Pakistan has deployed army and paramilitary forces to protect Sri Lanka's cricket team after a deadly suicide bombing in Islamabad raised security concerns during their ongoing tour, the interior minister said on Thursday.
Pakistan military chief directly intervened to salvage the home series involving Sri Lanka following the suicide attack in Islamabad, the country's interior ministry said on Thursday.
For India, China's Indian Ocean power projection, maritime domain awareness, dual-use ports, underwater surveillance, antisubmarinewarfare, naval exercises with Pakistan, pose considerable pressure, depleted India's strategic depth and marginalises Indian role, points out Srikanth Kondapalli.
Two eyewitnesses have supported allegations that the Sri Lankan army executed two Tamil Tiger rebel leaders after they surrendered the island's civil war in 2009.
After smashing through main outer defences of the crucial city of Kilinochchi, Sri Lankan Army today captured Vannerikulam town and encircled Nachchikudha, the main sea Tiger base, after fierce fighting which left 33 soldiers dead. Apparently, stepping up their offensive to capture LTTE headquarters, government troops overnight and this Monday morning launched a fierce offensive to capture the Vannerikulam town for which the Tigers put up a stiff resistance.
A UN report highlights the lack of justice for Tamil civilians who experienced sexual violence during Sri Lanka's civil war, primarily by security forces.
Human Rights Watch urges Sri Lanka to prosecute perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the civil war, citing a UN report on sexual violence against Tamil civilians.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on Monday appealed to the United Nations to investigate possible war crimes by the Sri Lankan Army and said it has 'plenty of evidence' to prove its claim. But the Tamil Tigers made no mention of the UN's allegations that the LTTE may also be committing war crimes by killing innocent civilians in the ongoing offensive."The Sri Lankan government is carrying out genocidal massacres by deliberately targeting civilians," the LTTE said.
Key United Progressive Alliance ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Tuesday demanded that the Centre should immediately scrap the training programme for Sri Lankan army personnel in the country, arguing that such exercises create doubts in the minds of people of Tamil Nadu about the government's intentions.
Following the death of Iranian sailors in the Indian Ocean, Iran's navy has threatened 'deadly retaliation,' accusing the US of attacking its warship off the coast of Sri Lanka, escalating tensions in the region.
The Sri Lankan Army on Thursday urged the anti-government protesters to desist from violence immediately or be prepared to face the "consequences", warning that the security forces are "legitimately empowered" to exercise force.
Lt Gen Fonseka, who left for Pakistan on Sunday on an official tour, is slated to discuss several issues including defence purchases, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported. During his stay, the visiting army chief is scheduled to meet President Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani and several other defence officials.
'Was the five-day pause ever meant to hold, or was it simply another instrument of signaling, of positioning, of buying time in a war where even the pauses are tactical?' asks Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
The Tigers refused to forgive Douglas Devananda and tried to assassinate him repeatedly. He later said: "(LTTE chief Velupillai) Prabhakaran cannot kill me." Destiny proved him right.
'Military police personnel who went to take Fonseka into custody on charges of military offences have neither beaten him nor harassed him on that occasion as reported in a section of the media,' the army said in a statement.
The body of the 24-year-old Anthony, chief of the LTTE's air wing, was found during mop-up operations in the last rebel-held territory in the no-fire zone on Monday morning, the defence ministry said
Sri Lankan forces eliminated surrendering Tiger leaders on the orders of the defence secretary who had instructed that 'all Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam leaders must be killed,' ex-army chief General Sarath Fonseka has claimed, prompting the government to describe it as a 'great betrayal.'
A leading Tamil Tiger leader Rasiah Ilanthriyan was believed to have been killed as Sri Lankan troops continued their march into the rapidly shrinking areas held by the rebels. The offensive is bringing army troops almost to a face to face confrontation with the Tiger top brass. But, the pace of advance appears to have been slowed down by heavy mining and fear of large scale civilian casualties.
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran was on Monday shot dead by Sri Lankan special forces as he tried to stage a dramatic breakout from the army encirclement, a military spokesman said.
