Sri Lanka

[old medic]

Sri Lanka says troops have captured rebel capital
Fri. Jan. 2 2009
The Associated Press

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- Government forces captured the Tamil Tigers' de facto capital in northern Sri Lanka on Friday, dealing a devastating blow to the rebels' quarter-century fight for an independent state, the president said.

But in a sign the rebels retained their ability to strike back, a suspected Tamil Tiger suicide attacker on a motorcycle detonated a bomb near the air force headquarters in the heart of Colombo during Friday's afternoon rush hour, killing two airmen, police spokesman Ranjith Gunasekara said.

The attacker, who was targeting troops as they left work, wounded 30 other people, including nine airmen, he said.

The blast pierced the festive mood that had swept across the capital after President Mahinda Rajapaksa announced the fall of Kilinochchi in a nationally televised speech.

"Our brave and heroic troops have fully captured Kilinochchi, which was considered the main bastion of the LTTE," he said, referring to the rebels by their formal name, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. "For the last time, I call upon the LTTE to lay down their arms and surrender."

Across Colombo, people lit firecrackers, danced in the streets and waved Sri Lankan flags.

Kilinochchi held great symbolic value as the centre of the Tamil Tigers' de facto state and its capture by government forces for the first time in a decade was sure to badly damage the rebels' morale. The rebels used the town as their headquarters and created structures for an independent state, such as police, courts and tax offices.

But the rebel-affiliated TamilNet website said the Tamil Tigers had moved their headquarters further to the northeast before the town fell. Kilinochchi does not lie along a key crossroads or house major rebel bases or armories, and military analysts said its strategic value was not great.

Rebel officials were not immediately available for comment, but they have said in the past that they would fight on even if Kilinochchi fell.

The rebels have fought since 1983 to create an independent homeland in the north and east for Tamils, who have suffered decades of marginalization by successive governments controlled by the Sinhalese majority. The conflict has killed more than 70,000 people.

The United States, European Union and other nations have called for a political solution to the crisis, saying that warfare will not resolve the deep, underlying tensions between the Tamil and Sinhalese communities that created the violence in the first place.

The army first captured Kilinochchi from the rebels in 1996, but lost it in a rebel counterattack in 1998.

The government has predicted repeatedly over the last two months that the town was about to fall. But the rebels built a massive, 17 kilometre-long earth and moat fortification, and fierce resistance from the guerrillas and pounding monsoon rains made it difficult for government forces to advance. The battles reportedly killed hundreds of fighters.

Army troops cleared the way into the town Thursday when they captured a key crossroad north of Kilinochchi that allowed them to close in from three directions, the military said.

Troops entered Kilinochchi Friday morning, said Lakshman Hulugalle, a military spokesman. Senior military officials said their forces met only minimal resistance once in the town, an apparent sign that the rebels had withdrawn and retreated to their jungle bases, analysts said.

Army commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka said Friday that troops had taken control of most of the north's largest highway, which runs through the spine of the country. Troops were "attacking the fleeing terrorists," he said.

He said troops were now focused on pushing into the rebels' last major stronghold of Mullaittivu and estimated that only 1,700 to 1,900 rebels remained.

"We are confident that we can see the end of them within this year," he said. "We don't need even a year to see their end."

The government had previously vowed to end the war by the end of 2008.

But Tamil Tiger political leader Balasingham Nadesan told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the rebels began as a guerrilla group and would be able to keep fighting even if they lost much of the territory they controlled in the north.

Since renewed fighting flared three years ago, the government has driven the Tamil Tigers out of their strongholds in the east and forced them to retreat from much of their northern territory.

 

[old medic]

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090103/tamil_rebels_090103/20090103?hub=World

Sri Lanka bombs rebels after seizing their HQ
Sat. Jan. 3 2009
The Associated Press

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- Sri Lankan air force jets and helicopters bombed a series of rebel targets in the north and northeast, the military said Saturday, as soldiers pressed deeper into Tamil Tiger territory a day after capturing the insurgents' de facto capital.

The fall of Kilinochchi on Friday dealt a devastating blow to the insurgents' 25-year campaign to create an independent state for ethnic minority Tamils. It has squeezed them into 1,605 square kilometres they still hold in the northeast.

Rebel-affiliated TamilNet Web site said the Tamil Tigers had moved their headquarters before the town fell.

Government's defense spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said Saturday that soldiers would press ahead with offensives and would "liberate the whole northern province."

He the said the troops will conduct "simultaneous operations" against two rebel strongholds: Elephant Pass in the north and Mullaitivu in the northeast.

The government has vowed to crush the rebels and end the civil war this year. Officials had previously promised to end the conflict in 2008.

The military said in a statement that the air force also bombed rebel targets Friday to assist troops trying to reach Elephant Pass, a strategic gateway to the northern Jaffna peninsula, the cultural capital of the country's Tamils.

Sri Lanka's army maintained a well-fortified base at the pass until the rebels captured it eight years ago killing hundreds of soldiers.

Air force spokesman Janaka Nanayakkara said that helicopters also bombed the rebels near Oddusuddan and Mullaitivu towns Saturday as the insurgents tried to stop advancing government troops.

He said casualty details from the raids were unavailable. Rebel officials could not be contacted for comment.

Army troops cleared the way into Kilinochchi on Thursday when they captured a key crossroad north of the town that allowed them to close in from three directions, the military said. They entered Kilinochchi the following morning with minimal resistance, they said.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who has vowed to destroy the group formally known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, announced the fall of Kilinochchi in a nationally televised speech.

"Our brave and heroic troops have fully captured Kilinochchi, which was considered the main bastion of the LTTE," he said. "For the last time, I call upon the LTTE to lay down their arms and surrender."

But just an hour after the announcement, a suspected rebel suicide attacker blew himself up near air force headquarters in the heart of Colombo, air force spokesman Nanayakkara said. Among the 37 injured were 16 airmen, he said.

The rebels have been fighting since 1983 to create an independent homeland for the minority Tamils, who have suffered decades of marginalization by successive governments controlled by the Sinhalese majority. The conflict has killed more than 70,000 people.

