Timeline Sri Lanka
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Known in the ancient world as
Taprobane (Tambapanni) and later
called Serendip and Ceylon. A Hindu Tamil minority (18%) and Buddhist
Sinhalese majority (75%) comprise the population. Muslims comprised
about 7%.
(SFC, 6/20/96, p.A8)(SFE, 9/16/96, p.A9)(SFC,
8/8/98, p.B1)
Sri Lanka is about the size of West Virginia.
(WSJ, 7/13/99, p.B1)(SSFC,
11/9/03, p.A12)
c900BC Anuradhapura (Sri Lanka) was
founded about this time. It served as the capital from the 3rd century
BC to the 11th century AD.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.D)(Arch, 7/02, p.32)
543 BC Colonists from northern India subdued the
indigenous Vaddahs (Veddah) of Sri Lanka, known in the ancient
world as Taprobane and later called Serendip. Descendants of those
colonists, the Buddhist Sinhalese, form most of the population.
(SFC, 6/20/96, p.A8)(SFC, 9/22/97, p.A10)
543BCE-1815CE The Mahavamsa (600BCE-400CE), Great
Chronicle, describes the history of the Sinhalese people (Sri Lanka)
over this period. The 1st part, from King Mahasena, which dates back to
the legendary 5th century BC King Vijaya, was written by King
Dhatusena's brother, the venerable thera Mahanama in the 6th century CE.
(Arch, 7/02,
p.31)(www.saigon.com/~anson/ebud/mahavamsa/)
c400BC-1100AD Anuradhapura served as the capital
during this period.
(SFE, 9/16/96, p.A9)
260BCE Ashoka, the 3rd ruler of the Mauryan empire
(India), converted to Buddhism after defeating the Kalinga region. He
began promoting Buddhist teaching throughout the subcontinent and
beyond to Sri Lanka and even Greece.
(www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/04/ssa/ht04ssa.htm)
251BC Aryan Hindus occupied
Ceylon. [see Sri Lanka]
(http://eawc.evansville.edu, p.14)
161BC Elara (b.235BC), Tamil king
(205BC-161BC), died. He ruled Sri Lanka from the ancient capital of
Anuradhapura.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elara_(monarch))
161BC-137BC The legendary King Duthagamani ruled Sri
Lanka. He began construction of the Ruvanvali stupa. His brother
Saddhatissa completed the project.
(Arch, 7/02, p.34)
137BC Dutugemunu, Sinhalese king
of Sri Lanka (161BC to 137 BC), died. He gained rule after defeating
Elara, a Tamil usurper from India.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutugamunu)
c300-400 Temple of the Tooth in Kandy reportedly held
a tooth of the Buddha brought from India in the 4th century.
(SFC, 1/26/98, p.A9)
477 The usurper King Kasyapa I
founded Sigiriya and built his castle atop a 550-foot outcrop. He had
murdered his father Dhatusena.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.D)(Arch, 7/02, p.32)
495 Moggallana, half brother of
Kasyapa, returned from exile to claim the throne. Kasyapa committed
suicide after his elephant bolted on a battlefield facing Moggallana.
(Arch, 7/02, p.32)
993 The south Indian Cola Empire
captured Anuradhapura (Sri Lanka).
(Arch, 7/02, p.34)
1017 The south Indian Cola Empire
transferred the capital of Sri Lanka to Polonnaruva which then served
as the capital of Sri Lanka until 1300. It was a fortified citadel
surrounded by Hindu and Buddhist religious complexes.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.D)(Arch, 7/02, p.34)
1518 Portugal and the Kingdom of
Kotte, Ceylon, signed a peace treaty.
(TL-MB, p.11)
1732 Jun 3, Pieter Vuyst, Dutch
gov-gen. of Ceylon, was executed.
(MC, 6/3/02)
1736 Mar 23, Iman Willem Falck,
Dutch Governor of Ceylon (1765-83), was born.
(SS, 3/23/02)
1796 The British seized the island
under the name of Ceylon.
(SFC, 6/20/96, p.A8)
1800-1900 Tamil people of southern India were taken
by the British to Ceylon to clear the jungles and work plantations.
(SFC, 11/3/99, p.C6)
1815 The Culavamsa (Small
Chronicle) of Sri Lanka, a continuation of the Mahavamsa, ends with
events in this year.
(Arch, 7/02, p.32)
1815 The British took over Ceylon
(Sri Lanka).
(Arch, 7/02, p.34)
1860 A British seaman proposed
digging a deeper, 19-mile shipping canal in the shallow Palk strait
between India and Sri Lanka. In 2004 India planned to go ahead with the
project.
(Econ, 11/6/04, p.44)
1904-1911 Leonard Sidney Woolf (1880-1969) served in
the Ceylon Civil Service. He later authored “The Village in the
Jungle,” a novel based on his time in Sri Lanka. In 2006 Victoria
Glendinning authored “Leonard Woolf: A Life.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Woolf)(Econ,
9/16/06, p.93)
1937 Ceylon (Sri Lanka) banned the
capture of wild elephants. At the turn of the century some 10-15
thousand elephants roamed wild in Sri Lanka. By 2006 only some 3,000
were left.
(SFC, 5/19/06, p.A2)
1948 Feb 4, Colonial rule ended
and the island nation of Ceylon -- now Sri Lanka -- became an
independent dominion within the British Commonwealth.
(SFE, 9/16/96, p.A9)(SFC, 6/20/96, p.A8)(AP, 2/4/97)
1954 Nov 26, Velupillai
Prabhakaran (d.2009), founder of the Tamil New Tigers (TNT later
renamed to LTTE), was born in Velvettithurai Sri Lanka.
(www.dailynews.lk/2009/05/19/fea02.asp)
1956 Sinhalese, which few Tamils
spoke, was made the sole official language of Sri Lanka.
(SFC, 6/1/00, p.C2)(Econ, 1/30/10, p.28)
1958 In Sri Lanka P.P. James (34)
was falsely jailed for the murder of his father, who remained alive
after being knifed by an assailant. James spent the next 50 years in
jail, a victim of the country’s bureaucracy.
(AP, 4/20/08)
1959 Wijayananda Dahanayake
(d.1997 at 94) became the Prime Minister after the assassination of
Solomon Bandaranaike. He handed power over to the widow of
Bandaranaike’s after 6 months.
(SFC, 5/5/97, p.A20)
1960 Jul 21, Sirimavo
Bandaranaike, leader of the Freedom Party, became the first woman prime
minister of Ceylon. In Sri Lanka, an island country in the Indian Ocean
formerly known as Ceylon she served as prime minister twice, 1960-65
and 1970-77. Under her leadership a republican constitution was adopted
in 1972 and the name of Ceylon changed to Sri Lanka.
(HNQ, 5/23/98)(HN, 7/21/98)
1964 Dec 23, India and Ceylon were
hit by a cyclone and 4,850 were killed.
(MC, 12/23/01)
1970 Michael Ondaatje, Sri
Lanka-born writer, authored his novel "The Collected Works of Billy the
Kid."
(SSFC, 9/9/01, DB p.70)
1970-1977 Sirimavo Bandaranaike served as prime
minister for a 2nd term.
(HNQ, 5/23/98)
1971 Apr 5-1971 Apr 23, In Ceylon
(later Sri Lanka) the People’s Liberation Front attempted a nationwide
coup, but the army and Mr. Bandaranaike’s government regained control.
(WUD, 1994, p. 1688)
mid 70s Policies to slash the number of Tamils in
universities and protect Buddhism and the Sinhalese language were
enacted and triggered violence and the call for and independent Tamil
state of Eelam.
(SFE, 9/16/96, p.A9)
1972 May 22, The island nation of
Ceylon became the republic of Sri Lanka, which is Sinhala for
resplendent land, with the adoption of a new constitution under PM
Sirimavo Bandaranaike. Sinhala was made the official language and
Buddhism the state religion.
(SFC, 6/20/96, p.A8)(AP, 5/22/97)(HNQ, 5/23/98)(SFC,
5/30/00, p.A25)
1972 In Sri Lanka the Tamil New
Tigers (TNT) was founded by Velupillai Prabhakaran, an
eighteen-year-old school dropout, who was the son of a minor government
official. TNT abandoned the political process altogether and geared
itself for violence. The Tamil rebellion began and thousands were
killed in the ultra-leftist campaign. Suicide bombers of the Tamil
Tigers later killed Pres. Ranasinghe Premadasa and former Indian Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
(SFC, 6/20/96,
p.A8)(www.onwar.com/aced/data/tango/tamil1983.htm)
1975 In Sri Lanka Velupillai
Prabhakaran, after being part and parcel of the Tamil movement, carried
out his first political murder. He assassinated Jaffna Mayor Alfred
Duraiappah at point blank range while the Mayor was about to enter the
Hindu temple at Ponnaalai.
(www.dailynews.lk/2009/05/19/fea02.asp)
1976 May 5, In Sri Lanka the TNT
was renamed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), commonly known
as Tigers.
(www.dailynews.lk/2009/05/19/fea02.asp)
1976 May 14, In Sri Lanka the
Tamil United Liberation Front adopted the Vaddukkoaddai Resolution
declaring the Tamils’ right to statehood.
(Econ, 1/23/10,
p.41)(www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=74&artid=8861)
1977 Junius Richard Jayewardene
[Jayawardene] was elected prime minister. He left a will saying that
his eye corneas should be used in Sri Lanka and Japan. In 1999 an
89-year-old Japanese woman received one cornea.
(SFC, 11/2/96, p.A21)(USAT, 8/27/99, p.14A)
1978 Jan 2, In Sri Lanka Junius
Richard Jayewardene (1906-1996) became the first president with true
executive powers. He served as president until 1989.
(SFC, 11/2/96,
p.A21)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junius_Richard_Jayewardene)
1978 Sep 7, Sri Lanka’s new
constitution went into effect. The new Constitution provided for a
unicameral Parliament with legislative power and an Executive
President.
(SFC, 10/11/00,
p.A24)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Sri_Lanka)
1978 Nov 23, In Sri Lanka a
cyclone killed 1,500 people.
(WUD, 1994, p.1691)
1978 Nov 25, An Icelandic DC-8 jet
crashed and killed 183 Muslim pilgrims in Sri Lanka.
(WUD, 1994, p.1691)
1979 The Sri Lanka government gave
architect Geoffrey Bawa (1919-2003) the assignment to design a new
Parliament building.
(SSFC, 6/1/03, p.A31)
1980 Architect Geoffrey Bawa
(1919-2003) was commissioned to create the new Ruhuhu Univ. near Matara.
(SSFC, 6/1/03, p.A31)
1981 Oct, In Sri Lanka the Tamil
Tiger insurgency began in earnest as Velupillai Prabhakaran (1954-2009)
shot 2 soldiers running errands in Jaffna.
(AP, 5/18/09)(Econ, 5/30/09, p.44)(Econ, 6/6/09,
p.42)
1982 Oct, In Sri Lanka Junius
Richard Jayewardene (1906-1996) was re-elected for a 6-year term as
premier and president.
{Sri Lanka}
(SFC, 11/2/96,
p.A21)(www.bookrags.com/Junius_Richard_Jayewardene)
1982 Nov 21, In Sri Lanka the
first Tiger activist to be killed by security forces was shot and
wounded and died a few days later on November 27.
(AP, 11/3/06)
1983 Jul 23, A regional struggle
for independence by Tamil Tigers in the north escalated into a civil
war when they killed 13 Sri Lankan Sinhalese soldiers. The nation's
Sinhalese majority responded by killing thousands of Tamil civilians in
the south. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were formed and led by
Vellupillai Prabhakaran. They were initially a group of 26 fighters.
(SFC, 7/24/96, p.A9)(SFE, 9/16/96, p.A9)(AP internet
7/23/97)(SFC, 8/8/98, p.B1)
1983 Jul 24, Island-wide
anti-Tamil riots broke out in retaliation for the deaths of soldiers
the day before and some 400 people died. This marked the beginning of
the civil war.
(SFC, 7/24/96, p.A9)(WSJ, 6/29/95, p.A-1)
1985 The South Asian Association
for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was founded in Dhaka, Bangladesh, with
the aim of promoting economic cooperation and alleviating poverty in
South Asia. Members included Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives,
Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
(AP, 11/13/05)
1986 May 3, Tamil Tigers bombed an
Airlanka plane at Colombo airport and killed 16 people.
(SFC, 7/24/96, p.A9)
1986 Bawa Muhaiyadeen, Sufi member
of the Quadiriyya order, died. His work included the book: “Islam and
World Peace: Explanations of a Sufi.”
(SSFC, 10/28/01, p.B7)
1987 Apr 17, In Sri Lanka
Tamil extremists shot dead 127, mainly Sinhalese, in Trincomalee.
(http://tinyurl.com/mvxnv)
1987 Apr 21, In Sri Lanka Tamil
Tigers exploded a car bomb at the Colombo central bus stand and 113
people were killed.
(SFC, 7/24/96, p.A9)(http://tinyurl.com/mvxnv)
1987 May 26, Sri Lanka launched
Operation Liberation, an offensive against the Tamil rebellion in
Jaffra. It ended May 31 with over 1,000 deaths and 2,000 arrests in
Vadamaradchy.
(www.tamilnation.org/indictment/indict043.htm)
1987 Jul 24, Tiger leader
Velupillai Prabhakaran arrived in India to sign a peace agreement with
the Sri Lankan government. Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi brokered
the agreement with Sri Lanka delivering autonomy to Tamil areas in
exchange for an end to the war. The peace agreement was signed by
Junius Richard Jayewardene, president of Sri Lanka.
(SFC, 7/24/96, p.A9)(SFE, 9/16/96, p.A9)(SFC,
11/2/96, p.A21)
1987 Jul 30, Some 50,000 Indian
troops arrived in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, to disarm the Tamil Tigers and
enforce a peace pact. After a time they began fighting the Tigers and
in 1990 the government asked them to leave.
(SFC, 7/24/96, p.A9)(SFC, 11/2/96, p.A21)(Econ,
8/5/06, p.40)
1987 Aug 5, Tamil Tigers began to
surrender their weapons to the Indian army, but later changed course
and began to fight the Indians. Official Indian government aid to the
rebels was cutoff but the southern Tamil Nadu state and rightist Hindu
factions of the Indian army continued helping the rebels.
(SFC, 7/24/96, p.A9)
1987-1989 Thousands of leftists were killed in
attempts to topple the government. In 2000 a retired general and 2
aides went on trial for the deaths and disappearances.
(WSJ, 7/19/00, p.A1)
1988 Chandrika Kumaratunga (42)
watched her husband, a film star and rising politician in Sri Lanka,
get killed by a political rival. Her mother and father had both served
as prime ministers.
(SSFC, 11/9/03, p.A12)
1989-1990 In Sri Lanka the government staged an
offensive against the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP, People’s
Liberation Front), a Marxist rebel group. In 1997 the government
admitted that nearly 17,000 people died or vanished during the
offensive. Human rights groups estimated that some 60,000 people were
killed or disappeared.
(WSJ, 9/4/97, p.A1)(SFC, 9/4/97, p.A3)
1989-1990 A group of 25 high school students
disappeared. It was later learned that school principle Dayananda
Lokugalappathi had convinced the military that the students were linked
to the JVP. In 1999 a court sentenced 6 soldiers and the principle to
10 years in prison.
