan media
[BBC] The murder of Sri Lankan newspaper editor Lasantha Wickramatunga highlights the claim often made by human rights groups that the country is one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists to operate. He is the latest in a long line of Sri Lankan journalists who have been murdered or silenced over…
Read MoreRuined remains of rebel ‘capital’
[BBC] In Kilinochchi there was hardly a building with a roof. Shops were in ruins or pockmarked with bullets, a huge water tower was lying on its side. The Peace Secretariat, where the Tigers met visiting diplomats and journalists during the failed 2002 ceasefire, was a shell. The windows and furniture had gone, the paving…
Read MoreBomber targets Sri Lankan capital
[BBC] A suicide bombing in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, has killed at least five members of the paramilitary civil defence force, military officials said. The bomber hit a checkpoint near a market in Wattala, a suburb of Colombo, the officials said. No group has claimed to have carried out the attack, but it follows heavy…
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