 

[CougarKing]

So let me get this straight- the Tamil Tigers have a fundraising source in Canada, but the government is unable to shut it down? And I think someone else here mentioned in another thread about a certain MP or government minister attending a Tamil Tiger rally not too long ago? ???

ANALYSTS SAY - Sri Lanka conflict far from over
By Amal Jayasinghe
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 10:25:00 01/04/2009
Filed Under: Unrest and Conflicts and War, Armed conflict, Guerrilla activities

COLOMBO--Sri Lankans celebrated the fall of the Tamil Tigers' de facto capital with street parties, but military observers say bloodier battles may still lie ahead as the rebels take refuge in the jungles.

The guerrillas, fighting for an independent homeland for Tamils, suffered a massive blow on Friday when they lost Kilinochchi, their political headquarters, in a concerted government offensive that lasted nearly two years.

But that does not mean the rebellion is dead, experts say.

"The fighting is far from over," said Susantha Seneviratne, a defense analyst for the Lankadeepa newspaper. "The bigger battles may yet to be fought. The Tigers can return to classic guerrilla counter-offensives."

Seneviratne said the Tigers, or Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), may have already prepared their defenses in the northern jungle district of Mullaittivu, their final bastion.

"The thick green canopy favors the Tigers and they know the area better than anyone else," Seneviratne said, adding that the military's long-range weapons and air cover may be less effective in the Mullaittivu jungles.

The defense ministry on Saturday announced that troops were already heading to Mullaittivu, where the Tigers have shifted their political offices after the fall of Kilinochchi.

Tamil militant-turned-politician Dharmalingam Sithadthan agreed the capture of Kilinochchi was not the end of the island's drawn-out separatist conflict, but said it did mark a decisive phase in the military campaign.

"This is certainly not the end of the war," Sithadthan said. "We can say this is the beginning of the end of the LTTE if the military can repeat their Kilinochchi success in Mullaittivu too."

Sithadthan said it would be difficult for the Tigers to win back the military balance of power, but they could still carry out trademark suicide bombings to keep security forces -- and the wider population -- on edge.

Sri Lanka's army chief, Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, said the Tigers may still have up to 1,900 fighters.

"It won't take a year to finish them off, to eliminate them," Fonseka said after President Mahinda Rajapakse announced the capture of Kilinochchi on Friday.

Fonseka said taking Kilinochchi was the culmination of a major military offensive that began in March 2007, although the brutal separatist conflict erupted in 1972 and has since claimed tens of thousands of lives.

The Tigers were once regarded one of the world's most ruthlessly efficient guerrilla outfits, with its own naval and air wings, but their units appeared to collapse in Kilinochchi in the face of the superior military onslaught.

Rajapakse Friday acknowledged that the Tigers were a formidable foe, however, describing them as "accepted internationally as the most powerful terrorist organisation in the world."

And despite the loss of their political base -- arguably the biggest blow to the Tigers since the fall of their Jaffna peninsula stronghold in December 1995 -- the guerrillas have previously shown they can bounce back.

They initially lost Kilinochchi in 1996, but re-took the area two years later and controlled it until they were driven out on Friday.

Barely six months after government troops captured the northern Jaffna peninsula in 1995, the Tigers overran a military base in Mullaittivu, killing more than 1,200 soldiers.

The guerrillas also reversed military gains of 19 months in a matter of five days in November 1999, going on to dislodge the military from their Elephant Pass base at the entrance to Jaffna.

The government spent an estimated $1.6 billion on defense last year and plans to spend slightly more in 2009, underscoring concerns that the conflict may be far from over.

 

[Drag]

Their enabler-type groups were raising money on my campus in the aftermath of the tsunami.

 

[noneck]

Common knowledge that the Liberal party actively attended LTTE fundraisers in Scarbrough. These Liberal party members included Paul Martin. Ignorance is not ann excuse as at the time all parties were warned by both the RCMP and CSIS, however the LTTE was not considered a listed entity at that time.

 

[old medic]

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090105/Tamil_Tiger_090105/20090105?hub=World

Military captures yet another Tamil Tiger-held town
Mon. Jan. 5 2009
The Associated Press

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka --

Sri Lankan forces overran another village Monday and moved closer to seizing a strategic base from the Tamil Tigers, but concerns are mounting for the hundreds of thousands of civilians living in the rebels' shrinking territory.

The government has chased the rebels out of much of their de facto state in the north in recent months -- taking their administrative capital of Kilinochchi last week -- but the offensive is complicated by the presence of an estimated 300,000 civilians in rebel territory.

As civilians increasingly get in the way of the battle, it could become difficult for the government to fight on without causing an unacceptable loss of life, human rights activists and some western diplomats said.

The government says it has no intention of giving up its recent momentum but will do everything it can to avoid civilian casualties.

"We are taking the utmost precautionary measures," said defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella. He declined to outline what those precautions where.

Government troops Monday captured the rebel-held town of Oddusudan, which sits at an important crossroads leading to the Tamil Tiger stronghold of Mullaittivu, according to military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara.

Troops also moved closer to capturing the Elephant Pass stronghold, a strategic chokepoint just south of the government-controlled Jaffna peninsula, the military said. Seizing Elephant Pass would cut off the rebels' heavily fortified front-line on the peninsula from the rest of their remaining territory.

The rebels are fighting to create an independent homeland for minority Tamils, who have suffered decades of marginalization by governments controlled by the Sinhalese majority. Some analysts say this is the military's best chance ever of defeating the rebels and ending the 25-year-old civil war, which has killed more than 70,000 people.

Mano Ganesan, an opposition legislator, called on both sides "to conduct their war in a way that the civilians are not affected or punished" and asked that a group of observers from all political parties be allowed in the war zone.

Last month, Human Rights Watch accused the rebels of preventing civilians from fleeing the area under their control. The New York-based group also accused the government of arbitrarily detaining and mistreating the estimated 1,000 civilians who fled across the front-lines.

While the military has avoided large-scale civilian casualties in its latest offensive, reports of civilian deaths have grown in recent days.

The Tamil Tigers said in a statement that six civilians were killed and 20 injured in artillery attacks and air strikes in the Mullaittivu district Friday. On Sunday, artillery attacks wounded 14 more civilians, they said.

