Sunday, January 11, 2009

What motives behind Sirasa/MTV attack and Sunday Leader editor killing?

(ML)There is something very fishy about the killing of Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickrematunga and the arson attack on the MTV Broadcasting Station. Both incidents occurred within few days after the fall of Kilinochchi to Sri Lankan Forces.

The government should forthwith launch a thorough inquiry into both cases and leave no stones unturned since the offences are bound to reflect negatively on the Rajapaksa regime although the Leader Publications and MTV/ Sirasa were both operating as UNP media organs and showing veiled sympathy for the LTTE cause. Full Text

Sri Lankan Tamils and LTTE cannot be equated: Brinda

(TH)Coimbatore (PTI): CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat on Sunday said her party's concern about the plight of the Sri Lankan Tamils should not be misused by any force to support the outlawed LTTE.

"The CPI(M) is extremely concerned about the safety and security of Tamil population in Sri Lanka. However, the party would not like this concern to be misused by any force to support LTTE," she told reporters here. Full Text

Sri Lanka Navy on alert to thwart any Prabhakaran escape bid

(TH)Colombo (PTI): With troops advancing towards the last Tamil Tiger bastion of Mullaittivu, Sri Lanka has put its Navy on alert to thwart any possible attempt by LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran to flee the island through sea route.

"The Sri Lankan Navy has been put on alert to prevent any attempt by LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran or other senior leaders from fleeing the country," a senior defence official told PTI on Sunday. Full Text

Sri Lankan air strikes hit retreating rebels: govt

COLOMBO (AFP) – Sri Lanka's military on Sunday launched air attacks against the last remaining jungle hideouts of Tamil Tiger rebels after driving them out of their main strongholds, officials said.

Helicopter gunships supported ground troops advancing deeper into the Mullaittivu region, where the retreating Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) forces are holed up, a military official said. Full Text

Sri Lanka: Soldiers seize rebel training camp

(yahoo)COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka soldiers captured a Tamil Tiger training camp as government troops pressed ahead with their offensive against the guerrillas in the country's embattled north, the military said Sunday.

The military has achieved a string of major victories against the rebels in recent months — including the capture of the Tamil Tiger administrative capital of Kilinochchi a week ago. The government has vowed to crush the separatist guerrillas and end the Indian Ocean island nation's 25-year-old civil war in the coming months. Full Text

Sri Lanka army fights to finish off Tamil Tigers

By C. Bryson Hull

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lankan troops fought toward the shrinking strongholds of the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels on Sunday, the military said, seeking a crushing battlefield victory to end one of Asia's longest insurgent ground wars.

The military said it had killed at least 24 rebels after a series of confrontations on Saturday in the small northeastern wedge of jungle which is all that is left of the Tigers' self-proclaimed state. Full Text

Air Force Jets target LTTE hideouts - Chundikulam

(defence.lk)Sri Lanka Air Force fighter jets destroyed an LTTE attack boat hidden in the Chundikulam lagoon this morning (Jan 11).

Air Force spokesperson Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara said that the jets carried out the air strikes targeting the boat and the withdrawing terrorists from the Jaffna peninsula. He confirmed that the boat was destroyed and the terrorists suffered heavy damages in the air raid. Full Text

Troops advance further into Mullaittivu jungle

(defence.lk)Troops of the Army 59 Division (59 Div), Task Force 2 (TF 2), Task Force 3 (TF 3), and Task Force 4 (TF 4) are slowly but steadily making their way across the Mullaittivu jungle that lies in the middle of the area what is now known as the terror triangle. The thick forest that stretches its boundaries to Iranamadu tank to the west, A-35 (Paranthan- Mullaittivu) road to North and A-34 (Mankualam- Mullaittivu) road to South is known to be the area where the LTTE terrorists would have their final hiding places. Full Text

Prabhakaran stuck in a bombed boat without a paddle

by H. L. D. Mahindapala

(January 11, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) What is Velupillai Prabhakaran fighting for now? After the fall of Killinochchi on January 2, after the fall Elephant Pass and after the relative ease with which the Security Forces are advancing into Tiger territory he is now trapped inside 40 square km (15 sq miles). Equally debilitating is the ban re- imposed on him. Besides, even within that limited space he is shrinking like Alice in Wonderland. So what is he hoping to gain by fighting? Every objective analyst – from the Chennai Hindu to the London Economist – agrees that he has no chance of recovering. But he refuses to give up. Why? What does he hope to achieve? Full Text

LTTE human shield starts dissolving with Army's zero civilian casualty policy- Wani

(defence.lk)With Sri Lanka Army soldiers are continuing to uphold the zero civilian casualties (ZCC) policy in their counter terrorist operations in Wanni, LTTE has reportedly lost its influence over the people completely.

Yesterday (Jan 10) alone, 183 civilians braved escaping terrorist clutches and sought refuge with army. The group of refugees included 70 adult males, 58 adult females, 28 male children and 22 female children. They have told the soldiers that the people in Wanni have lost the fears created in their minds by the LTTE about soldiers, as tiding goes around about the friendly manner that they treat the refugees. Full Text

Army at LTTE's heels in Jaffna

(defence.lk)Soldiers of Sri Lanka Army 53 and 55 Divisions are now engaged in search and destroy operations against the terrorists in the remaining LTTE hiding areas in the Jaffna peninsula. According to battlefield sources, troops are marching further southwards on the narrow neck of land towards Chundikulam eliminating LTTE positions on their way. Full Text

Lanka conflict: The road ahead

(arabnews)For many years, it was widely assumed there was no military solution to the Tamil Tiger insurgency in Sri Lanka. Suddenly that would seem to be all wrong. The capture yesterday of Elephant Pass by government forces indicates that the Tiger occupation of much of the north of the island is on the verge of collapse. There is now a road route open to Jaffna that government forces recaptured from the Tigers in 1995. But as the Sinhalese majority celebrates what has been a stunning series of government victories and advances in recent months, there are ominous signs that Colombo is already laying the groundwork for fresh violence once the Tiger resistance has been broken. Full Text

Hamas copies LTTE's most recent tactic of hiding behind civilians

by Malin Abeyatunge

(Janury 10, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) LTTE Tamil Tiger terrorists are in the forefront in introducing new innovations to the Global terrorism. Among them, suicide bomber kit and specially designed vest for women suicide bombers stand out. LTTE then showed the terrorist world the way to commit massive explosion to buildings with maximum fatalities by getting suicide bombers to drive trucks laden with explosives. LTTE tested this on Central Bank building claiming over hundred innocent lives and maiming over thousand civilians. This tactic has subsequently been copied by terrorist outfits in Pakistan, India, Iraq, Bali, Afghanistan Talibans and Hamas to name a few. Full Text
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