Srilanka news

Sri Lanka war flares with air and sea battles

Nov 2 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's air force on Sunday bombed a Tamil Tiger training base in the Indian Ocean nation's northern jungles, a day after a fierce sea battle killed 18 insurgents, the military said. The air raid struck a LTTE camp near Iranamadu, site of recent battles that are part of the military's intensified offensive to retake rebel-held territory in northern Sri Lanka. The military, which had restricted information on casualty numbers over the last two weeks, declined to give any figures for the air raid. more..

 

India discusses with Sri Lanka modalities to send relief supply

Nov 2 (IANS) Sri Lanka and India have set the ball rolling to implement the agreement arrived at in New Delhi to supply food and other essentials to the war-affected people in the island's north, diplomatic sources here said. Senior Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa, who was in New Delhi last week and held talks with Indian leaders as the special envoy of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, convened a meeting here Friday to discuss the relief supply situation in the northern Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts. more..

 

They came, they bombed and they went away

Nov 2 (ST) Intercepts of coded radio communications between two Tiger guerrilla bases in the north last week baffled Colombo's intelligence community. There were references to "black birds" and "black air" in the conversation in Tamil. It suggested plans were afoot to attack an unknown target. Initial deciphering prompted them to suspect that artillery attacks were planned on targets in the Jaffna peninsula. Protectively, military authorities were alerted. more..

 

Indian gunners shot at LTTE aircraft

Nov 2 (LB) Indian gunners in the Indian embassy compound fired relentlessly at the aircraft that were turning back and were en route to Killinochchi after dropping bombs on the Kelanitissa power station in Colombo last Tuesday. The gunners fired repeatedly shaking some of the adjacent buildings such as Galle Face to its foundations. A guest in one of the Galle Face hotel rooms crept under a bed and said he never heard such gunfire in his life, and that he felt he should “dive for cover." more..

 

All quiet on the Tamil front

Nov 2 (DNA) The flare-up between the DMK and the Congress on the LTTE issue died as suddenly as it erupted. One day we saw DMK chief M Karunanidhi threatening to pull out from the UPA and ordering a mass resignation by Tamil MPs. Less than a week later, he purred like a tame cat and declared that the crisis was over. Just like that. Curiously, the ground situation in Sri Lanka, which caused the flare-up in the first place, hadn’t changed. more..

 

EROS: Conflict Within

Nov 2 (LG) The factional infightings within EROS have become a points scoring exercise between its UK based Nesan Shankar Raji and Rajanathan Pirabakaran stationed in Eastern Sri Lanka. Nesan Shakar Raji in his latest newsletter to the Sri Lanka Guardian claims: ‘I am shocked that the article with the following heading - No person who called Nesan in EROS- was published in your news website. more..