Independent confirmation of the casualties was not available because the government bars journalists from the war zone and from entering rebel territory.

Despite the growing threat, there has been no mass movement of civilians out of the area.

Large-scale civilian casualties could spark pressure on Sri Lanka from neighbouring India -- which has a large ethnic Tamil population of its own, said Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, executive director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives think-tank.

"At the present moment (officials) are of the mood that, 'We've got them on the run let's finish it,' " he said. "But they must be aware that 'finishing it' be done in a way that does not provoke outside intervention."

 

[old medic]

Sri Lanka seizes key rebel defence line in north

Updated Tue. Jan. 6 2009 2:46 PM ET

The Associated Press

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka --

Sri Lankan troops broke through the Tamil Tigers' northern defense lines Tuesday, the military said, opening another active front in their war against the beleaguered guerrillas.

The capture of Muhamalai on the Jaffna peninsula was another blow to the separatist rebels amid a surging military offensive that has backed them into a small pocket of jungle in the northeast.

"Our forces are moving, and very confidently, and they are moving forward," defense spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said.

He said the government hopes to clear the entire north of rebels in the "coming weeks" and effectively end the 25-year-old civil war that has killed more than 70,000 people on this Indian Ocean island nation.

For more than a decade, the rebels have run a de facto state in parts of northern Sri Lanka, squeezed between the government-held Jaffna peninsula -- the northernmost point in the country -- and the rest of the island to the south.

The renewed government offensive from the south forced the rebels to abandon much of their territory -- including their administrative capital of Kilinochchi last week -- but troops in the Jaffna peninsula had been unable to break open the Tamil Tigers' heavily fortified northern lines at Muhamalai.

In April, the rebels reportedly lured troops into an artillery ambush in Muhamalai that killed scores of soldiers in what was widely seen as a disaster for the military.

On Tuesday, ground troops backed by artillery and mortar fire raced across the front lines there and captured the rebel positions in about an hour, facing little resistance, military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said.

The rebels retreated to a fall back position about 600 yards (meters) to the south, he said. The insurgents appeared to have moved their artillery into the northeastern jungles -- to avoid having it captured by government forces sweeping up from the south -- and were consolidating their positions on the edge of the narrow isthmus connecting Jaffna peninsula to the rest of the island, he said.

Those troops were closing in on the strategic town of Elephant Pass and had cut off the main route connecting the insurgents on the peninsula with the main rebel bases to the south, nearly boxing that rebel force in a 20-kilometer-corridor, Nanayakkara said.

Only a tiny sliver of land along the east coast that remained under rebel control connected the two sections of rebel territory, he said.

"They are almost trapped," he said. He declined to say how many rebel fighters were believed to be in the area, saying only that they were a "significant force."

The rebels were not available for immediate comment. It is not possible to get independent accounts of the fighting because journalists are largely barred from the war zone.

In an interview with the rebel-affiliated TamilNet Web site, the rebel political chief, Balasingham Nadesan, said the Tamil Tigers have been in difficult situations before but have always come back.

However, military analysts say the current situation is the most dire the rebels have faced.

Aid groups and diplomats, meanwhile, have expressed concerns about the safety of the hundreds of thousands of civilians living in the rapidly shrinking rebel-held area.

The Tamil Tigers have been fighting to create an independent homeland for ethnic minority Tamils, who have suffered decades of marginalization by governments controlled by the Sinhalese majority.

 

[old medic]

Sri Lankan military captures Tamil Tiger base
Thu. Jan. 8 2009
The Associated Press

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka --

Sri Lankan forces sweeping down from the north captured an important Tamil Tiger base on the Jaffna peninsula Thursday, further boxing in the retreating rebel group, the military said.

The capture of Pallai on the narrow isthmus connecting Jaffna with the rest of the island nation came after the rebels reportedly withdrew much of their artillery and heavy weaponry from the peninsula into their jungle strongholds to the south.

Analysts said the group appeared to be sacrificing its bases on the peninsula and consolidating its forces in the Mullaittivu area, where it will likely make a stand against the government.

The rebels were not available for comment Wednesday; most communications in their region have been severed. Independent accounts of the fighting were not available because the government has barred journalists and foreign aid groups from the war zone.

The new fighting kept up the pressure on the beleaguered rebels a day after the government officially banned the group, ruling out the resumption of any peace efforts in the foreseeable future.

Sri Lankan forces have broken through the rebels' defenses in recent months, seizing huge chunks of rebel-held lands, capturing their administrative capital of Kilinochchi and trapping the insurgents in a tiny section of the northeast.

Government officials say they aim to crush the group and end this Indian Ocean island nation's 25-year-old civil war.

For more than a decade, the rebels have run a de facto state, squeezed between the government-held Jaffna peninsula -- the northernmost point in the country -- and the rest of the island to the south.

While government troops pushed deep into rebel territory from the south, troops in the Jaffna peninsula had been unable to break open the Tamil Tigers' heavily fortified northern lines until earlier this week when they overran the front at Muhamalai.

Those force pushed southward about five kilometres, capturing Pallai, military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said.

"There have been small pockets of (rebels) and they have engaged moving troops, but after giving final resistance they moved toward Elephant Pass," he said, referring to a strategic rebel base on the southern point of the isthmus.

In other fighting, air force jets attacked two rebel boats that were camouflaged and anchored in a lagoon in the north Thursday morning after pounding a group of rebels late Wednesday who appeared to be working to construct new defense fortifications.

The attacks came after the Cabinet voted unanimously Wednesday night to officially outlaw the Tamil Tigers, ruling out the possibility of restarting peace talks anytime soon.

The decision followed the rebels' rejection of a government ultimatum to allow hundreds of thousands of civilians living in rebel-held areas to leave, Cabinet minister Maithripala Sirisena said.

The government and international rights groups have accused the Tamil Tigers of holding civilians as human shields against the military offensive. The rebels deny the charge.

Government officials already have vowed to destroy the rebel group, so while Wednesday's ban was little more than a formality, it was seen as a symbolic rejection of any possible rapprochement.

The rebels have been fighting since 1983 to create an independent homeland for ethnic minority Tamils, who have suffered decades of marginalization by governments controlled by the Sinhalese majority. The conflict has killed more than 70,000 people.

