Sri Lanka's military says bomb blast in a car transporting schoolchildren wounds 13October 1st, 2009 13 wounded in explosion in Sri LankaCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka's military says a bomb has exploded inside a car transporting schoolchildren in the country's northwest province, wounding 13. Military spokesman Brig.
Sri Lanka's military says bomb blast in vehicle to transport schoolchildren wounds 13October 1st, 2009 13 hurt as bomb-rigged car explodes in Sri LankaCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A car bomb exploded in northwest Sri Lanka on Friday and wounded 13 people, most of them schoolchildren about to travel in the van, the military said. It was the first major bomb blast reported in the country since government troops crushed the Tamil Tiger rebels in May, after a 25-year insurgency for an independent homeland.
Sri Lanka resettles nearly 10,000 war refugees from government-run campsSeptember 11th, 2009 Sri Lanka resettles nearly 10,000 war refugeesCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lankan authorities sent home nearly 10,000 war refugees Friday amid growing international concern for the nearly 300,000 Tamil civilians still detained in government-run camps. The civilians were displaced during a military offensive that crushed the Tamil Tiger rebel group in May and ended the island's decades-old civil war.
Sri Lanka unlikely to revoke expulsion of UN officialSeptember 7th, 2009 COLOMBO - The Sri Lankan government is unlikely to revoke its decision to expel a UN official from Colombo after he made remarks about the conditions of war refugees, a senior government official said Monday. Unicef spokesman James Elder was ordered to leave and his visa was cancelled.
New Tamil Tiger leader brought to Sri Lanka after capture in foreign countryAugust 7th, 2009 Arrested Tamil Tiger leader in Sri LankaCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka's military says it is interrogating the new leader of the defeated Tamil Tiger rebels after his capture in a foreign country. Military spokesman Brig.
Lanka Government says aid access only after screening LTTE rebelsMay 24th, 2009 COLOMBO - The Government of Sri Lanka on Sunday said that it would allow UN aid workers access to Tamil refugees housed in camps after weeding out elements suspected of links with the LTTE. Responding to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's demand for unhindered access after visiting the Menik Farm camp housing 200,000 Tamils, Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa warned of "the likely presence of Tamil Tiger infiltrators among the large numbers who had come to the government areas."
The government describes the camps as "welfare villages" and says it wants to resettle all displaced civilians as soon as possible.
UN chief urge humanitarian access to displaced refugees in Sri LankaMay 23rd, 2009 COLOMBO - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrived here to press Sri Lanka Government for unrestricted access to the estimated 250,000 refugees displaced by the army's conflict with the Tamil Tigers, which came to a bitter end this week. He said over 250,000 people who had fled the fighting between the Tamil Tiger rebels and the Government forces were in need of food, water and sanitation.an who arrived here on Friday evening said, "It's time for Sri Lankan to heal the wounds and unite without regard for religious and ethnic identity."
He further said that the goal of his visit was to ensure humanitarian assistance to the more than 300,000 displaced.he other goal of his visit was "national reconciliation" he said, adding: "I hope President Rajapakse will reach out in a inclusive dialogue with minority groups, including Tamils and Muslims."
Ban is the first major international figure to visit Sri Lanka since President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared victory over the LTTE earlier this week, after its troops took the last segment of land held by the rebels and had killed the Tamil Tiger leadership, including its chief, Velupillai Prabhakaran.
Tamil refugees face two-year wait to return homeMay 21st, 2009 COLOMBO - Thousands of Tamil civilians who had been forced from their homes by the conflict in Sri Lanka could be interned in refugee camps for up to two years before they are permitted to return, authorities in Colombo have said. The revelation comes as the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) said that it has been forced to suspend its aid supply to the refugees after it was refused access to the camps, reports The Independent.
Refugee status in Sri Lanka very critical, says Red CrossMay 20th, 2009 COLOMBO - More than 200,000 refugees are facing 'very critical' circumstances in northern Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the recent war, the Red Cross said. Andreas Lindner, head of the German Red Cross team in the region, said the situation facing Sri Lankan refugees presently was 'one of the most complicated and dramatic' worldwide.
Doctors abandon only hospital in Sri Lanka war zone as civilians flee across front linesMay 14th, 2009 Doctors flee only hospital in Sri Lanka war zoneCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Doctors and aides abandoned the only hospital in Sri Lanka's war zone amid unrelenting shell attacks, a health official said Thursday. The military said thousands of civilians braved rebel gunfire and fled across the front lines.
Sri Lanka seeks aid for civilian crisis, endgame for LTTEApril 23rd, 2009 COLOMBO - Sri Lanka and the UN Thursday made frantic appeals for assistance as the exodus of Tamil civilians from the war zone escalated into a grave humanitarian crisis even as the government claimed that the Tamil Tigers were about to be crushed, ending one of the world's longest running insurgencies. With the number of Tamil refugees crossing the 103,000-mark, the UN's Humanitarian Coordinator in Sri Lanka Neil Buhne gave a heart-rending account of the plight of the civilians after visiting some camps.
More civilians flee Tamil rebel zone in Sri LankaApril 22nd, 2009 COLOMBO - Refugees streamed out of the shrinking Tamil rebel-held areas again Wednesday as government troops tightened a cordon around the zone in north-eastern Sri Lanka, military spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said. Rambukwella told journalists that 81,420 civilian refugees had been counted since Monday in the Puthumathalan area, about 390 km north-east of the capital, and the exodus was continuing.
Sri Lanka gives 24-hour ultimatum for rebels to surrender, warns "military action" if refusedApril 20th, 2009 Sri Lanka gives 24 hours for rebels to surrenderCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka's military says rebels will face military action if they do not surrender in 24 hours. Defense spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella says that rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran has been given until noon Tuesday (1730 GMT) to make a decision or face a "military course of action."
The statement came Monday after the military said it broke through rebel defenses in a designated "no-fire zone" and freed some 25,000 people who were trapped there.
Six prisoners shot dead in Sri LankaApril 15th, 2009 COLOMBO - Six prisoners mainly linked to the underworld were shot dead by guards when they attempted to escape from a jail in Sri Lanka early Wednesday, an official here said. Eleven prisoners at the Kalutara prison, about 45 km south of here, tried to escape from their cells around at 3 a.m.
650 civilians flee rebel-held areas in Sri LankaJanuary 13th, 2009 COLOMBO - At least 650 civilians fled areas controlled by Tamil rebels in northern Sri Lanka and crossed over to military-held areas Wednesday as government troops pushed towards the last militant stronghold, military officials said. Two separate groups of civilians arrived in the military-controlled Paranthan and Kevil areas, more than 390 kilometres north of the capital Colombo on Wednesday, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.
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