(SFC, 2/11/99, p.C3)
1990 Mar 20, The last Indian
peacekeepers left Sri Lanka.
(www.india-seminar.com/1999/479/479%20mehta.htm)
1990 The Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam evicted some 75,000 Muslims from northern Sri Lanka and
most fled to Puttalam. Muslims comprised some 8% of Sri Lanka’s 20
million people. In the east the rebels slaughtered up to 1,000 Muslims.
(Econ, 10/13/07, p.45)
1991 Mar 2, A Tiger car bomb in
Colombo killed deputy defense minister Ranjan Wijeratne.
(SFC, 7/24/96, p.A9)
1991 May 21, A Tamil suicide
bomber assassinated Rajiv Gandhi at a campaign rally near Madras. Tamil
leader Velupillai Prabhakaran ordered the assassination. Gandhi and 16
others were killed when the female Tamil bomber, Dhanu, presented him
flowers hiding explosives packed with 10,000 metal pellets. 41 Indian
and Sri Lankan suspects were charged with murder and conspiracy. 12
suspects later committed suicide when they were trapped by police. In
1999 4 of the 25 convicted had their death sentences confirmed. 3 death
sentences were commuted to life in prison and 19 sentences were set
aside. In 1999 3 Tamil men and a woman, convicted in 1991, were
scheduled for execution.
(HFA, '96, p.30)(SFE, 9/16/96, p.A9)(SFC, 1/9/96,
p.A10)(SFEC, 8/3/97, p.A15)(SFC, 1/29/98, p.A10)(WSJ, 5/12/99,
p.A1)(SFC, 10/16/99, p.A16)(SFC, 5/30/00, p.A25)
1993 May 1, The president of Sri
Lanka (Ranasinghe Premadasa) was assassinated by a Tiger suicide bomber
in Colombo.
(SFC, 7/24/96, p.A9)(AP, 5/1/98)
1993 Nov 11, Tamil Tiger forces
overran Pooneryn army camp. Some 600 servicemen were killed or
captured. The army put the rebel death toll at 500.
(SFC, 7/24/96, p.A9)
1994 Aug 16, The People’s Alliance
government came to power and promised to end the civil war.
(SFC, 7/24/96, p.A9)
1994 Oct 13, Peace talks began in
Jaffna.
(SFC, 7/24/96, p.A9)
1994 Oct 23, A suicide bomber in
Colombo, Sri Lanka, killed 50 people including Gamini Disanayake, the
opposition presidential candidate.
(AP, 10/23/99)
1994 Oct, Lionair, co-founded by
Chandran Rutnam and a partner from Texas, began serving government
controlled cities. In 1995 it accepted a government contract to fly
supplies to the Jaffna region.
(WSJ, 1/28/00, p.A6)
1994 Nov 24, A Tiger suicide
bomber killed opposition pres. candidate Gamini Disanayake and 51
others.
(SFC, 7/24/96, p.A9)
1994 Dec, Chandrika Bandaranaike
Kumaratunga was elected president of Sri Lanka on a platform of peace
and reconciliation.
(SSFC, 11/9/03, p.A12)
1995 Jan 8, The Tigers and
government agreed to a truce.
(SFC, 7/24/96, p.A9)
1995 Apr 19, The Tigers broke the
truce and blew up 2 navy boats and killed 12 sailors in the port of
Trincomalee.
(SFC, 7/24/96, p.A9)
1995 Apr 28-29, Tigers used
anti-aircraft missiles for the first time and downed 2 air force
transport planes that killed 90 people.
(SFC, 7/24/96, p.A9)
1995 Jun 4, The Tigers blew up a
ship chartered by the Int’l. Committee of the Red Cross.
(SFC, 7/24/96, p.A9)
1995 Jun 30, A 12-year old civil
war continued. Nearly 150 people were killed in the bloodiest day of
the war when insurgents stormed Mandaitivu island, not far from the
rebel held Jaffna Peninsula.
(WSJ, 6/29/95, p.A-1)
1995 Jul 28, The Tigers lost some
400 guerrillas in a raid on Weli Oya army camp where only 2 soldiers
died.
(SFC, 7/24/96, p.A9)
1995 Oct 3, The Sri Lankan army
claims to have killed 200 Tamil Tiger rebels on the northern Jaffa
peninsula.
(WSJ, 10/4/95, p.A-1)
1995 Oct 17, The army started the
1st phase of an effort to take full control of the Jaffna peninsula.
Shelling and bombing against civilians often occurred.
(SFC, 7/24/96, p.A9)
1995 Oct 20, Tiger guerrillas blew
up two oil depots in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
(SFC, 7/24/96, p.A9)
1995 Oct 25, Tamil Tiger rebels
struggled to halt an army offensive in their Jaffna stronghold.
(WSJ, 10/26/95, p.A-1)
1995 Nov 2, The government
believed that the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam (LTTE) might
deploy suicide troops and poison gas in the heavily mined city of
Jaffna.
(V. Sun, 11/3/95, p.A-1)
1995 Nov 11, Two rebel suicide
bombers killed 15 people in Colombo in an unsuccessful attack on army
headquarters.
(SFC, 7/24/96, p.A9)
1995 Dec., The army captured more
than half of the northern rebel stronghold of Jaffna. Complete control
was expected in days.
(WSJ, 12/1/95, p.A-1)
1995 Dec. 6, The flag of Sri Lanka
was raised over the Tamil stronghold of Jaffna. This marked the biggest
victory in the 12 year war in which 39,000 people have died.
(WSJ, 12/6/95, p.A-1)
1995 5,000 people were killed this
year in fighting with the Tamil Tigers.
(WSJ, 7/11/96, p.A10)
1996 Jan. 31, An explosive-packed
truck crashed into the Central Bank in Colombo and killed at least 55
and injured at least 1400 people. The Tamil Tigers rebel group were
blamed. They had been fighting for independence for 12 years. A Tiger
suicide bomber blew up the Central Bank and killed almost 100 people.
The bombing killed 88 and injured 1,400. After 73 people were killed in
the Central Bank bombing the US declared the Tamil Tigers a terrorist
organization.
(WSJ, 2/1/96, p.A-1)(SFC, 7/24/96,
p.A9)(SFC,10/15/97, p.C4)(SFC, 3/11/00, p.A10)
1996 Feb 7, Tamil rebels attacked
Sri Lankan troops in the eastern part of the island nation. They killed
11 and lost 15 of their own fighters. The Colombo suicide bombing of
last week killed 83.
(WSJ, 2/8/96, p.A-1)
1996 Feb 11, Tamil politicians in
Sri Lanka charged that government troops killed 24 [25] civilians in
the eastern district of Trincomalee. Villagers in 1997 gave evidence
against 8 soldiers charged in the killings.
(WSJ, 2/12/96, p.A-13)(SFC, 6/6/97, p.E3)
1996 Feb 14, A Tiger arms ship was
sunk of the northeastern coast.
(SFC, 7/24/96, p.A9)
1996 Mar 5, The Sri Lankan army
raised flags over Jaffna town marking the end of a 7 week campaign to
capture the Tamil rebel stronghold.
(SFC, 7/24/96, p.A9)
1996 Mar 30, Tamil rebels mounted
suicide attacks on a naval convoy and killed a crew of ten. 35 rebels
were killed and six of their vessels were sunk off the island nation’s
northeast coast.
(WSJ, 4/1/96, p.A-1)
1996 May 29, The army chief
offered a general amnesty to more than 20,000 deserters and announced
plans to recruit another 10,000 soldiers. He wants to bolster the army
of 100,000 to finish the 12-year war with Tamil separatists.
(WSJ, 5/30/96, p.A1)
1996 Jun 17, Sri Lankan troops
killed 15 Tamil Tiger rebels in the northern Jaffna peninsula.
(SFC, 6/18/96, p.A10)
1996 Jul 1, Tamil Tiger
separatists ambushed an army patrol and killed 29 soldiers while losing
at least 35 of their own.
(SFC, 7/2/96, p.A10)
1996 Jul 4, A suicide bomber
killed an army commander and 20 others when she leaped in front of a
motorcade in Jaffna.
(WSJ, 7/5/96, p.A1)
1996 Jul 18, Some 4,000 Tamil
rebels overran Mullaitivu military base 175 miles NE of Colombo and
overcame 1,200 defenders.
(WSJ, 7/19/96, p.A1)(SFC, 7/24/96, p.A9)
1996 Jul 19, Rebels sank an navy
gunboat with 40 members. The Tigers claimed to have killed 500
government soldiers at the Mullaitivu camp.
(SFC, 7/20/96, p.A8)
1996 Jul 24, Two bombs blamed on
Tamil separatists ripped through a commuter train near Colombo, Sri
Lanka, killing 64 civilians and wounding more than 400.
(WSJ, 7/25/96, p.A1)(AP, 7/24/97)
1996 Aug 3-1996 Aug 4, Sri Lanka’s
military said it killed some 200 Tamil separatist rebels in a weekend
battle. Rebels said 100 government soldiers were killed. Both sides
denied the others claims.
(WSJ, 8/6/96, p.A1)
1996 Aug 8, Tamil Tigers defended
their northern stronghold in Kilinochchi against thousands of troops.
(SFC, 8/8/96, p.C1)
1996 Aug 30, In Sri Lanka rebels
ambushed a police patrol 115 miles east of Colombo.
(WSJ, 8/30/96, p.A1)
1996 Sep 22, The military said it
killed or wounded 200 Tamil rebels with a loss of 30 government troops.
(WSJ, 9/24/96, p.A1)
1996 Sep 25, The military said it
killed or wounded 500 Tamil rebels with a loss of 58 government troops
and 115 wounded since Sunday when their offensive began near
Kilinochchi.
(SFC, 9/26/96, p.A11)
1996 Sep 30, Government troops
seized a guerrilla stronghold and climaxed an 8-day battle that left
900 dead.
(WSJ, 9/30/96, p.A1)
1996 Sep, Sri Lanka soldiers and
police raped and strangled an 18-year-old student and murdered 3 others
near Chemmanihi. In 1998 4 soldiers were convicted and sentenced to
death for the killings.
(SFC, 7/4/98, p.A11)
1997 Jan 9, Tamil rebels attacked
2 northern military bases and killed at least 60 soldiers with 232
wounded. A later count had 223 soldiers and 350 guerrillas dead.
(WSJ, 1/10/97, p.A1)(SFC,3/7/97 , p.A17)
1997 Mar 6, Tamil Tiger rebels
overran the army base at Vavunativu and left more than 200 dead.
(SFC, 3/7/97, p.A24)
1997 May 18, Security forces
claimed to have killed some 250 separatist Tamil Tigers and to have
captured the northern town of Nedunkeni.
(SFC, 5/19/97, p.A14)
1997 May, The government army
began its “Sure of Victory” campaign and moved to open the Kandy-Jaffna
Road.
(SFC, 8/8/98, p.B1)
1997 Jun 5, The film “Dark Night
of the Soul” by Prasanna Vithanage was an Int’l. film festival award
winner and premiered in the Bay Area.
(SFC, 6/5/97, p.E3)
1997 Jun 11, A Tamil Tiger rebel
raid claimed 300 soldiers dead vs. 50 guerrillas. The government said
97 soldiers were killed at Thandikulam and Nochchimoddai.
(SFC, 6/12/97, p.A14)
1997 Aug 4, Weekend fighting
reportedly left 200 Tamil Tigers and 67 government troops dead. The
rebel bodies were severely disfigured.
(SFC, 8/5/97, p.A9)
1997 Aug 11, It was reported that
Sri Lanka was getting desperate for recruits and that more than 12,000
soldiers had deserted the army in recent months. Women were being
recruited and it was noted that half of the Tamil rebel attack forces
were composed of women. The government military service was comprised
of some 114,000 vs. about 5,000 Tamil fighters.
(SFC, 8/11/97, p.A7)
1997 Aug 19, Government jets hit
rebel positions and some 20,000 government troops met guerrillas en
route to Puliyankulam where 7 soldiers and more than 50 rebels were
reported killed.
(SFC, 8/20/97, p.A9)
1997 Aug 28, Pres. Kumaratunga
pushed parliament to enact constitutional changes to address Tamil
grievances.
(SFC, 8/29/97, p.A16)
1997 Sep, Tamil guerrillas sank a
ship in the Trincomalee area. By 1999 leakage of the 700 tons of oil in
the ship was threatening the coastline.
(SFC, 2/19/99, p.A6)
1997 Oct 1, A government clash
with Tamil Tigers left at least 70 combatants dead in Puliyankulam.
(SFC, 10/2/97, p.A3)
1997 Oct 15, 18 people were killed
in a series of bomb blasts in downtown Colombo and some 110 were
injured. The blasts occurred at the 39-story World Trade Center. 15-20
youths were said to have taken part in the attack. The Liberation
Tigers were reported to be led by Velupillai Prabhakaran, the son of a
fisherman.
(SFC,10/15/97, p.C4)(SFC,10/17/97, p.A12)(SFC,
1/26/98, p.A9)
1997 Oct 18, It was reported that
the civil war had caused the loss of some 2.5 million palmyrah trees, a
hardwood that helps prevent soil erosion during the monsoons. The trees
were being used for bunkers and checkpoints by the army and the
Liberation Tigers.
(SFC,10/18/97, p.A18)
1997 Oct 25, Government troops
seized 965 ethnic Tamils for questioning over an earlier truck bombing.
Rebels in the northeast attacked a military post that left 6 soldiers
and three rebels dead.
(SFEC,10/26/97, p.A21)
1997 Nov 2, The military bombed a
ship unloading weapons for the Tamil Tigers and 60 people were reported
killed.
(SFC,11/4/97, p.A12)
1997 Nov 26, Amnesty Int’l.
reported that the military killed 600 people arrested in the war zone
that were reported missing over the last 18 months.
(SFC,11/27/97, p.B5)
1997 Dec 25, In Sri Lanka fighting
erupted in the north and at least 17 people were killed.
(SFC,12/26/97, p.A16)
1997 Dec, In Sri Lanka Tamil Tiger
rebels detonated a truck bomb that was targeting the navy commander at
the Galle port area.
(AFP, 10/19/06)
1998 Jan 15, A Jaffna library of
Tamil literature was reopened as a gesture conciliatory gesture toward
separatist rebels.
(WSJ, 1/16/98, p.A1)
1998 Jan 25, Suicide bombers
killed themselves and 8 others as their truck crashed through the gates
of the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy. The temple reportedly held a tooth
of the Buddha brought from India in the 4th century. Enraged Sinhalese
burned down a Hindu cultural center in Kandy in retaliation.
(SFC, 1/26/98, p.A9)
1998 Feb 6, A suicide bomber
killed 10 people in Colombo and rebels pressed attacks on government
near Jaffna.
(WSJ, 2/9/98, p.A1)
1998 Feb 22, Rebel gunboats
attacked a 12-ship convoy carrying soldiers to northern Sri Lanka. Up
to 70 people were killed when 2 vessels were sunk. Rebel casualties
were estimated at 30. At least 6 of the 25 rebel boats were destroyed.