The Tamil Tigers have been outlawed before, but the government lifted the ban in 2002 when the sides agreed to a cease-fire. The deal collapsed amid new fighting three years ago.

 

[dr.davies]

So let me get this straight- the Tamil Tigers have a fundraising source in Canada, but the government is unable to shut it down? And I think someone else here mentioned in another thread about a certain MP or government minister attending a Tamil Tiger rally not too long ago? ???

I had the opportunity to live in Colombo and volunteer with the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka.  Very interesting work and opened my eyes to plight of this nation.  I was the December the cease fire broke down and it was shortly after I left that the war had taken full force.  I believe the person who are referring to is Jim Kargiannis, MP from Scarborough-Agincourt.  He, and other MP's from Toronto attended a vigil in memorial of S.P.Thamilchelvan, the leader of the political wing of the Tamil Tigers.  This is a man who represented a terrorist organization, and it should be noted that at the time of the memorial, The Conservatives had already deemed the LTTE a terrorist organization.  What was shocking was Canada was one of the only countries who hadn't recognized them as a terrorist organization.  I was living there when the, at the time, newly elected Conservatives made the change.  It should be noted that Paul Martin and the Liberals refused to do.  It was a move which was met with great appreciation by the Sri Lankan (Sinhalese) populous in Colombo and the organization I was working with.

Furthermore, I believe the organization you're rferring to is the World Tamil Movement.  they have since been shut down as far as I understood.  Trying to find some more information on the topic.

 

[CougarKing]

Does this mean that the final end to this conflict is within sight?

From Reuters:

Sri Lanka army ready for 'decisive blow' on Tigers
Sri Lankan security forces were ready to deal a "decisive blow" to the remaining Tamil Tiger rebels following the capture of the highly strategic Elephant Pass, the defence ministry said on Saturday.

After four days of fierce fighting, government forces on Friday established full control over the causeway, which links the Jaffna peninsula with the rest of the mainland.

"The fall... has deprived the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) the most crucial strategic ground at the 'Jaffna gateway' following an eight year occupation," the ministry said.

"Troops are now poised at launching a decisive blow at the remaining LTTE strong points at Mulliyan, Chempiyanpattu, Chundikulam and Kaddaikadu."

The ministry had already declared that the ethnic rebels were facing near "extinction" after security forces captured their main political headquarters of Kilinochchi last week.

"The end-game of LTTE's protracted separatist cause is reaching its final stages, as the advancing security forces overran the most fortified LTTE northern garrison" at the Elephant Pass, the ministry said.

The Tamil Tigers, who have been fighting since 1972 for a separate homeland, had held the pass since April 2000, and its loss is another huge blow to the separatists after the fall of Kilinochchi last week.

"Our forces have recorded another historic victory today," President Mahinda Rajapakse said in a televised address to the nation on Friday.

"That is the complete dislodging of the Tigers from Elephant Pass and the security forces establishing their authority there," he said.

The military now controls a 142-kilometre (88-mile) stretch of the important A-9 highway and can supply troops and nearly half a million civilians in Jaffna by road, the president said.

Government forces were also moving towards the remaining jungle hideouts of the Tigers in the northeastern district of Mullaittivu amid rebel resistance, the army said.

Troops on Saturday captured a rebel airstrip and two empty aircraft hangars five kilometres (3.1 miles) west of Mullaittivu, the army said. It gave no further details.

The LTTE are believed to have five Czech-built Zlin-143 aircraft, smuggled onto the island in pieces and re-assembled. The guerrillas last launched an air attack early in September, when they dropped bombs on a military base.

The rebels are now almost totally confined to the jungle and lagoon district around Mullaittivu, where some 300,000 civilians are also living.

The army on Saturday accused the rebels of killing seven civilians who were fleeing from the town of Murusumoddai, near Mullaittivu district.

Troops also recovered 11 rebel bodies following heavy fighting around the Murusumoddai area on Friday, the army said.
The LTTE has not commented on the latest military claims, but did accuse troops of directing artillery fire towards an internally displaced camp inside rebel-held Mullaittivu on Friday, killing one man and injuring four others.

The leader of the Tamil Tiger rebels, Velupillai Prabhakaran, vowed in a radio broadcast in November to fight on and evict government forces.

 

[CougarKing]

Hopefully this also means the end of the rebels' air component.

Sri Lanka troops capture Tamil Tiger air strip: military

COLOMBO (AFP) - Sri Lankan troops have captured another air strip used by Tamil Tiger guerrillas to launch airborne attacks with light planes, the defence ministry said Thursday. The makeshift jungle runway is the fifth of its type to be overrun by government soldiers who are rapidly advancing on areas in the north once controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The ministry said the air strip at Iranamadu, south of the Tamil Tigers' former political capital of Kilinochchi, was protected by bunkers and trenches. However none of the light planes used by the LTTE to hit targets across the island were recovered. The LTTE are believed to have five Czech-built Zlin-143 aircraft, smuggled onto the island in pieces and re-assembled. The guerrillas last launched an air attack early in September, when they bombed a military base. The rebels are now almost totally confined to the jungle and lagoon district around Mullaittivu, their main military base on northeast coast. Sri Lanka's government pulled out of a Norwegian-brokered truce with the rebels a year ago, and stepped up its bid to dismantle the LTTE's northern mini-state once and for all. The government now says it is on the verge of total victory.

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/090115/afp/0901...acificnews.html

 

[old medic]

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090117/tamil_rebels_090117/20090117?hub=World

Report: Tamil rebels kill 51 Sri Lankan soldiers
Sat. Jan. 17 2009
The Associated Press

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- Tamil Tigers killed 51 Sri Lankan soldiers in fierce fighting in the island's north, a pro-rebel Web site reported Saturday. The military denied dozens of troops died and said 20 insurgents were killed.

About 150 soldiers were also wounded in clashes near Dharmapuram village in the Tamil-dominated north after the military launched an offensive Friday, TamilNet quoted the rebels' media unit as saying.

However, military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said 20 rebels and seven soldiers were killed in the clashes.

It was not possible to verify the battle details and the two sides are known to exaggerate casualties suffered by each other while downplaying their own losses.

