Daily News Channel
Shell-shocked and scarred both inside and out, they huddle in tents, water and medicine in short supply — hundreds of thousands of people, civilian victims of Sri Lanka’s recently-ended civil war. “We suffered a lot because shelling was coming from everywhere,” said a 38-year-old man identifying himself as Vishwamala. “Firing, shelling — many, many people have died …
The deafening roar of drums and horns rose as thousands of people took to the streets in Sri Lanka Friday for a victory parade marking the end of the decades-long civil war. Enthusiastic revelers danced in the street, carried yellow and red flags and some even carried hand-crafted puppets depicting the dead body of the leader of the rebel Tamil Tigers. Watch the victory parade » Sri Lanka’s government declared victory Tuesday in the country’s 25-year civil war against the Tamil Tiger rebels
The United Nations is demanding full access to refugee camps that are home to an estimated quarter of a million people fleeing war in Sri Lanka, the United Nations Children’s Fund said Tuesday. “People are arriving into camps sick, malnourished and some with untended wounds of war,” UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman said in a written statement.
Firecrackers exploded around Colombo on Monday as Sri Lankans celebrated what they hoped would be the end to a civil war that has plagued the nation since 1983. At 1:40 p.m., Sri Lanka’s government radio announced that Velupillai Prabhakaran, the elusive leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , was killed early this morning by special forces in the island’s northern Karayamullavaikkal area. The 54-year-old Prabhakaran, who headed the Tamil separatist movement for 33 years, had been trying to flee the shrinking 100-m by 100-m pocket of land still under Tiger control in an ambulance when troops intercepted the vehicle, shooting those inside.
Humanitarian aid agencies scrambled Monday to offer help to the tens of thousands of people in need after Tamil separatists declared an end to their quarter-century struggle in Sri Lanka.
Firecrackers exploded around Colombo on Monday as Sri Lankans celebrated what they hoped would be the end to a civil war that has plagued the nation since 1983. At 1:40PM in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s government radio made the official announcement that Velupillai Prabhakaran, the elusive leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , was killed early this morning by special forces in the island’s northern Karayamullavaikkal area.
For more than a quarter-century, the Tamil Tigers have waged a guerilla war against the Sri Lankan government in their attempt to establish an independent state — which they call Eelam — for minority Hindu Tamils in the north and east of the island nation.
Sri Lanka’s quarter-century-long civil war is in its final phase, the government suggested Friday, as its troops pounded Tamil Tiger rebels in the country’s north.
President Obama on Wednesday urged Sri Lanka to halt "indiscriminate" shelling of civilians trapped with the remnants of the country’s Tamil Tiger rebels and to let humanitarian aid in.
Tamil rebels in northern Sri Lanka faced another possible onslaught from government forces, as a mid-day deadline for them to surrender passed on Tuesday. There were no immediate reports from northern Sri Lanka where recent fighting has been taking place.