(SFC, 2/23/98, p.A12)
1998 Mar 5, In Colombo a bus bomb
with at least 2 shrapnel-laden bombs killed at least 32 people and
injured over 300.
(SFC, 3/6/98, p.A12)
1998 May, In Sri Lanka Sarojini
Yogeswaran, mayor of Jaffna, was shot and killed by suspected Tiger
rebels. He had just been elected in Jan.
(SFC, 8/8/98, p.B1)
1998 May, In Sri Lanka Brigadier
Larry Wijeratne was killed by a Tiger suicide bomber.
(SFC, 8/8/98, p.B1)
1998 cJun, A soldier made
allegations that government soldiers had buried at least 400 Tamils in
mass graves in Chenmanni near Jaffna city. The soldier was convicted of
raping and murdering a Tamil teenager. An excavation of the site was
scheduled for Jun, 1999.
(SFC, 4/2/99, p.D3)(SFC, 4/10/99, p.C14)
1998 Jun, Pres. Kumaratunga
ordered censorship on war reporting.
(SFC, 8/8/98, p.B1)
1998 Aug 4, Pres. Kumaratunga
ordered a month-long state of emergency and effectively postponed
provincial elections scheduled for August.
(SFC, 8/8/98, p.B1)
1998 Aug 8, It was reported that
recent fighting has left some 1,800 guerrillas and 1,600 government
troops dead.
(SFC, 8/8/98, p.B1)
1998 Sep 11, Separatists bombed
City Hall in Jaffa and killed Mayor Ponnuthurai Sivapalan and at least
11 others.
(SFC, 9/12/98, p.C2)
1998 Sep 27, Government troops
clashed with Tamil rebels and at least 49 people were killed.
(SFC, 9/28/98, p.A10)
1998 Sep 29, A Lionair commercial
plane, Flight 602, carrying 55 people disappeared off the coast after
leaving the Jaffna peninsula. The Ukrainian-built Antonov-24 was bound
for Colombo. The government said 700 soldiers and rebels had died in a
3-day battle in the north. Later reports put the death toll to 1300.
(SFC, 9/30/98, p.A11)(WSJ, 9/30/98, p.A1)(WSJ,
1/28/00, p.A1)
1998 Dec 23, At least 30
insurgents were killed in Oddusuddan in the heaviest fighting in months.
(USAT, 12/23/98, p.8A)
1999 Mar 16, A suicide bomber
killed 2 people in a Colombo assassination attempt.
(WSJ, 3/17/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr 3, 15 rebels were killed
at Janakapurna village and 4 soldiers were killed by a land mine in
Tanmakeny village. 5 other rebels were killed in the north.
(SFC, 4/5/99, p.A9)
1999 Apr 9, Investigators found 16
human skeletons buried in the Durayappa Stadium in Jaffna where it was
alleged that hundreds of ethnic Tamils were buried.
(SFC, 4/10/99, p.C14)
1999 Jun 27, An offensive against
Tamil rebels left 16 government soldiers and 41 guerrillas dead.
(WSJ, 6/28/99, p.A1)
1999 Jul 29, A suicide bomber
killed Neelan Tiruchelvam, a leader of the Tamil minority, in Colombo.
Tiruchelvam had helped draft changes to the constitution that would
grant greater autonomy to Tamil dominated areas. The bombing appeared
to be the work of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
(SFC, 7/30/99, p.D2)
1999 Aug 11, Suspected Tamil
rebels set off a mine under a bus carrying police officers and at least
11 people were killed and 17 wounded.
(SFC, 8/12/99, p.D3)
1999 Sep 18, In Sri Lanka over 50
Sinhalese villagers were massacred by female-led Tamil rebels.
(SFC, 9/29/99, p.A10)(SFC, 3/11/00, p.A10)
1999 Oct 30, Savumiamoorthy
Thondaman, Tamil trade unionist and politician, died at age 86-87.
(SFC, 11/3/99, p.C6)
1999 Nov 7, The military command
was shuffled after Tamil Tigers overran 10 strategic camps earlier in
the week. Hundreds of soldiers were dead or missing.
(SFC, 11/8/99, p.C14)
1999 Nov 9, Pres. Chandrika
Kumaratunga said 4,000 people were driven from their homes by the
rebels and that the military had suffered 101 dead and 743 wounded.
(SFC, 11/10/99, p.A14)
1999 cNov 14, A bomb injured 34
people at an opposition rally for Ranil Wickremesinghe.
(WSJ, 11/15/99, p.A1)
1999 Nov 23, A Tamil offensive
brought Talladi into range for artillery pieces.
(WSJ, 11/24/99, p.A1)
1999 Nov 28, The rebels offered
talks to end the 16-year civil war as presidential elections approached.
(WSJ, 11/29/99, p.A1)
1999 Dec 11, Rebels led by
Villupillai Prabhakaran pushed toward Jaffna with an attack at Elephant
Pass. The Defense Ministry claimed that 261 rebels were killed as
opposed to 12 soldiers and 4 civilians. Rebels put their losses at 38.
(SFC, 12/15/99, p.A17)
1999 Dec 15, Brig. Sunil Tennakoon
said 480 rebels had been killed in the attack at Elephant Pass, as
opposed to 28 soldiers and that the mass assault was blocked.
Guerrillas said 38 fighters were killed as opposed to over 100 soldiers.
(SFC, 12/16/99, p.C2)
1999 Dec 18, In Colombo, Sri
Lanka, a suicide bomb attack wounded Pres. Chandrika Kumaratunga and
killed 22 people. Another bomb at a rally of the United National Party
killed at least 11 people and injured 40 others. Tamil rebels were
blamed.
(SFEC, 12/19/99, p.A21)(WSJ, 12/20/99, p.A1)
1999 Dec 21, In Sri Lanka
presidential elections were held. At least 7 people were killed in poll
violence. Pres. Chandrika Kumaratunga won 51% of the vote. Ranil
Wickremesinghe, the nearest rival, won 43%.
(WSJ, 11/24/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 12/22/99, p.A1)(SFC,
12/23/99, p.C10)
1999 Dec 23, Fighting broke out at
Lyakachchi and at least 101 guerrillas and soldiers were later reported
killed.
(SFC, 12/25/99, p.A14)
2000 Jan 3, Fighting was reported
at a key northern pass that had left 60 people dead on both sides.
(WSJ, 1/3/00, p.A1)
2000 Jan 4, In Colombo, Sri Lanka,
a suicide bomber set off explosives strapped to her body and killed
herself and 19 [12] others near the prime minister's office. A Tamil
politician was shot dead by motorcycle assassin nearby.
(SFC, 1/5/00, p.A8)(WSJ, 1/6/00, p.A1)
2000 Jan 27, A parcel bomb
exploded in a post office and killed at least 11 people in
Tamil-dominated Vavuniya. 73 people were injured and Tamil rebels were
blamed.
(SFC, 1/28/00, p.A15)
2000 Feb 8, Bombs exploded in 2
buses around Colombo and 2 people were killed and 31 injured.
(SFC, 2/9/00, p.C3)
2000 Feb 16, 57 soldiers and
guerrillas were killed in renewed fighting as Knut Vollebaek, the
foreign minister of Norway, met with Pres. Chandrika Kumaratunga to
help broker peace talks.
(SFC, 2/17/00, p.D3)
2000 Mar 10, A bomber blew himself
up and killed 19 others including 5 policemen. 64 people were injured
as he missed a motorcade of Cabinet ministers. 4 rebels committed
suicide as troops closed in on them following the botched assassination
attempt.
(SFC, 3/11/00, p.A8)(WSJ, 3/13/00, p.A13)
2000 Mar 30, An air force plane
leased from a Ukrainian company crashed and 36 military personnel were
killed along with 4 Russian crew members.
(SFC, 3/31/00, p.E4)
2000 Apr 2, A rebel attack
launched 7 days earlier had left 78 fighters dead. Rebels said 700
government troops had been killed since the attack began with 71 rebels
dead. The army admitted to 102 deaths and claimed 210 rebels killed.
Thousands of residents were stranded near the Elephant Pass causeway.
(SFC, 4/3/00, p.A9)
2000 Apr 19, The Defense Ministry
reported 12 soldiers dead from fighting over the causeway linking
Jaffna to the mainland. Rebels reported 100 soldiers killed and 26
rebels dead.
(SFC, 4/20/00, p.C4)
2000 Apr 22, Rebels took over
Elephant Pass.
(SFC, 5/9/00, p.A10)
2000 Apr 23, The government
confirmed that it lost the battle for the control of Elephant Pass.
Rebels claimed 1000 soldiers died in the fight.
(WSJ, 4/24/00, p.A1)
2000 Apr 30, Rebels captured a key
army base at Pallai.
(SFC, 5/1/00, p.A13)
2000 May 4, The government imposed
censorship on the foreign media and gave wide powers to the military as
rebels poised to recapture Jaffna.
(SFC, 5/5/00, p.A18)
2000 May 10, Tamil rebels attacked
army posts on three fronts near Jaffna after the government rejected an
offer to allow 40,000 troops to withdraw.
(WSJ, 5/11/00, p.A1)
2000 May 12, Some Tamil Tiger
rebels rolled into Jaffna and forced government troops to retreat.
(SFC, 5/13/00, p.A9)
2000 May 22, Over 150 Tamil rebels
were killed over 2 days of fighting for control in Jaffna. Norwegian
Deputy Foreign Minister met with Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar
in Colombo in an attempt to broker a peace.
(SFC, 5/23/00, p.A12)
2000 Jun 5, The government claimed
that it had killed some 1,000 rebels in recent days. The censorship
over foreign media was lifted.
(WSJ, 6/6/00, p.A1)
2000 Jun 7, C.V. Gooneratne,
Minister for Industrial Development, was killed along with 20 other
people on War Heroes Day by a suicide bomber near Colombo. Gooneratne’s
wife died the next day and the toll climbed to 23.
(SFC, 6/8/00, p.A12)(SFC, 6/9/00, p.A18)
2000 Jun 14, A suicide bomber
killed himself and 2 civilians when he rammed a bus with 25 sick air
force soldiers. None of the troops were hurt.
(SFC, 6/15/00, p.A16)
2000 Jun 26, It was reported that
at least 500 civilians had died in fighting since March.
(WSJ, 6/26/00, p.A1)
2000 Jun 30, The Supreme Court
threw out the government’s news censorship system.
(SFC, 7/1/00, p.A13)
2000 Jul 4, The government
reimposed censorship on local media and foreign journalists reporting
on the civil war.
(SFC, 7/5/00, p.A4)
2000 Jul 6, The military reported
50 guerrillas killed in commando attacks on northern Tamil bases. Tamil
rebels reported 35 dead.
(SFC, 7/7/00, p.D6)
2000 Aug 3, The government
presented rebels with a new constitution that offered autonomy to
minority Tamils. Ramil Wickremesinghe, opposition United National Party
leader, rejected the offer.
(SFC, 8/4/00, p.D3)(SFC, 8/5/00, p.A11)
2000 Sep 3, The government began
“Operation Sunrise” against rebels in the Jaffna Peninsula.
(SFC, 9/5/00, p.A12)
2000 Sep 4, The government
“Operation Sunrise” left some 144 government soldiers and over 230
rebels dead along with some 766 wounded.
(SFC, 9/5/00, p.A12)
2000 Sep 10, Government forces
destroyed 14 Tamil Tiger bunkers in Jaffna. 12 soldiers and 70
guerrillas were killed.
(SFC, 9/11/00, p.B8)
2000 Sep 17, Government troops
captured Chavakachcheri, 6 miles east of Jaffna. 4 soldiers and 1
officer were reported killed.
(SFC, 9/18/00, p.A9)
2000 Oct 2, A suspected suicide
bomber killed at least 19 people at a political rally.
(WSJ, 10/3/00, p.A1)
2000 Oct 5, A suicide explosion
near an election rally left 13 people dead in Medawachchiya.
(SFC, 10/6/00, p.D4)
2000 Oct 10, At least 5 people
were killed in violence during parliamentary elections. Kumaratunga’s
People’s Alliance led the voting over the United National Party with
107 seats to 89 in the 225-seat legislature.
(WSJ, 10/11/00, p.A1)(SFC, 10/12/00, p.A16)(SFC,
10/13/00, p.D3)
2000 Oct 10, Sirimavo
Bandaranaike, the 1st woman in the world to serve as a prime minister,
died at age 84 just after voting in elections.
(SFC, 10/11/00, p.A24)
2000 Oct 19, A suicide bomber
killed himself, 2 other people and injured 21 in Colombo after police
challenged him near the Town Hall.
(SFC, 10/19/00, p.C10)(SFC, 10/20/00, p.a16)
2000 Oct 23, Rebels launched an
attack against the navy base at Trincomalee. The military said 24
combatants died including 18 rebels.
(WSJ, 10/24/00, p.A1)
2000 Oct 25, In Sri Lanka some
3000 Sinhala villagers in Bindunuwewa attacked a Tamil rebel child
rehabilitation center and killed 26 ex-fighters (14-25). They were
angered when the child soldiers took hostage a Sinhalese officer.
(SFC, 10/26/00, p.D8)(Econ, 7/18/09, p.40)
2000 Nov 23, In Sri Lanka rebel
mortar shells killed 2 children at the Al-Manar school in Mutur.
(SFC, 11/24/00, p.D8)
2000 Nov 27, The Tamil Tiger
rebels called for unconditional peace talks along with a cease-fire.
(SFC, 11/28/00, p.A18)(WSJ, 11/28/00, p.A1)
2000 Dec 16, Government troops
stage an offensive against rebels in the northern Jaffna Peninsula. 12
soldiers were killed along with 26 rebels.
(SSFC, 12/17/00, p.D9)
2000 Dec 19, Government soldiers
detained 8 Tamil civilians. Their bodies were later found in a mass
grave.
(WSJ, 12/27/00, p.A1)
2000 Dec 21, In Sri Lanka Tamil
rebels announced a unilateral month-long cease-fire with hopes of
resuming peace talks. Sri Lanka launched a new offensive just hours
following the rebel cease-fire.
(SFC, 12/22/00, p.A22)(WSJ, 12/22/00, p.A1)
2000 Dec 24, Government forces
raided a rebel camp in Navatkuli and killed 18, including 14 girl
soldiers.
(SFC, 12/25/00, p.A16)
2000 Dec 26, A cyclone hit the
northeast and killed 8 people.
(SFC, 12/29/00, p.B5)
2001 Jan 4, The defense ministry
announced that the civil war left 3,753 people dead in 2000, including
87 civilians.
(SFC, 1/5/01, p.D2)
2001 Jan 16, A government
offensive left 41 people dead including 22 rebels and 18 soldiers.
(SFC, 1/17/01, p.A11)
2001 Feb 22, Rebels extended a
unilateral cease-fire and said they wanted peace talks.
(SFC, 2/23/01, p.A20)
2001 Apr 3, Sri Lanka agreed to
open peace talks with Tamil rebels following diplomatic initiative by
Norway.
(WSJ, 4/4/01, p.A1)
2001 Apr 23, Tamil Tiger rebels
decided to end their unilateral cease-fire.
(SFC, 4/24/01, p.A12)
2001 Apr 25, Sri Lanka soldiers
attacked rebel positions and 32 were killed with 180 wounded. Rebels
lost 75 fighters with 300 wounded.