Government troops recently captured Kilinochchi, the capital of the rebels' de facto state and the northern Jaffna peninsula -- the cultural centre of the country's ethnic minority Tamils.

On Saturday, soldiers captured the rebel-held Ramanathapuram village -- which lies east of Kilinochchi -- while the air force bombed a defense line in the remaining rebel-held district of Mullaittivu, the military said. No casualty details were given.

Facing intense pressure from advancing government troops, the rebels are now squeezed into a dwindling territory in the northeast.

Authorities say they will crush the rebels and retake their remaining territory in months.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa met Saturday with Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon outside the capital of Colombo for a second day of talks on ways to ensure a lasting peace in the civil war. The conflict is of special concern to India, which is home to some 56 million Tamils.

Tamil Tiger rebels have fought since 1983 to create an independent homeland for the country's ethnic minority Tamils, who have suffered marginalization by successive governments controlled by majority ethnic Sinhalese.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in the violence.

 

[old medic]

Editor's Killing Underscores Perils of Reporting in Sri Lanka

By Emily Wax
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, January 15, 2009; Page A12

NEW DELHI, Jan. 14 -- Across South Asia, it has become known as the letter from the grave.
Anticipating his own slaying, Sri Lankan journalist Lasantha Wickramatunga, 52, a fierce critic of his country's government, wrote an editorial called "And Then They Came for Me," a dramatic essay to be printed in the event of his assassination.

On Jan. 8, the father of three was shot in the head and chest on his way to work by two men on motorcycles. The editorial, published the following Sunday, has highlighted how dangerous reporting in Sri Lanka has become. Critics cite a growing pattern of intimidation by the government, especially during a recent push to wipe out the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or Tamil Tigers, in a war that has persisted for more than two decades, one of the world's longest-running conflicts.

"Murder has become the primary tool whereby the state seeks to control the organs of liberty," Wickramatunga wrote in the self-penned obituary published in the Sunday Leader, the newspaper that he and his brother founded 15 years ago. "Today it is the journalists, tomorrow it will be the judges. For neither group have the risks ever been higher or the stakes lower."

Sri Lanka is one of the world's most dangerous places for reporters, human rights groups say. In the past two years, at least eight journalists have been killed, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Wickramatunga was killed two days after an attack on the country's largest private television station, MBC Networks, by 15 masked gunmen with grenades. In late September, there was a grenade attack on the family home of J.C. Weliamuna, a prominent human rights advocate and executive director of Transparency International Sri Lanka, an independent watchdog group.

Journalism was a "call of conscience," Wickramatunga wrote in his essay. "No other profession calls on its practitioners to lay down their lives for their art save the armed forces and, in Sri Lanka, journalism," the essay began. "In the course of the past few years, the independent media have increasingly come under attack. Electronic and print-media institutions have been burnt, bombed, sealed and coerced. Countless journalists have been harassed, threatened and killed. It has been my honor to belong to all those categories and now especially the last."

"There's now a climate of total impunity since there hasn't been a single successful prosecution of any of these deaths or attacks," said Jehan Perera, a close friend of Wickramatunga's who works with the independent National Peace Council of Sri Lanka in Colombo, the capital. "We all wondered how long Lasantha Wickramatunga could survive. We thought that as long as he was still with us there was still some space for dissent and for democracy. With his assassination, that space closes completely."

Wickramatunga pushed for that space to be opened. In a country where the government has been accused of widespread corruption, he once obtained the credit-card details of a minister, proving that his bills were being illegally paid for by a foreign corporation hoping to invest on the lush island. Wickramatunga received numerous death threats throughout his career and was known for encouraging younger journalists to report on the war, which has killed 70,000 people and forced as many as half a million from their homes. He also worked as a freelance reporter for Time magazine and hosted a national talk show on MBC.

Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders has blamed Sri Lanka's government for the veteran editor's death and said officials had "incited hatred against him." The Bush administration has condemned the death, as have many media and human rights groups.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has strongly denied any government involvement and said the killers, still at large, will be brought to justice. He condemned the death and ordered an investigation, calling Wickramatunga "a close friend" and "courageous journalist." The two men had been close for nearly 25 years.

"This heinous crime points to the grave dangers faced by . . . our country and the existence of forces that will go to the furthest extremes in using terror and criminality to damage our social fabric and bring disrepute to the country," Rajapaksa said.

Wickramatunga had recently become a critic of Rajapaksa's government, which he deemed cagey, corrupt and abusive of civil rights.

"Sadly, for all the dreams you had for our country in your younger days, in just three years you have reduced it to rubble," he wrote. "In the name of patriotism you have trampled on human rights, nurtured unbridled corruption and squandered public money like no other president before you."

"Although you are now so drunk with power that you cannot see it, you will come to regret your sons having so rich an inheritance of blood. It can only bring tragedy," the editorial continued. "As for me, it is with a clear conscience that I go to meet my Maker. I wish, when your time finally comes, you could do the same. I wish."

Wickramatunga exposed the government's agreement to buy MiG fighter jets from Russia. He also encouraged objective coverage of the war, even as the government seemed intent on forcing journalists to pick sides, leaving little room for neutrality by branding any reporter critical of the government and its military a rebel sympathizer.

After a 2002 cease-fire was broken, hopes were shattered that peace could help this nation of 20 million people -- renowned for its surfing beaches, palm trees and highland tea plantations -- lift its villages out of poverty. Instead, the war has turned the country into a maze of military checkpoints, where government troops search travelers and their luggage.

The war has divided and weakened society, reigniting long-standing ethnic tensions between the majority Sinhalese, who are predominantly Buddhist, and the minority Tamils, who are mainly Hindus and Christians. The Tamil Tigers, or LTTE, say they are fighting for a separate Tamil homeland. But they have been accused of widespread human rights violations and of forcible recruitment.

There has been renewed momentum on both sides to win the war. More than 32,000 young Sinhalese men have joined the Sri Lankan army, which has been attacking rebel strongholds to crush the uprising by next year.

Aid groups in the region say hundreds of Tamil Tigers and civilians have died over the past few months. But the assertions cannot be independently verified because the government does not permit journalists near the front lines.

