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Sri Lanka army moves to take last coastal strip from rebels
google.com,
27 january.
KUMALAMUNAI, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Sri Lankan troops making rapid progress against Tamil Tiger fighters have nearly recaptured the only stretch of coastline still held by the rebels, a commander in the field said Tuesday.
Soldiers backed by tanks and air cover were battling to establish full control over the 30-kilometre (18 mile) stretch of coast, Brigadier Nandana Udawatte told an AFP reporter on the scene.
"We are moving along the coast as well as to the north-west towards another pocket of Tiger resistance," he told journalists flown to Kumalamunai, a small settlement just south of Mullaittivu town that was captured Sunday.
The military planned to take journalists by road to Mullaittivu later Tuesday to highlight their success in driving the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) out of their military headquarters.
Udawatte said his troops had killed at least 2,000 Tamil Tiger rebels and wounded nearly 3,000 in the year-long battle to capture Mullaittivu.
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Published: Tue Jan 27 05:09:35 EST 2009
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India’s Mukherjee to Discuss Tamils’ Fate on Sri Lanka Mission
bloomberg.com,
Jan. 27, 2009.
India’s Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee will hold talks with Sri Lankan leaders on the fate of 250,000 civilians trapped by fighting between government forces and Tamil rebels in the north of the Indian Ocean island nation.
India is anxious that the civilians don’t “become hapless victims of the situation,” Mukherjee, who will leave for the Sri Lankan capital Colombo today, told reporters in New Delhi. He will have discussions tomorrow with Sri Lankan leaders including President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
India’s Tamil parties are putting pressure on the federal coalition government in New Delhi to persuade Sri Lanka to end a military offensive against the rebels and allow civilians to escape the conflict. A political party in India’s southern Tamil Nadu state, which has about 73,000 Sri Lankan refugees, spurned an invitation from Rajapaksa to visit his country to persuade the rebels to surrender.
Sri Lanka’s army captured the main bases of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam this month as it tries to end the 26-year conflict in the South Asian nation. The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross have called on the government and rebels to protect the civilian population.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi should visit areas captured from the LTTE in the Jaffna Peninsula and Wanni this month to persuade the rebels to surrender, Rajapaksa said on the government’s Web site yesterday.
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Published: Tue Jan 27 06:22:38 EST 2009
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Fears for civilians grow as Sri Lanka hammers rebels
google.com,
27 january.
MULLAITTIVU, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Sri Lankan troops Tuesday battled Tamil Tigers for control of the last stretch of rebel-held coastline, as international fears mounted for 250,000 civilians caught in the conflict.
Soldiers backed by tanks and air cover fought to capture 30 kilometres (18 miles) of seafront, the only territory still controlled by the retreating rebels, Brigadier Nandana Udawatte told reporters taken to the area.
As the government said its offensive to end the separatists' decades-long campaign was entering its final stages, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed deep concern over the fate of civilians trapped in the war zone.
At least 178 have been killed and another 725 wounded in fighting during January as Sri Lankan forces made rapid progress against the rebels, local health official T. Satyamurthy said.
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Published: Tue Jan 27 15:18:30 EST 2009
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