(SFC, 4/26/01, p.A14)
2001 Apr 26, Sri Lanka soldiers
pushed rebels back near Eluthumadduval. 87 soldiers were killed with
382 wounded. The army said 110 rebels were killed with 300 wounded.
(SFC, 4/27/01, p.D4)
2001 cApr 29, Sri Lanka appealed
for peace talks following bloody battles and retreats in the north.
(WSJ, 4/30/01, p.A1)
2001 Jun 4, Anti-terrorist
commandos killed 14 Tamil Tiger rebels trying to infiltrate the Ampara
district.
(SFC, 6/5/01, p.A14)
2001 Jul 2, Government jets were
sent against rebel bases near Jaffna.
(WSJ, 7/3/01, p.A1)
2001 Jul 10, Pres. Kumaratunga
suspended parliament.
(WSJ, 7/12/01, p.A1)
2001 Jul 20, In Sri Lanka
thousands of demonstrators were blocked from marching into the capital
to protest the suspension of parliament by Pres. Kumaratunga. 2 people
were killed.
(SFC, 7/20/01, p.D4)(WSJ, 7/20/01, p.A1)
2001 Jul 23, Tamil separatists
attack an air base, damaged a number of planes and shut down the
nation’s only int’l. airport. 7 soldiers and 8 guerrillas were killed.
3 jetliners and 8 warplanes were blown up in a suicide attack by 13
rebels.
(WSJ, 7/24/01, p.A1)(WSJ, 7/25/01, p.A1)(SFC,
7/24/01, p.A12)
2001 Aug 21, A referendum on a new
constitution was scheduled. On Aug 7 Pres. Kumaratunga postponed
it to Oct 18.
(WSJ, 7/12/01, p.A1)
2001 Sep 16, Tamil rebels in about
20 boats attacked a ship with 1,200 Sri Lankan soldiers and killed at
least 11. 12 soldiers were missing and 15 rebels were reported killed.
(SFC, 9/17/01, p.A18)
2001 Oct 10, Pres. Kumaratunga
dissolved parliament and set elections for Dec 5 after defections left
her coalition in the minority.
(WSJ, 10/11/01, p.A1)
2001 Oct 29, A suicide bomber blew
himself up after being stopped by police in Colombo. 2 others were
killed and 18 injured.
(WSJ, 10/30/01, p.A1)
2001 Oct 29, Tamil Tiger rebels
attacked a fuel ship with explosive-packed boats. 4 rebels died along
with 3 people aboard the ship. The M.V. Silk Pride, carrying 660 tons
of fuel, exploded and sank.
(SFC, 11/1/01, p.C7)
2001 Dec 4, In Sri Lanka the death
toll reached 45, since Oct 21, as elections began for a new 225-seat
Parliament. Poll violence killed 10 and an army blockade kept some
130,000 minority Tamils from casting ballots. The opposition United
National Party won.
(SFC, 12/5/01, p.A7)(WSJ, 12/6/01, p.A1)(SFC,
12/8/01, p.A6)
2001 Dec 7, Pres. Kumaratunga
called on Ranil Wickremesinghe, head of the United National Party, to
form a government. The UNP promised to pursue peace talks with Tamil
rebels.
(SFC, 12/8/01, p.A6)
2001 Dec 19, Rebels declared a
one-month truce.
(WSJ, 12/20/01, p.A1)
2001 Dec 23, Sri Lanka's Premier
traveled to India to press for greater involvement in peace talks with
the Tamil rebels.
(WSJ, 12/24/01, p.A1)
2002 Feb 21, Sri Lanka approved a
Norwegian long-term cease-fire plan already approved by Tamil Tiger
rebels.
(SFC, 2/22/02, p.A13)
2002 Feb 22, Sri Lanka and Tamil
Tiger rebels signed a Norwegian long-term cease-fire plan. The death
toll stood at more than 65,000 when the cease-fire was signed.
(SFC, 2/23/02, p.A9)(AP, 7/3/06)
2002 Apr 10, Rebel leader
Velupillai Prabhakaran made his 1st public appearance in 15 years and
pledged his commitment to peace talks along with the goal of an
independent Tamil state. The 18-year civil war had already left 65,000
dead.
(SFC, 4/11/02, p.A11)(WSJ, 4/11/02, p.A1)
2002 Sep 9, Tens of thousands of
Sri Lankans rallied in the capital Colombo in a show of support for
peace talks with separatist Tamil Tiger rebels aimed at ending one of
Asia's longest-running wars.
(Reuters, 9/9/02)
2002 Sep 16, Sri Lanka's
government and Tamil Tiger rebels began peace talks brokered by Norway
in Thailand.
(Reuters, 9/16/02)(SFC, 9/16/02, p.A7)(WSJ, 9/17/02,
p.A1)
2002 Sep 28, Sri Lanka and Tamil
Tiger rebels exchanged prisoners of war as part of the ongoing peace
process, and the rebels claimed they had no more prisoners in custody.
(AP, 9/28/02)
2002 Oct 31, Velupillai
Prabhakaran, the reclusive leader of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger
guerrillas, was sentenced in absentia to 200 years' jail, as government
and rebel officials began talks in Thailand to try to end 19 years of
war.
(Reuters, 10/31/02)
2002 Nov 27, Velupillai
Prabhakaran, leader of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers, said he was willing to
settle for regional autonomy.
(AP, 11/27/02)
2003 Feb 7, Three Tamil Tiger
rebels blew up their boat, killing themselves, after they were found
trying to smuggle an anti-aircraft gun and hundreds of rounds of
ammunition into Sri Lanka.
(AP, 2/7/03)
2003 Mar 10, The Sri Lankan
navy exchanged fire with a Tamil Tiger boat off the northern coast,
sinking the rebel vessel and likely killing all 10 on board.
(AP, 3/10/03)
2003 Mar 20, A suspected Tamil
Tiger rebel boat attacked and sank a vessel carrying Chinese fishermen
off eastern Sri Lanka, killing 17 people on board.
(AP, 3/21/03)
2003 Apr 26, In Sri Lanka
Bastiampillai Deogupillai (86), a former bishop of the troubled
northern city of Jaffna, has died. Deogupillai had aided tens of
thousands of people during Sri Lanka's 19-year civil war.
(AP, 4/27/03)
2003 May 17, In south-central Sri
Lanka flash floods and landslides killed at least 300 people and drove
some 150,000 people from their homes.
(WSJ, 5/19/03, p.A1)(AP, 5/21/03)
2003 Jun 9, Japan pledged $1
billion in aid to help rebuild war-torn Sri Lanka as a major donor
conference opened in Tokyo. $2 billion in aid was pledged but without
the participation of the country's Tamil rebels.
(AP, 6/9/03)
2003 Jun 15, Suspected Tamil Tiger
rebels killed a Tamil politician opposed to them, fueling tensions a
day after the murder of another politician and an ocean battle between
government and rebels forces.
(AP, 6/15/03)
2003 Sep 17, In Sri Lanka 19
million people shared space with about 3,000 wild elephants. As forests
dwindled the huge beasts entered villages to forage in garbage dumps
for food.
(AP, 9/17/03)
2003 Oct 3, In Sri Lanka the US
Embassy said it has re-designated the Tamil Tigers as a terrorist
organization, despite an ongoing peace process between the Sri Lankan
government and the rebels.
(AP, 10/4/03)
2003 Nov 4, Sri Lanka's Pres.
Kumaratunga suspended Parliament and deployed troops around the capital
after firing three key cabinet ministers who were trying to coax Tamil
rebels back into talks to end a 20-year civil war. Her PM and arch foe,
Ranil Wickremessinghe, was in Washington to confer with Pres. Bush.
(AP, 11/4/03)(WSJ, 11/6/03, p.A1)(SFC, 11/7/03, p.A3)
2003 Nov 5, In Sri Lanka Pres.
Kumaratunga declared a state of emergency.
(Econ, 11/8/03, p.41)
2003 Sri Lanka’s population was
about 19 million.
(WSJ, 7/13/99, p.B1)(SSFC, 11/9/03, p.A12)
2004 Feb 7, Sri Lanka's president
dissolved parliament, paving the way for elections nearly three years
ahead of schedule.
(AP, 2/8/04)
2004 Feb 11, Sri Lanka's president
fired 39 ministers and deputy ministers from the caretaker government
headed by her rival.
(AP, 2/11/04)
2004 Mar 30, In Sri Lanka gunmen
stormed the home of a Tamil parliamentary candidate who was allied to a
renegade rebel leader, killing the candidate and one of his relatives.
(AP, 3/30/04)
2004 Mar, In Sri Lanka eastern
regional commander Vinayagamoorthy Muraleetharan, aka Karuna, split
with Liberation Tigers in order to establish his own administration.
(SFC, 4/10/04, p.A8)
2004 Apr 2, In Sri Lanka Pres.
Kumaratunga's political alliance won the most seats in parliamentary
elections, indicating deep popular support for its tough stance toward
Tamil Tiger rebels.
(AP, 4/3/04)(WSJ, 4/5/04, p.A1)
2004 Apr 5, In Sri Lanka Pres.
Kumaratunga appointed Mahinda Rajapakse as PM.
(SFC, 4/6/04, p.A2)
2004 Apr 6, With Tamil Tiger
rebels threatening to restart the civil war, Sri Lanka's newly
installed PM called on neighboring India to help revive the island's
faltering peace process.
(AP, 4/6/04)
2004 Apr 9, Rival Tamil Tiger
guerrilla factions fought with mortars and guns, in a battle that
killed at least nine people, wounded 20.
(AP, 4/9/04)
2004 Apr 24, In Sri Lanka
President Chandrika Kumaratunga's alliance won a key regional election,
nearly 3 weeks after it emerged as the single largest party in
parliamentary polls.
(AP, 4/25/04)
2004 May 28, Malaysia issued a
detention order for Buhary Syed Abu Tahir, a Sri Lankan businessman, on
charges that in 2002 he brought 7 Libyan technicians to Malaysia to be
trained to operate machines to produce centrifuge parts for Libya’s
nuclear weapons program. Tahir was a key associate of Abdul Qadeer
Khan, former head of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program.
(WSJ, 6/4/04, p.A10)
2004 Jul 7, In Sri Lanka a Tamil
Tiger suicide bomber detonated explosives at a police station, killing
herself and 4 officers.
(AP, 7/7/04)
2004 Jul 12, A Sri Lankan woman
was beheaded in the Saudi capital for murdering her employer. Bader
el-Nisaa Mibari had been convicted of killing Sara bint Mohammed
al-Haqeel, a Saudi woman, after trying to rob her with the help a male
companion.
(AP, 7/12/04)
2004 Jul 24, Sri Lanka's Tamil
Tiger rebels killed eight rivals in the worst outbreak of violence in
three months.
(AP, 7/25/04)
2004 Nov 27, Sri Lanka's Tamil
Tiger rebels threatened to resume a two-decade war for self-rule if the
government does not agree to discuss their demands soon.
(AP, 11/27/04)
2004 Dec 26, The world's most
powerful earthquake in 40 years triggered massive tidal waves that
slammed into villages and seaside resorts across southern and southeast
Asia. The initial estimated death toll of 9,000 soon rose to some
230,000 people in 14 countries. The magnitude 9.0 earthquake was the
world's fifth-largest since 1900 and the largest since a 9.2 temblor
hit Prince William Sound Alaska in 1964. The epicenter was located 155
miles south-southeast of Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province on
Sumatra, and six miles under the seabed of the Indian Ocean. In
Indonesia at least 166,320 people were killed.
Bangladesh reported 2 killed; India: at least 9,691 deaths: thousands
were missing and possibly dead in India's remote Andaman and Nicobar
Islands. Indonesia: At least 101,318 people were killed on Sumatra
island and small islands off its coast. Kenya reported 1 killed.
Malaysia: At least 68 people, including an unknown number of foreign
tourists, were dead. Myanmar: At least 90 people were killed. Sri
Lanka: At least 30,680 were killed in government and rebel controlled
areas. The Maldives, an archipelago of 1,190 low-lying coral islands
and a tiny population of 280,000, at least 82 people were killed and
missing. At least 42 islands were flattened in the low-lying atoll
nation. Somalia: At least 298 were killed. Tanzania: At least 10
killed. Thailand: The confirmed death toll for Thailand reached 5,322,
but many suspected Myanmar migrants were not counted.
(SFC, 12/28/04, p.A1)(AP, 12/30/04)(SSFC, 1/2/05,
p.A12)(AP, 1/7/05)(Econ, 1/22/05, p.41)(AP, 12/25/09)
2005 Feb 7, In Sri Lanka E.
Koushalyan, the LTTE's political wing leader for the eastern province,
was killed in an ambush along with four other senior rebels and former
Tamil legislator Chandra Nehru. Military officials said they suspected
the attack was carried out by a breakaway faction of the Tamil Tigers
led by the former number two in the leadership, known as Karuna.
(AP, 2/8/05)(Econ, 2/26/05, p.40)
2005 Apr 15, In Sri Lanka at least
five renegade Tamil Tiger rebels were killed in a fresh bout of
violence in the restive northeast.
(Reuters, 4/15/05)
2005 Apr 25, Pakistan said the
start of a free trade agreement with Sri Lanka in June is expected to
double business between the 2 countries to almost 300 million dollars
in the first year.
(AP, 4/25/05)
2005 Apr 27, In northwestern Sri
Lanka an intercity passenger train collided with a bus that tried to
dash through a railroad crossing, killing 35 people.
(AP, 4/27/05)
2005 Apr 28, Dharmeratnam Sivaram
(46), a top Tamil journalist whose articles favored the mainstream
Tamil rebels over a breakaway faction, was fatally shot hours after
being seized by attackers at a restaurant in Colombo.
(AP, 4/29/05)
2005 Apr 29, Sri Lanka's
government ordered a "full-scale investigation" into the slaying of a
senior Tamil journalist who was abducted overnight as he left a
restaurant.
(AP, 4/29/05)
2005 May 16, In Sri Lanka at least
one man was killed and four wounded in fresh violence, as international
aid donors tried to nudge the island's warring parties to revive peace
talks.
(AFP, 5/17/05)
2005 Jun 15, Sri Lanka's president
vowed to go ahead with a deal to share tsunami aid with the rebel Tamil
Tigers, despite a threat by a ruling coalition partner to leave the
government if she does not back down.
(AP, 6/15/05)
2005 Jun 16, Marxists lawmakers
quit Sri Lanka's governing coalition over the president's plan to share
tsunami relief with ethnic Tamil rebels.
(AP, 6/16/05)
2005 Jul 10, In Sri Lanka 4 Tiger
rebels were killed at their LTTE office in Trimcomalee, despite a
ceasefire. Violence in the area quickly escalated. The government
denied responsibility for the attack.
(AP, 7/14/05)
2005 Aug 12, In Sri Lanka foreign
minister Lakshman Kadirgamar (73), an ethnic Tamil, was shot in the
head and heart after finishing a swim at his home. Tamil Tiger rebels
denied involvement.
(AP, 8/13/05)
2005 Aug 13, Sri Lanka declared a
state of emergency and deployed troops to search for suspects Saturday
after the assassination of the foreign minister.