The Tamil Tigers, considered a terrorist organization by the United States, has responded with a campaign of suicide bombings against civilians in urban areas; one such bombing killed a top government official and a former Olympian. At the same time, the government has been accused of violations of the civil rights of Tamils, including allegedly carrying out false arrests, abductions and disappearances.

Wickramatunga, who is Sinhalese, was known for his fearless criticism of both players in the conflict: the Tamil rebels and the mostly Sinhalese government.

"The LTTE are among the most ruthless and bloodthirsty organisations ever to have infested the planet," he wrote. "There is no gainsaying that it must be eradicated. But to do so by violating the rights of Tamil citizens, bombing and shooting them mercilessly, is not only wrong but shames the Sinhalese."

Writing a guest column in his newspaper, his wife, Sonali Samarasinghe, said she had been particularly afraid the morning he was killed. The couple noticed they were being followed, she wrote, and he insisted that she take a separate car to the office. "Ten minutes after we parted I got the call I had always dreaded. My fingers hurriedly slid over my phone digits as I hastened to call him, more in hope than anything else. In my haste I pressed a wrong button. On the screen appeared a message I had received from Lasantha just hours before: 'Wifey,' it said, 'I love you.' "

And Then They Came For Me
The Sunday Leader Online
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/20090111/editorial-.htm?sid=ST2009011404324&s_pos=list

 

[old medic]

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090125/srilanka_rebels_090125/20090125?hub=World

Sri Lanka says it captured last rebel stronghold
Sun. Jan. 25 2009
The Associated Press

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- Sri Lankan forces captured the Tamil Tigers' last major stronghold in the country's north, the army announced Sunday, a victory that left the remaining rebel fighters confined to the tiny slice of jungle they still control.

The capture of Mullaittivu came just three weeks after the army drove the rebels from their administrative capital of Kilinochchi and forced them to retreat from most of the de facto state they controlled across a wide swath of northern Sri Lanka.

While the major conventional battles appeared to be over, analysts said the army had a hard fight ahead of it to finish off the rebels, who are reportedly holed up in the nearby jungles with hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians.

"The Sri Lankan army captured the Mullaittivu bastion completely today," Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka, the army chief, said in a speech broadcast on every major television channel.

Sri Lankans across Colombo exploded in celebration, honking their horns and lighting firecrackers.

Fonseka said the 25-year-old civil war was 95 per cent over and he appealed for new recruits to join the army and help finish off the rebels.

Rebel officials could not be reached for comment because communications to the northern war zone have been cut. It is impossible to verify the military's accounts because independent journalists are barred from the area.

Defense spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella described Mullaittivu as the rebels' last bastion and main operations centre.

The rebels took control of the town in 1996 when they overran a military camp there and killed nearly 1,000 soldiers.

The Tamil Tiger rebels have fought since 1983 to create a separate state for ethnic minority Tamils, who have suffered decades of marginalization at the hands of successive governments controlled by the Sinhalese majority. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the violence.

The government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa has vowed to destroy the group and end the war.

 

[Yrys]

Same subject, other articles :

Last Tamil Tiger bastion 'taken'a, BBC News

MAP OF THE REGION

Sri Lankan troops have captured the last Tamil Tiger rebel stronghold of Mullaitivu
in the north-east of the island, the country's army chief says.

On Sri Lankan TV, Lt Gen Sarath Fonsek said troops had "completely captured"
Mullaitivu after a month of fighting. There has been no comment from the Tamil
Tigers, who have suffered a series of reverses in recent months.

The government has vowed to crush the rebels, who have been fighting for
a separate homeland for 25 years. At least 70,000 people have been killed
during the insurgency.

Stall tactics

Announcing the capture of Mullaitivu, the general said victory in the area would
render the conflict with the Tigers "95% over", the Associated Press reported.
"We have completely captured Mullaitivu," he said.

Earlier, a government spokesman said troops from the 59th division had entered
Mullaitivu and that it was "a matter of time before they take full control of the area".

Tamil Tiger rebels blasted through the walls of a reservoir on Saturday in an
attempt to stall the advancing troops, the military said. There is no way of
confirming any of the claims as independent journalists are barred from
conflict zone.

The BBC's Anbarasan Ethirajan in Colombo says the fall of the last main town
under the Tigers' control would deprive the group of a crucial military base.

The government has won a string of military victories in recent months, including
the capture of the rebels' de facto capital of Kilinochchi, cornering the rebels into
a tiny pocket of territory in the island's north-east.
...

Sri Lanka army chief: Troops have taken key rebel stronghold, CNN

Sri Lankan army chief Sarath Fonseka says a key Tamil
town has been taken in a national TV broadcast Sunday.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNN) -- Sri Lankan soldiers have seized a key rebel
stronghold after launching a surprise attack early Sunday morning, the head
of Sri Lanka's army announced.roops crossed a lagoon and entered the town
of Mullaittivu before encountering heavy resistance from Tamil fighters,
according to the government-run news agency.

"Our troops fought their way through a 40 km (25 mile) thick jungle track,"
Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka said in a televised address on Sunday. "This is the
long awaited victory and I am happy to say that our heroic forces today
captured the Mullaittivu town after 12 years," the Sri Lanka Army chief said.

There is no confirmation from the rebels that the strategic garrison has been
overtaken. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) -- commonly known
as the Tamil Tigers -- have fought for an independent homeland for the country's
ethnic Tamil minority since 1983. The civil war has left more than 70,000 people dead.

The rebels gained control over Mullaittivu in 1996 and established a military garrison
there, according to the government. In recent days, the military has made significant
progress in its campaign to recapture rebel strongholds.

Earlier this month, troops regained control of the northern town of Elephant Pass,
the point at which mainland Sri Lanka links to the northern Jaffna peninsula. It had
been in rebel hands for more than nine years.

The re-capture enabled the government to use a highway linking the mainland to
the peninsula to move troops and supplies. Previously, it was done by air and sea.
"The area that the LTTE has dominated has shrank phenomenally," Sri Lankan
High Commissioner to India, C.R Jayasinghe, told CNN. "They lost... about 90
percent of what they had."