Tamil Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran is dead, the Sri Lankan army stated on Monday.Earlier in the day, the SL army, which had closed in on the last foothold of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, killed several top rebel leaders.The body of Charles Anthony, Prabhakaran' son, was found during mop-up operations in the last rebel-held territory in the no-fire zone on Monday morning.
Naqvi assured Siriwiratnay that the visiting team players and officials were state guests in Pakistan.
Two senior players of the Sri Lankan cricket team, including skipper CharithAsalanka, currently touring Pakistan for a T20 tri-series will be returning home due to illness, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said on Monday.
Sri Lankan players currently touring Pakistan for a three-match ODI series want to return home due to security concerns following a deadly suicide attack in Islamabad but PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi claimed that the rubber will continue, albeit with a rejigged schedule.
Army tanks and infantry moved deep into the sea Tiger base in Chalai region in Northern Mullaittivu after killing four top LTTE leaders, including Vinayagam, number three in the hierarchy list of sea tigers.
As Sri Lankan troops advance towards the last Tiger bastion of Mullaittivu, Army Chief Sarath Fonseka has said he was not sure whether Velupillai Prabhakaran was on the island nation but felt that it was not possible for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam supremo to find a shelter in India. The Lankan Air Force had destroyed a vessel carrying arms and ammunitions for the LTTE just when it was being offloaded in the rebel coastal area, Fonseka added.
It is suspected to be a suicide attack of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Cyclone Ditwah exits Sri Lanka after causing widespread destruction and over 120 deaths, heading towards the Indian coast. Heavy rains and high winds are expected to continue.
After being put into bat, Sri Lanka started brightly as the openers put up a 51-run stand before Pathum Nissanka was run out attempting a risky third run.
Sri Lankan Chief of Defence Staff General Sarath Fonseka's resignation has been accepted by the president with immediate effect, rejecting his request to serve for two more weeks, officials said on Friday.
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran and his top aides were recently missed by a whisker by the security forces, a top Sri Lankan commander said, claiming that the rebel leader had limited options right now."We got to know that Prabhakaran had moved through the Pudukudiryirippu-Iranmalai road on a day between March 29 and 31, just about two days before the army fully laid seige to that area," GoC 58 Division Brigadier Shavendra Silva said.
The army captured the Viyattankulam area in Mannar after killing 22 rebels and destroying 16 bunkers
Fresh from their success in capturing the entire North-western coast, the Sri Lankan Air Force fighter jets on Sunday pounded bunkers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and seized hundreds of arms and ammunitions while recovering the bodies of two militants, officials said.
Continuing the momentum of its offensive, Sri Lankan troops on Friday captured another 4 km stretch and closed on to the Tamil Tigers stronghold of Kilinochchi as it also beat back a group of insurgents who tried to infiltrate one of its defence lines
A behind-the-scenes account of how the three-decade old conflict came to an end in the island nation.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Sunday ordered the release of his former army chief turned political rival Sarath Fonseka, paving the way for him to walk out of prison after two years
Stepping up the momentum of their advance to capture the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam stronghold of Kilinochchi, the Lankan troops on Tuesday claimed to have killed scores of rebels after smashing through a string of LTTE bunkers. Government troops of the 53 Division, advancing from Kilaly village near Jaffna, carried out the ambush in the morning, a defence ministry official said
A batch of 95 Tamil women soldiers of the Sri Lanka army held their passing out parade at the security force Headquarters in the former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam stronghold of Kilinochchi in the north.
The Sri Lankan forces fast closing in on LTTE last bastion in island nation's north have captured one of the command bunkers used by elusive Tamil Tiger supreme Velupillai Prabhakaran in thick forests of Dharmapuram town in Mullaittivu.
On the hunt for the elusive Tiger supremo Prabhakaran, Sri Lankan security forces have stumbled upon a damaged bullet-proof car that could have been used by either Lankan Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief or other senior leaders. The rugged-looking covered pick up wagon, fitted with double steel sheets to escape bullet hits, was found in the thick jungles near Mullaittivu, as Lankan forces scour the area for the LTTE topmen, a senior defence official told PTI.