(AP, 8/13/05)
2005 Aug 14, Security forces
arrested 12 minority Tamils before dawn in connection with the
assassination of Sri Lanka's foreign minister, and a Tamil lawmaker
said only a peace deal could stop such killings in a country many fear
is sliding back to war.
(AP, 8/14/05)
2005 Aug 22, The brother of Sri
Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga was sworn in as foreign minister
to replace Lakshman Kadirgamar, assassinated by suspected rebels.
(AP, 8/22/05)
2005 Aug 26, Sri Lanka's Supreme
Court ruled that President Chandrika Kumaratunga's final term expires
in December, ending her controversial 11-year reign and clearing the
way for a vote before November 21.
(AP, 8/26/05)
2005 Aug 29, In Sri Lanka
attackers on a bicycle hurled grenades at a Tamil-language newspaper
office in the capital of Colombo, killing a security guard.
(AP, 8/29/05)
2005 Sep 8, Sri Lanka's Tamil
Tiger guerrillas ambushed a police patrol in the island's restive
northeast, killing two constables and wounding six.
(AFP, 9/8/05)
2005 Oct 24, Sri Lanka's president
and her main political rival agreed for the first time to forge a
bipartisan approach to the island's peace process aimed at ending
decades of ethnic bloodshed.
(AP, 10/25/05)
2005 Nov 4, Victor Hettigoda, a
wealthy Sri Lankan presidential candidate, said he will use his
personal fortune to buy a cow for every home if he is elected in the
Nov 17 elections.
(AP, 11/7/05)
2005 Nov 12, In Dhaka, Bangladesh,
a 2-day summit aimed to alleviate poverty and boost trade and
cooperation among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Leaders called for greater cooperation within
the region to deal with the aftermath of disasters like the Kashmir
earthquake and last year's devastating tsunami.
(AFP, 11/12/05)
2005 Nov 14, Sri Lanka awarded
long-term resident and British science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke
its highest civilian award for his contributions to science and
technology and his commitment to his adopted country.
(AP, 11/14/05)
2005 Nov 17, In Sri Lanka
well-armed rebels and sporadic explosions blocked thousands of Sri
Lankans from voting for a new president to help the country end decades
of civil war and recover from last year's devastating tsunami.
Ex-Premier Wickremesinghe, favoring Tamil rebel talks, faced Premier
Rajapakse, a skeptic on peace.
(AP, 11/17/05)(WSJ, 11/17/05, p.A1)
2005 Nov 18, An election official
said PM Mahinda Rajapakse, a hard-liner toward Tamil rebels, won Sri
Lanka's presidential election by a narrow margin. Suspected separatist
rebels in Akkaraipattu tossed grenades into a Mosque during morning
prayers, killing at least four Muslim worshippers. Rajapakse later
appointed his 3 brothers to run important ministries.
(AP, 11/18/05)(Econ, 6/9/07, p.26)
2005 Dec 4, In Sri Lanka a land
mine killed 6 Sri Lankan soldiers with 3 wounded in a northern area
that is home to most of the country's Tamil minority. A government
soldier near the northern city of Jaffna. The military blamed the Tamil
Tiger rebels for attacks.
(AP, 12/04/05)(AP, 12/05/05)
2005 Dec 6, In Sri Lanka a land
mine blast killed 6 soldiers in the northern city of Jaffna.
(AP, 12/06/05)
2005 Dec 11, Japanese peace envoy
Yasushi Akashi invited Sri Lanka and Tamil Tiger rebels to meet in
Japan for talks to save their ceasefire, which is threatened with
collapse after 34 people were killed in fresh violence.
(AP, 12/11/05)
2005 Dec 23, Powerful land mine
blasts blew up a bus carrying Sri Lankan sailors, killing 15 and
injuring at least 15 others. Tamil separatist rebels were suspected in
the attack amid an escalation of violence that is threatening to return
the South Asian nation to civil war.
(AFP, 12/23/05)
2005 Dec 25, In Sri Lanka gunmen
shot and killed Joseph Pararajasingham (71), a pro-rebel legislator
during midnight Christmas Mass. He represented the Tamil National
Alliance, a proxy party of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the
rebel group that wants to create a homeland for Sri Lanka's 3.2 million
ethnic Tamil minority.
(AP, 12/25/05)
2005 Dec 27, In Sri Lanka a land
mine killed at least 10 soldiers on the northern Jaffna peninsula. A
police officer patrolling the eastern town of Kalmunai was killed.
Tiger rebels were blamed.
(SFC, 12/28/05, p.A5)
2005 Dec 31, In Sri Lanka police
and soldiers cordoned off five districts in Colombo and detained more
than 900 people during door-to-door searches to track down Tamil Tiger
rebels.
(AP, 12/31/05)
2005 The EU awarded Sri Lanka a
concession known as “GSP Plus” to help the country deal with the 2004
tsunami. The preferential tariff treatments were due to expire in 2008.
(Econ, 8/16/08, p.42)
2006 Jan 2, In Sri Lanka 5
civilians suspected of working for separatist rebels were allegedly
killed when their grenades exploded before they could hurl them at
troops. Forensic tests showed that the victims had been shot dead. The
incident referred to as Trincomalee massacre happened when 5 minority
Sri Lankan Tamil high school students playing by the beach were briefly
detained and then shot dead.
(AP, 1/3/06)(AP,
2/14/06)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Trincomalee_massacre)
2006 Jan 7, In Sri Lanka an
explosives-rigged fishing boat rammed a Sri Lankan navy gunboat,
killing 13 of 15 sailors in a rebel suicide attack.
(AP, 1/7/06)(SSFC, 1/8/06, p.A3)
2006 Jan 12, In Sri Lanka at least
9 sailors died when a bus they were traveling on was blown up by a mine.
(Econ, 1/14/06, p.47)
2006 Jan 17, Suspected Tiger
rebels set off two more mines and fought a gunbattle with troops
leaving 3 people dead. The United Nations urged talks and peace-broker
Norway made a fresh bid to pull Sri Lanka back from the brink of war.
(AP, 1/17/06)
2006 Jan 19, Suspected Tamil Tiger
rebels exploded anti-personnel mines twice in eastern Sri Lanka,
killing four people and injuring 25 others.
(AP, 1/19/06)
2006 Jan 25, Sri Lanka's president
and the leader of Tamil Tiger rebels agreed on to resume peace talks.
(AP, 1/25/06)
2006 Jan 26, In Sri Lanka a rocket
propelled grenade shot at rebel vehicles in the east of the island
killed a rebel commander. Rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
said government forces fired the grenade a day after a deal to end a
three-year deadlock in talks.
(AFP, 1/27/06)
2006 Feb 7, Chandrika Kumaratunga,
Sri Lanka's former president (1994-2005), returned her expensive
retirement gift, a 1.5 acre (0.68 hectare) area of land near the
national parliament to the state, after legal action was filed against
her.
(AFP, 2/8/06)
2006 Feb 11, In Sri Lanka a
suspected separatist rebel boat carrying explosives blew up, apparently
killing at least four men on board.
(AP, 2/12/06)
2006 Mar 4, Sri Lanka said it will
put the clock back by half an hour and revert to its original time
after a 10-year experiment that largely failed to save energy. "The
change will take place from the Tamil and Sinhala New Year on April 13."
(AFP, 3/4/06)
2006 Mar 4, An armed group
attacked a Tamil Tiger rebel checkpoint in eastern Sri Lanka, killing
two guerrillas in what the rebels called a "serious" violation of the
country's cease-fire.
(AP, 3/4/06)
2006 Mar 16, In Sri Lanka
thousands of civil servants demanding higher salaries marched in
Colombo, part of a daylong nationwide strike that paralyzed the
government.
(AP, 3/16/06)
2006 Mar 25, Suspected Tamil
Tigers blew up their fishing boat to avoid capture by a navy patrol off
the west coast of Sri Lanka, leaving six rebels dead and eight sailors
missing.
(AP, 3/26/06)
2006 Mar 31, In Sri Lanka the
ruling coalition won an overwhelming victory in local elections,
according to results released by the government, a result seen as an
endorsement of the president's negotiations with Tamil Tiger rebels.
(AP, 3/31/06)
2006 Apr 11, In northeast Sri
Lanka a mine exploded and killed 10 sailors in a military bus.
(SFC, 4/12/06, p.A3)
2006 Apr 12, In northeastern Sri
Lanka 2 explosions in a market killed 17 people in the town of
Trincomalee and cast a cloud over upcoming peace talks.
(AP, 4/13/06)(AFP, 4/29/06)
2006 Apr 15, Suspected rebels
detonated 2 mines in Sri Lanka, killing 7 security personnel as both
the government and the rebels cast fresh doubts over plans to resume
truce talks.
(AP, 4/15/06)
2006 Apr 17, In northern Sri Lanka
land mines blasts in killed 4 soldiers and 2 Tamil Tiger rebels,
raising the death toll from a week of bloody unrest to at least 50.
(AP, 4/17/06)
2006 Apr 20, Tamil Tiger rebels
announced they were indefinitely postponing talks aimed at saving a
truce with the Sri Lankan government as 4 more people were killed in
fresh violence.
(AFP, 4/20/06)
2006 Apr 24, Sri Lanka's military
accused ethnic Tamil minority rebels of killing six Sinhalese rice
farmers working in their fields to provoke ethnic rioting.
(AP, 4/24/06)
2006 Apr 25, A pregnant suicide
bomber blew herself up in front of a car carrying Sri Lanka's
highest-ranking general, killing 8 people and badly injuring the top
officer.
(AP, 4/28/06)
2006 Apr 26, In Sri Lanka
escalating violence between government forces and Tamil rebels left at
least 15 civilians dead and 15,000 Tamil villagers fleeing for their
lives.
(AFP, 4/26/06)
2006 Apr 27, In Sri Lanka rebels
said some 40,000 civilians fled homes in northeastern Sri Lanka to
escape government airstrikes on Tamil rebel areas in recent days that
have killed at least a dozen people. In northern Sri Lanka mine attacks
killed five military personnel and wounded another five. Police found
five headless corpses near Colombo.
(AP, 4/27/06)
2006 Apr 30, In eastern Sri Lanka
at least 18 rebels were killed and many wounded when Tamil Tiger
guerrillas launched a major attack against a breakaway faction.
(AP, 4/30/06)
2006 May 2, Sri Lanka’s President
Mahinda Rajapakse called for immediate peace talks with Tamil Tiger
rebels, saying his tiny tropical island had seen enough violence.
Gunmen stormed the offices of the Uthayan newspaper in Jaffna, 400
kilometers north of the capital Colombo, killing a manager and another
employee. The next day the government said the murders were timed to
embarrass it as Sri Lanka hosted UNESCO World Press Freedom Day
celebrations, while the rebel Tamil Tigers blamed government forces for
the attack.
(AP, 5/2/06)(AFP, 5/3/06)
2006 May 5, Sri Lanka's navy and
air force hit Tamil Tiger targets on land and sea in the island's
northwest, while a policeman died in a fragmentation mine attack,
further straining a battered 2002 ceasefire.
(Reuters, 5/5/06)
2006 May 7, In Sri Lanka a senior
Japanese envoy began talks with government officials to try to save the
peace process. Tamil rebels said troops abducted 8 men in the island's
north.
(AP, 5/7/06)
2006 May 11, Tamil Tiger rebels
sank two Sri Lankan navy gunboats in sea battles and attacked a ferry
transporting 700 soldiers. The military hit back with air strikes. At
least 50 rebels were killed and 17 Sri Lankan sailors were missing.
(AFP, 5/11/06)(WSJ, 5/12/06, p.A1)
2006 May 13, Tamil rebels
threatened to resume war if they are denied access to the sea and
claimed government naval forces killed eight Tamil civilians in an
attack in northern Sri Lanka.
(AP, 5/14/06)
2006 May 17, In Sri Lanka a rebel
sniper shot dead a soldier at a de facto front line while two civilians
were killed elsewhere.
(AFP, 5/18/06)
2006 May 18, Sri Lanka asked donor
nations to nudge Tamil Tigers to the table. EU officials agreed in
principle to blacklist Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels as a "terrorist"
group, in a move the rebels said would only lead to war in the country.
(AFP, 5/18/06)(AFP, 5/19/06)
2006 May 21, In Sri Lanka 2
soldiers were killed and two others wounded in two separate Claymore
mine attacks in the northeastern Trincomalee district and the northern
district of Vavuniya. Figures maintained by the Scandinavian truce
monitoring mission showed that 510 people were killed in Sri Lanka's
embattled regions since December.
(AFP, 5/21/06)
2006 May 24, In Sri Lanka 3
security personnel died in a mine blast as a Norwegian peace envoy
arrived to salvage a collapsing ceasefire.
(AFP, 5/24/06)
2006 May 28, Sri Lankan police
detained the drivers of 18 vehicles trying to smuggle explosives across
a de facto frontier post into the government-controlled part of the
Jaffna peninsula.
(AFP, 5/28/06)
2006 May 29, Sri Lanka's Tamil
Tiger rebels agreed to more talks to shore up the implementation of a
collapsing ceasefire as the EU moved to ban them as a terrorist group.
(AFP, 5/29/06)
2006 Jun 1, The US pledged
"tangible military cooperation" with embattled Sri Lanka, but warned
the government here against a return to war with Tamil Tiger rebels.
(AFP, 6/1/06)
2006 Jun 6, Suspected Tamil rebels
exploded bombs outside a naval base near Sri Lanka's capital, wounding
two people while three others were killed in a similar attack elsewhere.
(AFP, 6/6/06)
2006 Jun 7, A mine explosion in
northeast Sri Lankan killed 8 civilians and wounded 14. Tamil Tiger
rebels said the attack was carried out by government troops who had
infiltrated an area held by the guerrillas.
(AFP, 6/7/06)
2006 Jun 10, At least five people
were shot dead in Sri Lanka's restive northeast port district of
Trincomalee and the main city of Colombo.
(AFP, 6/11/06)
2006 Jun 13, In southern Sri Lanka
at least 42 passengers were injured when two trains collided.
(AP, 6/13/06)
2006 Jun 15, In northern Sri Lanka
a powerful land mine ripped through a packed bus, killing at least 64
people, including 15 school children in the worst act of violence since
a 2002 cease-fire. Sri Lanka's air force responded by bombing
rebel-held areas in the northeast.
(AP, 6/15/06)(SFC, 6/15/06, p.A3)
2006 Jun 16, Sri Lanka's air force
pounded Tamil Tiger rebel positions for a second day in retaliation for
a bus bombing that killed 64 people.
(AP, 6/16/06)
2006 Jun 17, Tamil Tiger rebels
stormed a village in boats, firing grenade launchers at a police
station near a navy base at the islet of Mannar. Military helicopters
fired on the boats. Tiger rebels said they had killed 12 soldiers; the
navy said three sailors were killed and eight were missing. The
military said up to 30 rebels were killed in the fighting, but rebels
acknowledged only two wounded. At least 52 people were killed as heavy
sea and land battles erupted while Tamil Tiger rebels warned that the
island would plunge in a "fatal war" if the military kept up air
strikes. Sri Lankan troops stormed a church in Pesalai, a village north
of Mannar, where some 200 Tamil civilians were seeking shelter,
shooting and throwing grenades. The assault killed 5 people and injured
47.
