[ 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 […]
Lasting peace is unlikely, even if the Tamil Tigers are beaten
[ Telegraph ] Since his narrow election victory in 2005, Mahinda Rajapaksa has dedicated himself to the cause of defeating the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by military means. He opposed moves towards peace made by Sri Lanka’s previous government on the grounds that too much was being given away to the rebels. Talks […]
Sri 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 […]
Sri Lanka’s ignored war
[Boston Globe] ASIA’S longest civil war is building to a violent crescendo. In the island nation of Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese-majority government should be pressed to accept a cease-fire, to permit a political settlement. Government forces are besieging the rebel Tamil Tigers in the north of the country. Since abandoning a ceasefire in 2006 and […]
Sri Lanka signs off on record war spending
[Reuters] Sri Lanka’s parliament approved a budget on Monday pledging record spending next year on the war with the Tamil Tigers, while troops resumed attacks on the edge of the rebels’ headquarters town of Kilinochchi. And in a sign President Mahinda Rajapaksa will use the greatest military success by any government so far in the […]