Despite major government gains, critics point to ongoing civilian casualties
resultant from the conflict. "This is an important strategic success for the army,
but literally tens of thousands of people, children, are in the line of fire,"
United Nations spokesman James Elder said in a phone conversation Sunday.
"Some Sri Lankan U.N. staff are trapped there," he added. "Convoys are going
to the area, delivering emergency supplies, but these are not sufficient for the
number of people in need."
...

 

[Yrys]

Tamil Tiger rebels 'to fight on', BBC News

Velupillai Prabhakaran "is with our
people", the rebels say

The top leader of the Tamil Tigers has not left Sri Lanka and is still
leading the "freedom struggle", the rebels' political leader has said.
B Nadesan told the BBC by telephone that reports Velupillai Prabhakaran
had fled were "malicious propaganda". He promised the rebels would
fight on.

Fears for civilians are growing - the UN says dozens are dead or
injured. Sri Lanka's army has pushed the rebels from their strongholds.
Mullaitivu, their last major base, fell on Sunday.

There is no way of confirming claims from either side in the conflict
zone as independent journalists are barred.

'Liberation war'

Speaking exclusively to the BBC Sinhala service, Mr Nadesan rejected
claims Mr Prabhakaran had fled. "It is malicious propaganda - our leader
is still with us - our leader is giving leadership to our freedom struggle.
He is with our people," he said.

Mr Nadesan also said the Tigers would not lay down arms until the
freedom and dignity of their people were guaranteed. He shrugged off
recent military setbacks which have seen the loss of the key bases of
Kilinochchi, Elephant Pass and Mullaitivu.

He said: "In a liberation war it is normal for a force to lose territory and
regain the same and achieve freedom. In the past we have withdrawn
many times and bounced back to achieve big victories."

When asked why the rebels would not lay down their arms and talk to
the government, Mr Nadesan said: "We took up arms to safeguard our
people. We need a guarantee of living with freedom and dignity and
sovereignty... until that, we will not come to that point." Mr Nadesan
also accused the army of shelling civilians in areas the government had
designated safe zones.

Military spokesman Brig Udaya Nanayakkara told the BBC the army had
no need to fire at civilian areas. Brig Nanayakkara said the rebels were
firing from the safe zone "but we don't engage them".

'Crisis'

The district director of health for Kilinochchi region, T Satyamurthy, also
spoke to the BBC and said that between 1 and 25 January, 145 civilians
had died due to the conflict in the region and more than 650 had been
admitted to hospitals. Dr Satyamurthy, the most senior government health
official in the district, said that on Monday 27 civilians had been killed and
76 wounded when about 1,000 shells fell on the Udayarkatta and
Nattangandal hospital complex in Mullaitivu district.

Dr Satyamurthy said the shelling came from the south "where the SLA
[Sri Lankan army] is camping". "We don't have any staff or medicine -
security is a major problem, so we can't work properly," Dr Satyamurthy
said.

Brig Nanayakkara insisted the army had "no connection whatsoever with
these civilian deaths". "The military has not directed any attacks towards
the safe zone. It is declared for the civilians to come and seek protection."
He said all government officials in the region were "making statements under
the pressure from terrorists. I can clearly say that they are making these
statements to save their lives".

The UN has also expressed concerns about civilian deaths, saying dozens had
been killed. Resident coordinator Neil Buhne told the Associated Press news
agency the situation was desperate. "There have been many civilians killed
over the last two days. It's really a crisis now."

There are thought to be about 250,000 civilians in the area in which the rebels
are still operating. The army took Mullaitivu town - the last major Tiger base -
on Sunday. The military says it is now advancing into the 300 sq km (115 sq mile)
triangle of land in which the Tamil Tigers are still operating. Mr Nadesan said
the rebels hold twice that area.

The government has vowed to crush the rebels, who have been fighting for a
separate homeland for Tamils for 25 years. At least 70,000 people have been
killed during the insurgency.

INSURGENCY TIMELINE
1976: Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam form in the north-east
1987: India deploys peace-keepers to Tamil areas but they leave in 1990
1993: President Premadasa killed by Tiger bomb
2001: Attack on airport destroys half Sri Lankan Airlines fleet
2002: Government and rebels agree ceasefire
2005: Mahinda Rajapaksa becomes president
2006: Heavy fighting resumes
2009: Army takes main rebel bases of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu

 

[old medic]

Here is another timeline link, I will post the 2006 onward portion.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/country_profiles/1166237.stm

2006 April - Attacks begin to escalate again.
A suicide bomber attacks the main military compound in Colombo, killing at least eight people. The military launch air strikes on Tamil Tiger targets.

2006 May - Tamil Tiger rebels attack a naval convoy near Jaffna.

2006 August - Tamil Tiger rebels and government forces resume fighting in the north-east in worst clashes since 2002 ceasefire. Government steadily drives Tamil Tigers out of eastern strongholds over following year.

2006 October - Peace talks fail in Geneva.

2007 June - Police force hundreds of Tamils out of the capital, citing security concerns. A court orders an end to the expulsions.

2008 January - Government pulls out of 2002 ceasefire agreement.

2008 March - International panel, invited by the government to monitor investigations into alleged human rights abuses, announces that it is leaving the country. Panel member Sir Nigel Rodley says the authorities were hindering its work. Government rejects the criticism.

2008 July - Sri Lankan military says it has captured the important Tamil Tiger naval base of Vidattaltivu in the north.

2008 October - Suicide bombing blamed by government on Tamil Tigers kills 27 people, including a former general, in the town of Anuradhpura.

2008 December - Sri Lankan troops and Tamil rebels claim to have inflicted heavy casualties on each other in fierce fighting in the north.

2009 January - Government troops capture the northern town of Kilinochchi, held for ten years by the Tamil Tigers as their administrative headquarters. President Mahinda Rajapakse calls it an unparalleled victory and urges the rebels to surrender.

 

[old medic]

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090131/srilanka_tigers_090131/20090131?hub=World

Sri Lanka military destroys Tiger suicide boat
Sat. Jan. 31 2009
The Associated Press

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- The Sri Lankan military claimed Saturday it had destroyed a Tamil Tiger suicide boat, as the government ruled out a ceasefire in the northern war zone where hundreds of thousands of civilians are reportedly trapped.