(AFP, 6/17/06)(AP, 6/18/06)(SSFC, 6/18/06, p.A23)
2006 Jun 18, In northern Sri Lanka
a mine blast blamed on Tamil Tigers rebels killed 3 police.
(AP, 6/18/06)
2006 Jun 19, Sri Lanka invited
Tamil Tiger rebels to negotiate peace and save their collapsing
ceasefire as 2 more soldiers were killed in a weekend of violence that
left over 50 people dead.
(AP, 6/19/06)
2006 Jun 24, Sri Lanka's Tamil
Tigers extended a deadline for EU truce monitors to withdraw from the
island, while the army accused the rebels of shooting dead 2 soldiers
in the northwest.
(Reuters, 6/24/06)
2006 Jun 26, In Sri Lanka a
suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up next to a car carrying
Maj. Gen. Parami Kulatunga, the country's third-highest-ranking
military officer, killing the officer and three others.
(AP, 6/26/06)(AP, 1/8/08)
2006 Jun 27, Renegade Tamil
militants killed at least four members of the Tamil Tiger rebel group
in eastern Sri Lanka.
(AP, 6/27/06)
2006 Jul 2, Sri Lanka’s Tamil
Tigers, claiming they have just trained 6,000 civilians in armed
combat, accused the UN of exaggerating the number of child
fighters in the rebels' ranks. Police said Sampath Lakmal, a freelance
Sri Lankan journalist, has been gunned down near the capital Colombo.
(AFP, 7/2/06)(AP, 7/2/06)
2006 Jul 3, At least seven people
were killed and dozens wounded in three Claymore mine attacks carried
out by Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka's northern and eastern regions.
(AFP, 7/3/06)
2006 Jul 11, Four Tamil Tiger
rebels were killed when Sri Lanka's navy retaliated against an
attacking rebel boat in the sea off Northern Jaffna peninsula.
(AP, 7/11/06)
2006 Jul 14, Sri Lankan government
troops clashed with Tamil Tiger rebels in the worst fighting since a
cease-fire halted the civil war in 2002, leaving as many as 16 dead.
The military said 13 soldiers were missing.
(AP, 7/14/06)
2006 Jul 18, In northern Sri Lanka
a roadside bomb killed one person and wounded six others, including
four government soldiers.
(AP, 7/18/06)
2006 Jul 19, Sweden launched a
fresh effort to salvage Sri Lanka's troubled truce as ceasefire
monitors reported at least 900 people killed in a surge of ethnic
violence since December.
(AP, 7/19/06)
2006 Jul 25, Sri Lanka, which at
80,000 has the largest contingent of expatriate workers in Lebanon,
wants those trapped in the conflict to stay put and those who have fled
the bombings to return, a minister said.
(AFP, 7/25/06)
2006 Jul 26, Sri Lanka's military
carried out air attacks against suspected Tamil Tiger positions in
northeast Sri Lanka after the rebels allegedly blocked an irrigation
canal.
(AP, 7/26/06)
2006 Jul 29, Sri Lanka's air force
bombed Tamil Tiger rebel positions for a fourth day, killing at least 8
rebels and wounding 14.
(AP, 7/29/06)
2006 Jul 31, In northeastern Sri
Lanka heavy fighting over control of a water supply killed 35 Tamil
rebels and seven soldiers. A rebel leader declared the island nation's
four-year-old cease-fire over.
(AP, 7/31/06)
2006 Aug 1, A pro-rebel Web site
reported said Tamil Tiger rebels destroyed a Sri Lanka navy boat in a
battle near an eastern port killing 8 sailors. Navy spokesman Commander
D.K.P Dassanayake denied the report and said sailors destroyed three
rebel attack boats.
(AP, 8/1/06)
2006 Aug 2, Tamil rebels said they
had overrun four Sri Lankan army camps around the northeastern port of
Trincomalee. The Defense Ministry acknowledged that five soldiers were
killed in the attacks and claimed its forces killed 40 insurgents and
wounded 70 others.
(AP, 8/2/06)
2006 Aug 3, In Sri Lanka artillery
fire hit 4 schools being used as shelters from fighting raging between
government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels, killing at least 17 people in
the northeastern town of Muttur.
(AP, 8/3/06)(SFC, 8/4/06, p.A10)
2006 Aug 4, Sri Lankan troops
thwarted a Tamil Tiger rebel attack in northeastern Muttur, killing 35
insurgents. The Red Cross said 6,000 to 7,000 families were still
trying to flee Muttur. In 2008 a local rights group accused Colombo of
a major cover-up of the August 2006 killing of Action Against Hunger
(ACF) workers and for the first time named a list of suspects.
(AP, 8/5/06)(AP, 8/7/06)(AFP, 4/3/08)
2006 Aug 5, Sri Lankan soldiers
retook control of Muttur after six days of fighting Tamil rebels there,
and the military urged thousands of displaced civilians to return.
(AP, 8/5/06)
2006 Aug 6, Sri Lanka rejected
peace broker Norway's deal with Tamil Tiger rebels to lift a water
blockade at the root of the latest bloodshed that has claimed at least
425 lives.
(AFP, 8/6/06)
2006 Aug 7, In Sri Lanka 17
civilians working for a French aid agency were found slain execution
style in Muttur after fierce battles between rebels and the government
over water supplies. All but one were Tamils.
(AP, 8/7/06)(AP, 8/29/06)
2006 Aug 8, In Sri Lanka Tamil
rebels released water from a disputed reservoir, ending a 19-day
blockade that sparked some of the worst fighting between government
troops and guerrillas in four years. In Colombo a car bomb killed two
people, including a 3-year-old girl.
(AP, 8/8/06)
2006 Aug 10, The Sri Lankan
military attacked Tamil Tiger rebels from land and air, and the rebels
retaliated in heavy fighting that killed at least 13 combatants. A
Nordic cease-fire monitor warned that the situation was worsening.
(AP, 8/10/06)
2006 Aug 11, The Sri Lankan air
force bombed Tamil Tiger-held areas in the east. Tamil Tigers warned of
a humanitarian crisis after 42,000 people were displaced by a surge in
violence that has left Sri Lanka's truce in tatters, as fighting
erupted on two new fronts.
(AP, 8/11/06)(AFP, 8/11/06)
2006 Aug 12, Sri Lankan rebels
attacked a key naval base as they mounted a fierce push to retake a
northeastern peninsula considered the traditional home of the country's
ethnic Tamils. Sri Lankan war planes bombed Tiger rebel positions as
the fiercest fighting since a 2002 ceasefire left at least 127 people
dead. A Sri Lanka government spokesman said the Tamil Tiger rebels
offered to renew peace talks. Weeks of intense fighting brought Sri
Lanka close to resuming its civil war. Ketheesh Loganathan, a Tamil
senior peace official, was assassinated. He was deputy chief of the
secretariat which coordinated the government's side of a
Norway-brokered peace process.
(AP, 8/12/06)(AFP, 8/12/06)(AP, 8/13/06)
2006 Aug 13, Sri Lankan troops and
Tamil Tiger rebels fought ground battles and artillery duels as the
weekend death toll rose to 186. The rebels denied they were ready to
talk peace. At least 15 people died in fighting around the St. Philip
Neri Church in Allaiiddy, a predominantly Tamil village located on an
island just west of the Jaffna Peninsula. The island, like the
peninsula, is held by the government.
(AFP, 8/13/06)(AP, 8/14/06)
2006 Aug 14, Fighting in Sri
Lanka's north and east, and a bombing in the capital, left at least 50
people dead, including 43 schoolgirls killed in what the Tamil Tigers
charged was a government air raid on a children's home in rebel
territory. Hours later in Colombo, an auto rickshaw packed with
explosives blew up as a car carrying Pakistan's high commissioner,
Basir Ali Mohmand, passed along a crowded road. At least seven people
were killed, including four army commandos guarding the envoy.
(AP, 8/14/06)
2006 Aug 16, Sri Lankan war planes
bombed Tamil Tiger positions as troops hunted rebel infiltrators in
northern Jaffna peninsula after resisting a guerrilla advance.
(AFP, 8/16/06)
2006 Aug 17, Sri Lankan troops
beat back a fresh attempt by Tamil Tigers to overrun the main defenses
of the northern peninsula of Jaffna and killed at least 98 guerrillas.
At least six soldiers were killed and 60 wounded in the intense battle.
(AFP, 8/17/06)
2006 Aug 18, The UN said more than
41,000 people on Sri Lanka’s Jaffna peninsula, about 10 percent of its
population, were believed to have fled their homes and warned that
supplies in the area had reached "alarmingly low levels".
(AFP, 8/19/06)
2006 Aug 25, The UN food agency
said fighting between Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels and security
forces has forced at least 204,000 people from their homes in the
eastern and northern parts of the country. A food relief ship began
unloading in northern Sri Lanka to lift a two-week siege of the Jaffna
peninsula as fresh clashes left five rebels dead.
(AP, 8/25/06)(AFP, 8/25/06)
2006 Aug 26, In Sri Lanka police
found a large weapons cache hidden in a house on the outskirts of
Colombo, and arrested 17 people suspected of planning a major attack.
Sporadic fighting left 12 rebels killed and 20 injured during a battle
in the northeastern Batticaloa district. A bomb killed six Sri
Lankan soldiers and wounded 11 as they cleared up after fierce fighting
with Tamil Tiger rebels in the besieged northern Jaffna peninsula.
(AP, 8/26/06)(AFP, 8/27/06)
2006 Aug 28, In Sri Lanka at least
31 people were killed and another 105 wounded as security forces moved
to push back rebel artillery threatening a strategic port.
(AP, 8/28/06)
2006 Aug 31, Indian officials said
more than 11,000 Tamil refugees have fled to India since January to
escape renewed fighting between the Sri Lankan army and separatist
rebels and more are likely to come.
(AFP, 8/31/06)
2006 Aug, In Sri Lanka Tamil
rebels abducted 56 boys and girls during a 4-day period this month in
Batticaloa district. UNICEF figures showed that 5,666 children had been
abducted between a cease fire in 2002 and July 2006. The organization
speculated that only about a third of such cases were reported to them.
(SSFC, 9/17/06, p.A17,18)
2006 Sep 1, Sri Lanka's navy said
it sank 12 Tamil rebel boats overnight, including five suicide craft,
and killed as many as 100 rebel fighters during a fierce six-hour sea
battle off the country's northern coast.
(AP, 9/2/06)
2006 Sep 4, Sri Lanka President
Mahinda Rajapakse said security forces had captured Sampur, a key town
used by Tamil Tigers to target artillery at a major naval port.
Rajapakse urged the rebels to return to peace talks.
(AFP, 9/4/06)
2006 Sep 9, In northern Sri Lanka
at least 26 troops were killed and over 125 wounded in new fighting as
Tamil rebels resisted an army advance into guerrilla-held territory.
(AFP, 9/9/06)
2006 Sep 10, Officials said Sri
Lanka's military had lost 28 soldiers in 3 days of stiff artillery and
mortar attacks as it advanced slowly toward northern Tamil Tiger rebel
strongholds. The rebels accused Colombo of ignoring moves by Norway to
end the latest bloodshed.
(AFP, 9/10/06)
2006 Sep 11, Sri Lankan troops and
Tamil Tiger rebels exchanged mortar and artillery fire across their
northern front lines. The military said the death toll from five days
of heavy fighting rose to 148.
(AP, 9/11/06)
2006 Sep 17, Sri Lanka's Tamil
Tiger rebels accused government soldiers in concert with paramilitary
units of killing nearly 100 civilians in the island's embattled Jaffna
peninsula this month. Sri Lanka's navy gunboats and war planes bombed a
suspected Tamil Tiger arms ship.
(AFP, 9/17/06)
2006 Sep 18, In eastern Sri Lanka
the bodies of 11 Muslim men were found hacked to death. Tamil Tiger
rebels and government forces blamed each other for the massacre.
(AFP, 9/18/06)
2006 Sep 25, The Sri Lankan navy
said it had sunk 11 Tamil Tiger rebel ships loaded with troops and
weapons during a five-hour sea battle, killing around 70 separatists.
(AP, 9/25/06)
2006 Sep 27, The Sri Lanka
government revealed that Tamil Tigers have agreed to resume
face-to-face negotiations and end a seven-month deadlock in talks.
(AFP, 9/27/06)
2006 Sep 28, European cease-fire
monitors said at least 200 civilians have been killed in two months of
fighting between Sri Lankan soldiers and separatist Tamil rebels, and
both sides are to blame.
(AP, 9/28/06)
2006 Sep 29, In Sri Lanka war
planes bombed rebels and 8 people were killed in new violence. The UN
warned that fighting between troops and Tamil guerrillas had badly hit
tsunami reconstruction.
(AFP, 9/29/06)
2006 Oct 3, Sri Lanka's Tamil
Tiger rebels agreed to unconditional talks with the government but
warned they will pull out of a 2002 cease-fire if the government
persists with its military campaign.
(AP, 10/3/06)
2006 Oct 4, Sri Lanka's air force
bombed separatist rebel positions in the embattled north, a day after
the insurgents agreed to peace talks with the government.
(AP, 10/4/06)
2006 Oct 5, In Sri Lanka relatives
and aid workers said the K-faction, a feared militia on Sri Lanka's
volatile eastern coast, has abducted hundreds of men and boys, some as
young as 12, to fight in the country's civil war, with the government's
consent. The Karuna faction split from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam in 2004.
(AP, 10/5/06)
2006 Oct 6, In Sri Lanka heavy sea
and land battles erupted with the military reporting the recovery of 22
bodies of Tamil rebels after a Norwegian envoy failed to secure a deal
to re-launch peace talks. 49 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed in a raid
by theK-faction of rebels in eastern Sri Lanka. 5 of the splinter group
died in the fighting.
(AFP, 10/6/06)(AP, 10/7/06)
2006 Oct 11, In Sri Lanka 72 army
troops, including eight officers, were killed and 515 wounded in
fighting in the northern peninsula of Jaffna. The army claimed 200
rebels were killed, a figure dismissed by the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The Tigers said only 10 of its fighters were
killed. The government toll reached 129 in the country’s worst battle
since 2002.
(AP, 10/12/06)(WSJ, 10/13/06, p.A1)
2006 Oct 15, Sri Lanka's navy sank
a rebel boat loaded with arms along the west coast, killing at least
five Tamil Tiger separatists.
(AP, 10/15/06)
2006 Oct 16, In Sri Lanka Tamil
rebels rammed a truck packed with explosives into a convoy of military
buses, killing at least 103 people and wounding 150 more in one of the
deadliest insurgent attacks since the 2002 cease-fire.
(AFP, 10/16/06)
2006 Oct 17, Sri Lankan fighter
jets pounded two suspected Tamil Tiger bases and a camp.
(AP, 10/17/06)
2006 Oct 18, Suspected Tamil Tiger
rebels posing as fishermen blew up two boats in a suicide ambush on a
Sri Lankan naval base in Galle, killing 2 sailors. The rebels last hit
the Galle port area in December 1997, when they detonated a truck bomb
that was targeting the navy commander at the time.
