Posts Tagged ‘civil war’
Fears grow for trapped civilians as army advances on Tamil Tigers
[Guardian] International concern is intensifying over the fate of around 350,000 civilians trapped in a rapidly shrinking rebel-controlled pocket of land in Sri Lanka‘s north east, as the military steps up its campaign to end the civil war by crushing the Tamil Tiger forces. The Sri Lankan army this week announced that it had seized…
Read MoreSri Lankan journalist predicted own execution
[CNN] A crusading Sri Lankan journalist shot dead last week knew he would be killed — he said so in a dramatic, posthumously published column touching a raw nerve in his war-torn island nation. Lasantha Wickrematunga, editor-in-chief of The Sunday Leader, was gunned down execution-style January 8 but spoke from the grave three days later…
Read MoreSri Lanka Army Corners Rebels
[Wall Street Journal] Sri Lankan armed forces have surrounded a shrinking number of Tamil Tiger rebels in the northeastern part of the country in a bid to crush the separatist movement and end Asia’s longest-running civil war. On Thursday, the army built on recent advances, taking control of a makeshift airstrip used by Tamil Tiger…
Read More‘Culture Of Violence Getting Ingrained in Society’
[IPS] One of the worst legacies of the decades-old civil war in this island country is the culture of violence and impunity that many fear has become ingrained in Sri Lankan society — once known for ‘serendipity’ and respect for Buddhist virtues. While some believe that the country is currently going through yet another periodic…
Read MoreSri Lankan president hails victory as army seizes Tamil Tiger capital
[ The Guardian ] The Sri Lankan army today seized control of Kilinochchi, the low-lying northern town in which separatist Tamil Tiger rebels had put together the institutions of their long sought-after independent state. The major symbolic victory for the government could also prove a decisive turning point in the country’s 25-year civil war. “This…
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