The explosives-laden boat was intercepted by a naval ship and destroyed with heavy gunfire early Friday, according to the Defense Ministry Web site.

It said the boat was apparently launched from Mullaittivu and was headed for a naval blockade along the northeastern coast.

It gave no other details, and the Tamil Tiger rebels did not immediately respond to the claim.

The naval blockade is aimed at preventing the Tamil Tigers, cornered into a small 300-square-kilometre coastal territory north of Mullaittivu town, from escaping by the sea.

Their land escape routes are also sealed off by the Sri Lankan military, which has achieved a string of victories in recent months, ousting the Tigers from towns and villages.

The military believes it is now close to destroying the Tigers, who have been fighting since 1983 for a separate homeland for the minority Tamils in the north and the east.

But the fighting has also left many civilians trapped in the area controlled by the Tigers -- some 250,000 according to the Red Cross. But Human Rights and Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe disputed the figure, saying less than 120,000 civilians were in the war zone.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa had urged the rebels to let the civilians leave the conflict zone by Saturday and guaranteed safe passage to all noncombatants. But the government insisted there would be no let up in its war.

"We are determined not to have a ceasefire, and we are determined to eradicate terrorism in Sri Lanka," Samarasinghe told reporters Friday.

He denied reports that more than 300 civilians were killed in recent fighting and accused the rebels of forcibly recruiting civilians, giving them two or three days of training and putting them on the front line as cannon fodder.

"We have not targeted civilians and we will not target civilians," he said.

Tamil Tiger spokesman Balasingham Nadesan said the government has stepped up artillery attacks on civilian areas, leaving at least 28 people dead Friday.

"Only a permanent ceasefire mooted by the international community and (ensuing) negotiations would resolve the conflict," he said on a pro-rebel Web site, TamilNet.

Human rights groups accuse the rebels of holding the civilians hostage and the military of launching heavy attacks in civilian-filled areas, including a government-declared "safe zone."

UNICEF said many children -- some just months old -- have been injured, killed or are living in poor conditions.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in the civil war, which grew out of complaints by Tamils, who have suffered decades of marginalization at the heads of successive governments controlled by the Sinhalese majority.

Observers say even if the Tigers are vanquished on the ground the insurgency will not end.

"It is time for Sri Lanka to pick up the pieces of peace negotiations with Tamils ... and work for a political settlement," wrote Haridas Ramakrishnan in a column in the state-owned Daily News newspaper.

 

[MarkOttawa]

A post at Daimnation! (several useful links within):

Taming Tigers
http://www.damianpenny.com/archived/012598.html

Mark
Ottawa

 

[Yrys]

Tigers say civilians will remain, 30 January 2009

Sri Lankan soldiers captured Mullaitivu
last Sunday

The Tamil Tigers say that 250,000 civilians in the conflict zone in north-eastern
Sri Lanka want to stay to be protected by the rebels.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa had appealed to the rebels to allow the
civilians to leave. But his government also ruled out a ceasefire.

Rebel political chief B Nadesan said the people did not wish to end up in the hands
of "their killers".

Health officials and rights groups say hundreds of civilians have died.

'Rights breaches'

President Rajapaksa said he was offering safe passage to the civilians so they could
leave.

The BBC's Chris Morris in Colombo says Mr Nadesan told him that 28 people had been
killed by shellfire since Mr Rajapaksa's offer of safe passage. There is no way of
independently verifying casualty claims by either side in the conflict.

President Rajapaksa had earlier said the rebels were refusing to let the civilians leave.
"I urge the [Tamil Tigers], within the next 48 hours to allow free movement of civilians
to ensure their safety and security. For all those civilians, I assure a safe passage to a
secure environment," he said.

Mr Nadesan denied the rebels were blocking civilians. He also said he was in daily
contact with the Tigers' Vellupillai Prabhakaran and that the rebels' main leader was
still full of enthusiasm. Mr Nadesan said suggestions that the Sri Lankan army was
about to win the war against the Tigers were wrong.

The army is facing monsoon conditions
in its push into the jungle

The European Union on Friday called for a halt to the conflict.

Link : In pictures: Sri Lankan war

The Sri Lankan army says it is continuing to make advances in its
offensive against the Tamil Tigers in the north-east.


EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel said: "This is an escalating humanitarian
catastrophe. We are extremely worried about the terrible situation facing people trapped
in the fighting."

UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband said that he was again calling for an "immediate
humanitarian ceasefire".

But the Sri Lankan government has ruled out a truce. Human Rights Minister Mahinda
Samarasinghe told reporters on Friday: "We will continue with our military operations
and we will continue to liberate areas which have not been liberated so far."

Our correspondent says that displaced civilians who do manage to leave the war zone are
held in government-managed camps to which there is no media access.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has said she is extremely
concerned about the well-being of people caught up in the fighting. She said the
situation could be worse than generally realised because of the restrictions to access
to the war zone. Ms Pillay said there appeared to be "very grave breaches of human
rights by both sides in the conflict and it is imperative that we find out more about
what exactly has been going on".

On Friday, the Reporters without Borders group also appealed to President Rajapaksa
to allow local and foreign journalists to report freely. The government has declared a
"safe zone" for civilians but rights groups say the army is still firing into it and that the
rebels are using civilians there as hostages.

The Red Cross says the humanitarian situation in the north-east "remains precarious
for thousands". "Stocks have been depleted and sustainable ways of producing food
locally have become almost nonexistent," it said.

The UK has said it is doubling its emergency humanitarian aid with another £2.5m to
support Red Cross operations and help maintain relief convoys.

Secretary of State for International Development Douglas Alexander said: "Not enough
aid is getting through to those who desperately need it."

Heavy fighting

The military says it is involved in a final push against the retreating rebels. It has captured
the key towns of Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and the strategically important Elephant Pass in recent
weeks.

The BBC's Ethirajan Anbarasan is at Elephant Pass with the army. He says he can hear
artillery fire 15km (nine miles) to the south and has been told there is heavy fighting there.
Our correspondent says commanders are confident the fighting will be over in the coming days -
though they do not specify how long exactly it will take. They are upbeat and say rebel resistance
is crumbling. He has been told another 10 rebels have been killed in the latest fighting, though
this too cannot be independently verified.