(AP, 10/18/06)(AFP, 10/19/06)
2006 Oct 19, Sri Lanka's Tamil
Tiger rebels agreed to attend peace talks with the government this
month in a breakthrough announcement after a week of bloody attacks
left over 250 dead. In northern Sri Lanka 3 government soldiers were
killed in attacks blamed on the Tiger rebels.
(AP, 10/19/06)(AP, 10/19/06)
2006 Oct 21, Sri Lanka's
government said it will provide safe passage for rebels traveling to
Geneva for peace talks, as the navy destroyed two insurgent boats
approaching a naval base. The Tamil Tigers threatened to extend their
battle against government troops across the island if Colombo "wants a
war", as the navy said they killed 20 rebels in sea clashes.
(AP, 10/21/06)(AFP, 10/21/06)
2006 Oct 26, Sri Lanka's warring
parties arrived in Geneva for their first face-to-face meeting in eight
months as the EU racked up international pressure for a halt to ethnic
bloodshed.
(AP, 10/26/06)
2006 Oct 28, In Sri Lanka
suspected Tamil Tiger rebels fatally shot a government soldier and
wounded six police officers in two bomb attacks as peace talks began in
Switzerland.
(AP, 10/29/06)
2006 Oct 29, Sri Lanka's peace
talks collapsed after a failure by the warring parties to agree on a
new meeting and fruitless wrangling over "humanitarian issues" during
two days of negotiations in Geneva.
(AFP, 10/29/06)
2006 Nov 2, Sri Lankan war planes
pounded suspected Tamil Tiger targets for a third straight day after
the defense ministry said the guerrillas were preparing for a major
offensive. A military bomb attack inside the rebel political capital of
Kilinochchi hit a house, killing five people.
(AFP, 11/3/06)
2006 Nov 8, In Sri Lanka an
artillery blitz on a rebel-held area killed about 65 civilians. Next
day the government expressed regret, but blamed the Tamil Tigers for
using human shields.
(AFP, 11/9/06)
2006 Nov 9, In Sri Lanka at least
9 vessels were destroyed in a naval clash between Tamil rebels and Sri
Lanka's navy off the northern coast. Rebels claimed they killed 26
sailors and captured four others.
(AP, 11/9/06)
2006 Nov 10, In Sri Lanka Nadaraja
Raviraj, a prominent Tamil legislator, was assassinated in Colombo. The
government navy said it killed six rebels in an attack on Tamil Tiger
boats.
(AP, 11/10/06)
2006 Nov 13, In eastern Sri Lanka
4 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed in a firefight.
(AFP, 11/14/06)
2006 Nov 14, In Sri Lanka 3
soldiers were killed when Tamil Tiger rebels detonated a bomb in the
northern district of Vavuniya. Another soldier was killed in a similar
blast in the Jaffna peninsula.
(AFP, 11/14/06)
2006 Nov 16, Sri Lanka's President
Mahinda Rajapakse appealed to Tiger rebels to resume talks to end
bloodshed on the island as a British envoy met with the guerrillas to
try to jumpstart stalled peace efforts.
(AFP, 11/16/06)
2006 Nov 18, In Sri Lanka a sea
battle, a bomb blast and gunfire killed at least 23 people, a day after
the rebels denounced a government call to disarm as a joke.
(AP, 11/18/06)
2006 Nov 23, The Sri Lankan
military killed at least 19 insurgents in a fierce battle with Tamil
Tiger rebels in the restive east. The separatist Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam, however, said only one of their fighters died, and claimed
to have killed seven government commandoes.
(AP, 11/24/06)
2006 Nov 25, Sri Lankan warplanes
attacked a camp housing Tamil Tiger rebel suicide bombers in the
country's north.
(AP, 11/25/06)
2006 Nov 30, Cambodia's PM Hun Sen
condemned attempts by Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels to push for a
separate state, after talks in Phnom Penh with the island's premier.
(AFP, 11/30/06)
2006 Dec 1, A suicide bomber
targeted a convoy carrying Sri Lanka's defense secretary in Colombo,
killing himself and two soldiers. The defense secretary, who is also
the president's brother, was unharmed.
(AP, 12/1/06)
2006 Dec 9, Tiger rebels said
artillery duels in northeast Sri Lanka had killed at least 45 people,
including 15 civilians and 30 government soldiers, after a Norwegian
peace bid failed.
(AFP, 12/9/06)
2006 Dec 10, In Sri Lanka some
3,000 civilians fled the northeast as heavy artillery duels over the
last 2 days killed more than 110 people, including 41 civilians. 24
soldiers were killed and 69 wounded in artillery and mortar battle with
the insurgents in the eastern Batticaloa district. 40 rebels were also
killed.
(AFP, 12/10/06)(AP, 12/11/06)
2006 Dec 13, Security forces shot
dead at least six Tamil Tiger rebels during a confrontation in Sri
Lanka's restive eastern province.
(AFP, 12/14/06)
2006 Dec 14, Anton Balasingham
(68), the top peace negotiator for Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels, died
at his home in London after a battle with cancer.
(AFP, 12/14/06)
2006 Dec 24, Germany said it will
not offer the Sri Lankan government new aid until the peace process in
the country advances and called on other nations to increase the
pressure on Colombo.
(AFP, 12/24/06)
2006 Some 500,000 arrivals to Sri
Lanka yielded $410 million, making tourism the country’s 3rd biggest
dollar earner.
(Econ, 5/1/07, p.55)
2006 The conflict in Sri Lanka
this year left over 3,500 dead and displaced over 250,000 people,
mostly Tamils. Some 15,000 fled to India.
(Econ, 12/16/06, p.40)
2007 Jan 2, Tamilnet.com said at
least 15 civilians were killed and dozens more wounded when Sri Lankan
air force jets "carpet bombed" territory held by the Tamil Tigers.
(AFP, 1/2/07)
2007 Jan 5, In Sri Lanka an
explosion inside a passenger bus killed 6 people in Nittambuwa.
Officials blamed the Tamil Tiger rebels, but the group denied any
involvement.
(AP, 1/6/07)
2007 Jan 6, In Meetiyagoda, Sri
Lanka, an explosion inside a passenger bus killed 15 people. Officials
blamed the Tamil Tiger rebels, but the group denied any involvement.
(AP, 1/6/07)
2007 Jan 12, In the tea growing
region of central Sri Lanka at least 18 people were killed in
landslides. The National Disaster Management Center said at least three
people were killed and another 61,000 made homeless in south and
central Sri Lanka in flash floods caused by heavy monsoon rains.
(AP, 1/12/07)(AP, 1/14/07)
2007 Jan 16, In Sri Lanka fierce
clashes for control of a stretch of rebel-held-land in eastern
Batticaloa district left at least 16 dead. The military said it lost
four soldiers and that 29 more were wounded during the battle. A
pro-rebel Web site said only 12 guerrillas died. TamilNet said 40 Sri
Lankan soldiers were killed.
(AP, 1/17/07)
2007 Jan 19, Sri Lankan troops
captured the main rebel bastion in the island's east. After weeks of
fighting, at least 45 security forces and 331 Tiger rebels were killed
in the battle for Vakarai.
(AP, 1/19/07)
2007 Jan 21, In Sri Lanka's
northern waters Tiger rebels rammed an explosives-laden boat against a
private merchant vessel operated by foreign crew, sparking a land, sea
and air battle.
(AFP, 1/21/07)
2007 Jan 23, In northern Sri Lanka
2 roadside bombs exploded in Jaffna town, killing a government soldier
and three civilians.
(AP, 1/23/07)
2007 Jan 31, In eastern Sri Lanka
suspected separatist Tamil rebels detonated a roadside bomb, killing
six policemen and one civilian.
(AP, 1/31/07)
2007 Feb 7, In Sri Lanka Selliah
Parameswar, a Hindu priest who welcomed President Mahinda Rajapakse to
a former guerrilla bastion, was dragged out of his house in Batticaloa
district and killed by a group of unidentified gunmen. The Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) blamed a breakaway group allegedly linked
to government forces.
(AFP, 2/8/07)
2007 Feb 12, Sri Lanka's navy said
it destroyed a boat of the separatist Tamil Tiger movement and killed
at least eight rebels off the country's east coast.
(AP, 2/12/07)
2007 Feb 16, Sri Lanka's navy said
it destroyed two Tamil Tiger rebel boats as the craft were hauling
hundreds of thousands of steel balls often used in bombs. Four rebel
fighters were believed killed. Tamil Tiger rebels accused Sri Lankan
security forces of killing 39 civilians and blamed them for the
disappearance of 39 others in the last two weeks.
(AFP, 2/16/07)(AP, 2/16/07)
2007 Feb 19, A Saudi court ordered
the bodies of four Sri Lankans to be displayed in a public square after
being beheaded for armed robbery.
(AP, 2/21/07)
2007 Feb 20, Sri Lankan military
aircraft bombed rebel-held territory, killing at least two villagers,
as the military reported four more deaths.
(AFP, 2/20/07)
2007 Feb 23, European cease-fire
monitors said that nearly 4,000 people were killed in Sri Lanka in the
past 15 months and they emphasized the importance that the government
and the rebels adhere to the cease-fire.
(AP, 2/23/07)
2007 Feb 27, In Sri Lanka the US
and Italian ambassadors were wounded when their helicopters came under
fire from ethnic Tamil rebels who said they mistook them for a military
target.
(AP, 2/27/07)
2007 Feb 28, Sri Lanka escalated
sea and land attacks against Tamil Tigers and killed at least 18 people.
(AP, 2/28/07)
2007 Mar 9, The Sri Lanka Defense
Ministry said ground troops, backed by artillery, had captured three
Tamil Tiger bases in the northeast in a major military operation.
Anti-insurgency commandos overran a rebel base in eastern Sri Lanka,
killing at least 20 guerrillas. Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels shot dead
four security personnel and four park officials inside a wildlife
sanctuary as fighting escalated elsewhere on the island.
(AP, 3/9/07)(AFP, 3/10/07)
2007 Mar 10, The number of
refugees in eastern Sri Lanka climbed past 100,000 after heavy fighting
in rebel-held parts of the island forced thousands of civilians to flee
their homes in recent days.
(AP, 3/11/07)
2007 Mar 11, Sri Lanka's president
chided his top police officers over a new wave of "execution-style"
killings and demanded immediate action to end a climate of terror.
(AFP, 3/11/07)
2007 Mar 12, The Sri Lanka air
force bombed a strategic Tamil Tiger jungle base in Thoppigala, killing
at least eight rebels, including two senior guerrillas.
(AP, 3/13/07)
2007 Mar 23, Sri Lankan troops
advanced into territory held by Tamil Tiger rebels, shifting the battle
lines to the island's north where the latest death toll on both sides
hit 37.
(AP, 3/23/07)
2007 Mar 24, Sri Lankan troops and
Tamil Tiger rebels were locked in intense battles in the island's
northeast, for a second straight day, as both sides reported heavy
casualties.
(AP, 3/24/07)
2007 Mar 25, In northern Sri Lanka
thousands of Tamil civilians were on the run as troops and Tiger rebels
traded artillery fire across a de facto border, with both sides
claiming heavy casualties.
(AP, 3/25/07)
2007 Mar 26, Tamil rebels launched
their first airstrike in the nearly quarter-decade conflict with Sri
Lanka's government, using at least one small plane to bomb an air base
outside the capital and killing three airmen.
(AP, 3/26/07)
2007 Mar 27, A Tamil Tiger rebel
drove an explosive-laden tractor to a military camp in eastern Sri
Lanka, drawing fire from guards and triggering a blast at the entrance.
At least seven people, including the bomber, were killed.
(AP, 3/27/07)
2007 Apr 1, In Sri Lanka 12 Tamil
Tigers were killed in clashes in the northwestern district of Mannar.
(AFP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 2, In eastern Sri Lanka
at least 16 people, including three children, were killed and 25
wounded when a bomb ripped through a crowded bus. Sri Lankan security
forces killed at least 23 Tamil Tiger rebels in fresh fighting in the
island's east.
(AP, 4/2/07)(AFP, 4/3/07)
2007 Apr 4, Sri Lanka’s defense
ministry said its warplanes "bombed and completely destroyed" a key
Tamil Tiger naval base.
(AP, 4/4/07)
2007 Apr 7, A roadside bomb tore
through a civilian bus in northern Sri Lanka, killing seven people and
wounding 26. The army blamed Tamil Tiger rebels for the attack.
(AP, 4/7/07)
2007 Apr 10, Clashes between Sri
Lankan soldiers and Tamil rebels in the island's north killed about 30
people. In southern Sri Lanka a passenger bus collided with a beer
delivery truck and burst into flames, killing at least 23 people and
injuring 56.
(AP, 4/10/07)(AP, 4/12/07)
2007 Apr 14, Suspected Tamil Tiger
rebels shot dead five people in eastern Sri Lanka, as the country
marked the traditional New Year and the president appealed for national
unity.
(AP, 4/14/07)
2007 Apr 17, Sri Lankan
authorities have issued a death threat against Champika Liyanaarachchi,
a newspaper editor for reporting on military excesses and human rights
abuses.
(AFP, 4/18/07)
2007 Apr 20, In Sri Lanka’s
northern district of Vavuniya troops on foot patrol fired at suspected
Tamil Tigers killing four rebels. A landmine explosion in the
northeastern district of Polonnaruwa killed two soldiers and wounded
two others.
(AP, 4/21/07)
2007 Apr 21, In Sri Lanka
suspected Tamil Tiger rebels set off a landmine targeting troops on
patrol in Batticaloa. A civilian was killed and three others injured.
(AP, 4/21/07)
2007 Apr 23, A bomb ripped through
a long-distance bus in northern Sri Lanka, killing at least three
passengers and wounding 35 in the third bombing of a civilian bus this
month.
(AP, 4/23/07)
2007 Apr 24, Tamil rebel planes
bombed government positions in northern Sri Lanka in their second-ever
airstrike. The military said six soldiers were killed but that the
aircraft were turned back before reaching a key base.
(AP, 4/24/07)
2007 Apr 29, Tamil Tiger rebels
bombed a fuel refinery and gasoline storage facility near the Sri
Lankan capital, and authorities cut power to the city. Hours later, the
military pounded rebel positions in the north.
(AP, 4/29/07)
2007 May 1, Australian police
arrested two men accused of raising money for Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger
rebels on the pretext of collecting donations for victims of the
devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
(AP, 5/1/07)
2007 May 5, Sri Lankan naval craft
sank two suspected Tamil Tiger boats off the island's northeastern
coast, inflicting heavy losses on the guerrillas.
(AP, 5/5/07)
2007 May 6, In eastern Sri Lanka a
landmine detonated by Tamil Tigers killed three police commandos, while
seven suspected rebels died elsewhere in the embattled region.
(AP, 5/6/07)
2007 May 10, Thirunavukarasu
Varatharasa (37), a Sri Lankan national, pleaded guilty in a Maryland
court to charges he tried to smuggle US weapons to Tamil Tiger rebels.
He was the last of six defendants in the plot to be convicted of trying
to obtain military weapons in the 2006 scheme.
(AFP, 5/11/07)
2007 May 13, Tamil Tiger rebels
attacked a group of Sri Lankan soldiers who had crossed into insurgent
territory in the north, sparking a battle that left 7 guerrillas and a
soldier dead.
