Troops kill 29 Tigers in Sri Lanka

September 9th, 2009 COLOMBO - The US is providing training and equipment to the Sri Lanka Army to assist its efforts to demine areas in the island's north where the Tamil Tigers were crushed in May. The training will build additional military capacity to clear mines in the Northern Province and expedite the safe return of people displaced by the war to their homes, a US embassy statement said Wednesday.

May 21st, 2009 COLOMBO - Sri Lanka has described Pakistan 'as a true friend' after Islamabad congratulated Colombo following the decimation of the Tamil Tigers. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Hussein A.

May 18th, 2009 COLOMBO - The Sri Lanka army has claimed to have killed three senior Tamil Tiger leaders, as its fight against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam continued in the northern part of Sri Lanka on Monday. Sri Lanka's government said troops were engaged in "final brushing up" hours after a website linked to the rebels said the Tigers were laying down arms.

May 15th, 2009 NEW YORK - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has decided to send Vijay Nambiar, the UN chief of staff, to Sri Lanka to request the government to bring an end to the conflict with the Tamil Tigers and help ease the worsening humanitarian crisis in the island's north, a UN spokesperson said here. The UN deputy spokeswoman, Marie Okabe, told a news briefing Thursday that Nambiar is to leave for Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka.

May 10th, 2009 KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia has set up four health posts in Vavuniya in northern Sri Lanka for the Tamil civilians who have fled the fierce fighting between the troops and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). A report from Vavuniya said Mercy, a Malaysian body, has begun running the first mobile unit at Menik Farm in Cheddukulam.

May 6th, 2009 COLOMBO - Amid mounting international concern over the plight of civilians caught in the war between the troops and Tamil Tigers, Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa has invited UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon 'to see for himself the situation' in the island's north. 'President Mahinda Rajapaksa has invited UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to Sri Lanka to see for himself the situation regarding the action for the accommodation and treatment of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who have recently come to government controlled areas in such large numbers, and plans for their resettlement,' a statement from the president's office said Wednesday.

May 3rd, 2009 COLOMBO - The Sri Lankan troops have captured an important earth embankment used by the Tamil Tiger rebels for defence, an official said Sunday. The area is located near the Nanthikandal lagoon, south of an important highway in northeastern Sri Lanka.

April 29th, 2009 COLOMBO - Sri Lanka Navy Wednesday said they had killed at least 25 Tamil Tigers and destroyed six of their boats in a pre-dawn attack. Navy spokesman Capt D.K.P.

April 22nd, 2009 KOLKATA - India Tuesday asked Sri Lanka to take international organisations like the UN into confidence while evacuating civilians from the war zone in the island country. Speaking to reporters here, Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee also asked Sri Lanka to distribute the relief materials sent by India through organisations such as the Red Cross.

April 20th, 2009 COLOMBO - At least 17 civilians were killed Monday morning in a suicide attack by the Tamil Tigers in the no fire zone (NFZ) in the island's north, the military said. The defence ministry said the attack took place when troops tried to rescue about 10,000 civilians from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the less than 20 sq km NFZ area at Puttumatalan.

April 4th, 2009 COLOMBO - Sri Lankan troops killed 96 Tamil Tigers in close-quarter ground battles Saturday, as fighting in the last rebel strongholds in the island's northeast intensified, a military official here said. Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said the troops mounting attacks on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) from several directions in Mullaitivu district had inflicted heavy damages on the rebels in terms of both men and material.

April 1st, 2009 COLOMBO - Charles Antony, the elder son of Sri Lanka's elusive Tamil Tigers leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, has been injured in fighting with the Sri Lankan troops in the island's embattled north, a military official said here Wednesday. 'Prabhakaran's son Charles Antony was injured in the clashes with our troops in Puthukkudiyiruppu area last week.

March 27th, 2009 RAMESHWARAM - Chief of Naval Staff Suresh Mehta Friday denied that India was aiding Sri Lanka in its war against the Tamil Tigers. 'All such allegations are baseless,' Mehta told reporters here.

February 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India Thursday said it would send a full-fledged emergency medical unit to help civilians wounded in the conflict in Sri Lanka and work with Colombo to spur reconstruction process in that country. 'India and Sri Lanka have agreed to work together to address the urgent medical needs of these civilians,' external affairs ministry spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said in a statement here.

January 25th, 2009 COLOMBO - Expanding their defences after capturing the Tamil Tigers' military nerve centre Mullaitivu, Sri Lankan troops have begun laying the final siege on the rebels who are still resisting, the defence ministry said Monday. The authorities said that with the seizure of Mullaitivu Sunday, 'all seven offensive elements of the Sri Lanka Army are now sweeping up remaining LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) pockets towards the northeastern coast of the island.