Sri Lanka

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Sri Lanka Arrests Astrologer Who 'Sees' Ouster of Prez

(Newser) - He really should have seen this coming. A popular astrologer in Sri Lanka has been arrested after predicting the ouster of the president, the BBC reports. Police took Chandrasiri Bandara into custody this week after he foresaw a bad moon rising for Mahinda Rajapaksa and told opposition leaders they'd be...

After 26-Year War, Sri Lanka Struggles with Peace

Ethnic tensions remain as Tamil rebels lay down arms

(Newser) - The Sri Lankan government finally prevailed in its 26-year civil war with Tamil rebels with a brutal campaign, leaving thousands dead and 300,000 displaced. Now, reports the Wall Street Journal, the country must try living in peace after years of assassinations and abductions from both sides. Tamils "should...

EU Sold Millions in Weapons to Sri Lankan Army

European arms may have been used in civil war atrocities

(Newser) - European Union nations sold millions of dollars worth of arms and military equipment to the Sri Lankan army in the final stages of its 26-year civil war, in which the army has been accused of atrocities. The UK sold the country $22.3 million in armored vehicles and weapons, though...

Sri Lankan Shelling Killed 20,000 Civilians

Photos, UN documents reveal hidden massacre at civil war's end

(Newser) - The final battles of the 26-year civil war in Sri Lanka killed more than 20,000 Tamil civilians, most from government shelling, an investigation by the Times of London concludes. The number of casualties is three times higher than the government admitted. Aerial photographs, eyewitness testimony, and confidential UN documents...

Tamil Tigers Confirm Death of Leader

(Newser) - The defeated Tamil Tigers have admitted that leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is dead, the BBC reports. The rebels declared a week of mourning after their “incomparable leader” was killed while "fighting the military oppression of the Sri Lankan government," a statement said. The Tigers have also renounced violence,...

Sri Lanka Prez: We're 'Liberated'

Body of rebel leader said to be found

(Newser) - Sri Lanka’s leader celebrated the country’s “liberation” from the Tamil Tigers after 26 years of war in a speech to parliament today, the BBC reports. “Today we have been able to liberate the entire country from the clutches of terrorism," said Mahinda Rajapaska. "We...

Tamil Boss Shot Dead Trying to Flee

After 26 years, Tamil Tigers resoundingly defeated

(Newser) - The leader of the Tamil Tigers was shot dead before dawn this morning as the Sri Lankan army moved into the rebel group's final stronghold, the Guardian reports. Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed while trying to flee the war zone in an ambulance. Four other senior Tigers, including his son, were...

Tamil Tigers: 'Battle Has Reached Its End'

Sri Lanka president earlier declared victory

(Newser) - Sri Lanka's rebel Tamil Tigers have declared a ceasefire after a 26-year war in a statement lamenting thousands of deaths in the past 24 hours, the BBC reports. “This battle has reached its bitter end,” said a Tamil Tigers spokesman on the group’s website. The statement later...

Sri Lanka Declares Victory Over Tigers
 Sri Lanka Declares 
 Victory Over Tigers 
updated
May 16, 2009 11:36 AM CDT

Sri Lanka Declares Victory Over Tigers

(Newser) - Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa said today that his country had defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels on the battlefield and emerged victorious from its quarter-century civil war. "My government, with the total commitment of our armed forces, has in an unprecedented humanitarian operation finally defeated the LTTE militarily,"...

Sri Lanka Military Cuts Off Rebel Sea Escape

Tigers lose access to sea as military vows to end 25-year war by nightfall

(Newser) - Sri Lankan forces took control of the island's entire coastline today for the first time in decades, sealing the Tamil Tigers in a tiny pocket of territory and cutting off the possibility of a sea escape by the rebels' top leaders, the AP reports. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has vowed to...

Army: Sri Lanka War in 'Final Stage'

Tens of thousands of civilians trapped; UN envoy arrives

(Newser) - The Sri Lankan government claims to be within 48 hours of capturing the last holdout of Tamil Tigers, as the Red Cross warned of "an unimaginable human catastrophe" for the tens of thousands of civilians trapped in the war zone. Only a few hundred rebels remain in a two-mile-square...

50 Die in Shelling of Sri Lanka Hospital

Doctor says aid workers flee as artillery hits makeshift wards

(Newser) - The hospital in Sri Lanka's war zone was shelled again today, killing more than 50 people and making it harder than ever for the remaining doctors to treat the wounded, the AP reports. The government has pledged not to fire on the land occupied by thousands of refugees, but this...

Sri Lanka Hospital Attack Kills 49: Doctor

Shell strikes only working facility in war zone

(Newser) - A mortar shell struck the only functioning medical facility in Sri Lanka's northern war zone this morning, killing 49 patients and bystanders and wounding more than 50 others, a government health official said. It was the second time this month that the facility has been hit. Shells were still hitting...

UN: Sri Lanka Conflict a 'Bloodbath'

Aid groups urge Japan to push for Security Council action

(Newser) - After intense weekend fighting, the UN says the battle between rebels and the government in Sri Lanka has become a “bloodbath,” the New York Times reports. A government doctor estimates 1,000 civilians died in the heavy shelling of the small coastal area occupied by a few hundred...

Tamil Protesters Shut Down Toronto Highway

(Newser) - Canadian Tamil demonstrators protesting fighting in Sri Lanka shut down a highway in Toronto for several hours, reports CNN. Some estimated the crowd at several thousands. As many as 70,000 people have been killed in Sri Lanka's civil war. Government troops are pressing a final assault on the rebel...

378 Civilians Reported Dead in Sri Lanka Artillery Barrage

1,100 injured; rebels, army blame each other

(Newser) - An all-night artillery barrage in Sri Lanka's war zone killed at least 378 civilians and forced thousands to flee to makeshift shelters, a government doctor said today. The army and Tamil Tiger rebels each blamed the other for the barrage, which the doctor said left at least 1,100 people...

Leaving the Tamil Tigers
 Leaving the 
 Tamil Tigers 
Perspective
May 8, 2009 11:49 AM CDT

Leaving the Tamil Tigers

(Newser) - Caught in an ambush in 1987, Niromi de Soyza almost bit her cyanide capsule. “As a Tamil Tiger guerrilla, there was no honor in being caught alive,” she writes in the Telegraph. Ultimately she escaped, but not before one of her best friends was shot and killed. Her...

Sri Lankan Refugees Describe Deadly Escape

10 of 21 make it to safety in India; refugees tell their story

(Newser) - As fighting raged between the Sri Lankan army and the rebel Tamil Tigers last month, 21 people managed to escape on a boat. But by the time they arrived in India, nine days later, only 10 remained. “One by one. Dead babies, children. No food. No drink,” one...

Doctor: 64 Dead in Shelling of Sri Lankan Hospital

(Newser) - Artillery shells hit a makeshift hospital in Sri Lanka's northern war zone today, killing at least 64 civilians, a government doctor reports, amid growing international pressure to safeguard thousands of civilians trapped in the area. A rebel-linked website accused government forces of shelling the hospital, while the military said soldiers...

EU Urges Sri Lanka Ceasefire; 50K Trapped

British, French foreign ministers arrive on island as war rages

(Newser) - The foreign ministers of France and Britain arrived in Sri Lanka today and urged the government to accept a ceasefire in its war with ethnic Tamil rebels. Bernard Kouchner and David Miliband insisted that the fighting must stop now in order to safeguard the estimated 50,000 civilians trapped in...

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