(AP, 5/14/07)
2007 May 17, In Sri Lanka said
security forces had shot dead at least 20 Tamil Tiger rebels in
northern Sri Lanka in a fresh outbreak of fighting.
(AFP, 5/17/07)
2007 May 20, Sri Lanka's
government claimed to have killed more than 500 rebels in the past four
months and lost 44 of its own soldiers in fierce fighting that has
completely shattered the island nation's peace process.
(AP, 5/20/07)
2007 May 21, In northern Sri Lanka
6 people were killed during deepening fighting between government
soldiers and separatist rebels.
(AP, 5/21/07)
2007 May 24, In northern Sri Lanka
a flotilla of rebel boats launched a deadly raid on a navy camp, hours
before a bomb exploded near an army bus in the capital killing one
soldier and wounding six people. Tigers claimed to have killed 32
sailors. Government troops killed 12 suspected Tamil Tiger rebels in
the northern Vavuniya district.
(AP, 5/24/07)(AFP, 5/25/07)(Econ, 6/9/07, p.24)
2007 May 28, In Sri Lanka a Tiger
roadside bomb in Colombo killed 7 soldiers and civilians.
(Econ, 6/9/07, p.24)
2007 May 29, In Sri Lanka troops
and police stepped up security in Colombo after two bomb blasts by
suspected Tiger rebels within 24 hours killed 11 people.
(AP, 5/29/07)
2007 May, Inflation in Sri Lanka
stood at 17%.
(Econ, 5/5/07, p.56)
2007 Jun 2, Two Sri Lankan Red
Cross workers, ethnic Tamil men abducted from Colombo two days ago,
were found shot to death. The Tigers launched a night attack near
Omanthai and claimed to have killed 30 soldiers. The army said it
killed 52 Tigers.
(AP, 6/3/07)(Econ, 6/9/07, p.24)
2007 Jun 6, Sri Lanka's President
Mahinda Rajapakse held talks in Colombo with a top Japanese envoy on
the future of the island's peace process following bloody recent
clashes. A bomb detonated by suspected Tamil rebels derailed a train in
eastern Sri Lanka.
(AP, 6/6/07)
2007 Jun 7, Police in Sri Lanka's
capital rounded up hundreds of ethnic Tamils deemed a threat to
security and bused them to Tamil regions in the north and east of the
country.
(AP, 6/7/07)
2007 Jun 8, Sri Lanka's highest
court ordered police to stop expelling Tamils from the capital.
(AP, 6/8/07)
2007 Jun 19, Sri Lanka government
troops killed up to 44 Tamil rebels in clashes in northern and eastern
Sri Lanka while destroying three small camps in the insurgents' last
eastern stronghold.
(AP, 6/20/07)
2007 Jun 30, Gunmen shot dead two
civilians in Sri Lanka's northern Jaffna peninsula, as the government
and Tamil Tigers blamed each other for the latest in a string of such
killings.
(AFP, 7/1/07)
2007 Jul 6, In Sri Lanka soldiers
intercepted a group of Tamil Tigers, killing 15, as they fled the
jungle area of Thoppigala in the eastern district of Batticaloa. 4
people were killed elsewhere in the embattled island.
(AFP, 7/7/07)
2007 Jul 14, Sri Lankan troops
used war planes and long-range weapons to attack suspected Tamil Tiger
positions as fresh fighting broke out. The clash with Tamil Tiger
rebels killed at least 10 Sri Lankan soldiers and left 34 wounded.
(AP, 7/14/07)
2007 Jul 31, In northern Sri Lanka
hundreds of ethnic Sinhalese civilians fled three villages, claiming
the government had failed to protect them from attacks by Tamil Tiger
rebels.
(AP, 7/31/07)
2007 Jul, Sri Lanka’s army
declared that it had cleared the eastern part of the country from
rebels for the first time in 14 years.
(Econ, 10/6/07, p.44)
2007 Aug 11, In northeast Sri
Lanka security forces shot dead five suspected LTTE cadres as they
tried to lay landmines. Two gunmen riding on a motorbike shot dead a
Muslim man in the eastern district of Ampara.
(AFP, 8/12/07)
2007 Aug 12, In Sri Lanka
suspected Tamil Tiger rebels set off a powerful land mine against a
military patrol in the Jaffna peninsula, killing a soldier and wounding
at least 16 others. Another civilian was killed and four others were
injured when the LTTE fired mortars at a northeastern village in Weli
Oya.
(AP, 8/12/07)
2007 Aug 30, Dozens of Sri Lankan
journalists took to the streets to condemn censorship and support a
columnist who exposed alleged corruption in the purchase of second-hand
supersonic jets.
(AFP, 8/30/07)
2007 Aug 31, In northwest Sri
Lanka government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels traded artillery fire,
with each side claiming heavy casualties against the other as well as
among civilians.
(AP, 9/1/07)
2007 Sep 2, Sri Lanka said that
troops captured a Tamil Tiger naval base during a weekend advance into
rebel-held territory that the guerrillas said killed nine civilians.
(AFP, 9/2/07)
2007 Sep 8, In Sri Lanka military
officials said at least 21 people were killed in fresh violence in the
embattled northern and eastern regions over the last 24 hours.
(AFP, 9/8/07)
2007 Sep 14, A roadside bomb blast
and clashes between soldiers and secessionist Tamil Tiger guerrillas
across Sri Lanka's volatile north killed 29 people.
(AP, 9/15/07)
2007 Sep 27, In northern Sri Lanka
the military said artillery fire, gunbattles and a bombing had killed
25 rebels, three civilians and a soldier. The civilian casualties
occurred when a remote-control bomb went off in a government-controlled
town.
(AP, 9/27/07)
2007 Sep 28, Naval attack craft
waged a three-hour sea battle with 20 Tamil Tiger boats off the eastern
coast of Sri Lanka, sinking three of the rebels' vessels and killing
one of their top naval commanders.
(AP, 9/28/07)
2007 Oct 7, Sri Lanka's navy sank
a ship carrying arms and war equipment for separatist Tamil Tiger
rebels, killing at least 12 people on board. Meanwhile, eight rebels
and a government soldier were reported killed in other recent clashes.
(AP, 10/7/07)
2007 Oct 15, In northern Sri Lanka
a fierce battle broke out between government troops and Tamil rebels,
leaving 30 guerrillas dead. 4 prominent activists resigned from a
government advisory panel on human rights, saying that officials were
more interested in fighting separatist rebels than protecting human
rights.
(AP, 10/16/07)
2007 Oct 22,
A group of Tamil Tiger fighters, backed by the rebel group's tiny
air force, carried out a surprise pre-dawn attack on a Sri Lankan air
force base, setting off a huge battle that killed five airmen and 20
guerrillas. 24 of 27 aircraft were destroyed or damaged.
(AP, 10/22/07)(Econ, 11/10/07, p.54)
2007 Nov 2, A Sri Lankan airstrike
pounded a meeting of top rebel leaders, killing S.P. Thamilselvan, the
head of the Tamil Tigers' political wing and five others in an attack
seen as a major victory for the government in its long fight with the
guerrillas.
(AP, 11/2/07)(Econ, 1/31/09, p.49)
2007 Nov 7, The president of Sri
Lanka said there would be peace on the troubled island only after more
fighting to crush separatist rebels as he unveiled the nation's
biggest-ever war budget.
(AFP, 11/7/07)
2007 Nov 21, In northern Sri Lanka
soldiers killed nine Tamil Tiger rebels in several clashes.
(AP, 11/21/07)
2007 Nov 26, In Sri Lanka rebels
said 11 schoolchildren and two others were killed when Sri Lanka's
military activated a roadside bomb near a car traveling near
Kilinochchi.
(AP, 11/27/07)
2007 Nov 27, Sri Lanka’s air force
bombed the Tiger’s radio station killing 9 civilian staff.
(Econ, 12/8/07, p.48)
2007 Nov 28, In Sri Lanka a bomb
exploded near the entrance to a popular department store in a busy
Colombo suburb, killing 20 people and wounding 43. Earlier in the day,
a female suicide bomber sent by the rebels killed one person and
wounded two others in an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate a
government minister in his office in Colombo.
(AFP, 11/29/07)(Econ, 12/8/07, p.48)
2007 Nov, In Haiti 108 Sri Lankan
soldiers were recalled after investigators found they had paid for sex
with Haitians, some of whom were underage.
(AP, 12/26/07)
2007 Dec 1, In Sri Lanka at least
11 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed and 49 injured in heavy clashes
across northern defense lines in Mannar. Elsewhere, 13 rebels were
killed overnight in separate fighting near the guerrillas' stronghold
in the north of the island.
(AFP, 12/1/07)
2007 Dec 3, Government troops and
Tamil Tiger rebels battled each other with rifles, mortars and
artillery across northern Sri Lanka, leaving 42 rebels and six soldiers
dead.
(AP, 12/4/07)
2007 Dec 5, Sri Lanka’s defense
ministry said at least 36 people including 7 soldiers were killed in
fresh fighting between security forces and Tamil rebels in the
embattled north. A land mine explosion blamed on Tamil separatists tore
through a passenger bus crowded with civilians in northern Sri Lanka,
killing at least 16 people and wounding 22 others.
(AFP, 12/5/07)(AP, 12/6/07)
2007 Dec 8, Soldiers and Tamil
Tiger rebels exchanged mortar and gunfire in northern Sri Lanka,
leaving 16 rebels dead.
(AP, 12/9/07)
2007 Dec 14, Clashes between Sri
Lankan soldiers and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in the country's
embattled north left 31 guerrillas and one soldier dead.
(AP, 12/15/07)
2007 Dec 17, In northern Sri Lanka
renewed violence between Tamil rebels and government forces left at
least 33 people dead.
(AFP, 12/17/07)
2007 Dec 18, In northern Sri Lanka
fighting killed 13 rebels and two soldiers. The Tigers said they killed
five soldiers.
(AP, 12/19/07)
2007 Dec 19, The Sri Lanka
military said soldiers killed four separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in two
separate clashes.
(AP, 12/19/07)
2007 Dec 22, In northern Sri Lanka
government forces captured a key defense line of Tamil Tiger guerrillas
in fighting that killed six rebels and one soldier.
(AFP, 12/22/07)
2007 Dec 26, In northern Sri Lanka
a wave of infantry attacks killed at least 66 rebels and 14 government
troops.
(AP, 12/27/07)
2007 Dec 27, In northern Sri Lanka
Air force jets destroyed a Tamil naval base.
(AP, 12/27/07)
2007 Inflation in Sri Lanka
reached an annual rate of 21.6%.
(Econ, 2/9/08, p.48)
2008 Jan 1, In Sri Lanka a gunman
assassinated an opposition lawmaker and one other person at a New Year
religious service near Colombo, and the lawmaker's party held the
government responsible for his slaying.
(AP, 1/1/08)
2008 Jan 2, The Sri Lankan
government decided to withdraw from an internationally brokered
cease-fire with the insurgents. Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels detonated
a bomb near a bus carrying wounded soldiers through a busy commercial
district in Sri Lanka's capital, killing one soldier and three
civilians and wounding 24 other people. Air force jets launched two
airstrikes in the north, one targeting a Tamil Tiger naval base in
Mannar district and the other a logistics base in Mullaitivu district.
Some 5,000 people had died over the last two years of the cease-fire.
(AP, 1/3/08)(Econ, 1/5/08, p.36)
2008 Jan 3, In northern Sri Lanka
heavy fighting broke out between government troops and Tamil Tigers,
hours after Colombo announced it was pulling out of a tattered
ceasefire agreement with the rebels.
(AFP, 1/3/08)
2008 Jan 6, In northern Sri Lanka
heavy fighting raged where Tiger rebels said they lost a key leader, as
Norwegian-led monitors began pulling out before the formal end of a
tattered truce.
(AP, 1/6/08)
2008 Jan 7, According to new
military figures gunbattles between government troops and Tamil Tiger
rebels have brought the death toll for four days of fighting to 81.
Violence intensified following the government's Jan 2 announcement that
it would formally withdraw from a 2002 cease-fire accord.
(AP, 1/7/08)
2008 Jan 8, A Sri Lankan
government minister died in a roadside bombing blamed on the Tamil
Tiger rebels, the first successful assassination of a top Sri Lankan
official in 19 months. The bomb tore through the car carrying Nation
Building Minister D.M. Dassanayake as he traveled through the Ja-Ela
area.
(AP, 1/8/08)
2008 Jan 13, In Sri Lanka Japan's
peace envoy opened talks, hinting international donors may hold back
much-needed foreign aid if the island's decades-long ethnic conflict
escalates. Government soldiers crossed the front lines, destroying
three bunkers and killing six rebels. Troops killed a 7th insurgent
when he went to inspect the front lines north of rebel-held territory.
(AP, 1/13/08)(AP, 1/15/08)
2008 Jan 14, In Sri Lanka Japanese
mediator Yasushi Akashi met with Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama
and President Mahinda Rajapaksa during the envoy's three-day visit.
Government fighter jets attacked a Tamil Tiger intelligence and
military base in Kombavikulam in a rebel-held area. A second air raid
destroyed a rebel artillery position in a village in Mannar. The
military said a wave of pitched battles, bombings and an airstrike
killed at least 22 guerrillas and 2 soldiers in northern Sri Lanka.
Rebels said they held off a major military offensive in Mannar in a
battle that killed at least 30 soldiers and three rebels.
(AP, 1/15/08)(AFP, 1/15/08)
2008 Jan 16, In southeastern Sri
Lanka a bomb and shooting attack blamed on Tamil separatists ripped
through a packed civilian bus, killing 27 people as the government
officially withdrew from a cease-fire with the rebels. Commandoes
advanced into rebel territory in Mannar and destroyed a bunker, killing
4 female rebels. 9 rebels were killed in a clash elsewhere in Mannar.
(AP, 1/16/08)(AP, 1/17/08)
2008 Jan 17, Sri Lanka's military
said air force jets destroyed a hideout used by senior Tiger rebels.
The pro-rebel TamilNet Web site said the jets had struck a civilian
area and seven people had been wounded. Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels
fatally shot 10 ethnic Sinhalese civilians in southern Thanamalwila
village. A pro-rebel Web site said those killed were civilians carrying
guns provided by the government after an attack on a farm in the same
area that killed 32 people this week.
(AP, 1/17/08)(AP, 1/18/08)
2008 Jan 19, In northern Sri Lanka
23 rebels, 17 in one battle alone, and one soldier were killed in
clashes. In northeastern Welioya village fighting killed six rebels and
left a soldier missing.
(AP, 1/20/08)
2008 Jan 20, In Sri Lanka troops
overran at least six rebel bunkers in Adampan village, killing two
female fighters. Simultaneous clashes took place in the villages of
Periyathampanai and Madu and, killing a total of 4 rebels. Soldiers
killed an area rebel leader on the Jaffna peninsula. Soldiers on the
northern Jaffna peninsula fired on the Tiger boats as they sailed near
the shore.
(AP, 1/20/08)
2008 Jan 21, In Sri Lanka
government soldiers attacked Tamil Tiger rebel bunkers across the front
lines in the embattled north, triggering a battle that killed 15
guerrillas and two soldiers.
(AP, 1/21/08)
2008 Jan 24, In Sri Lanka 16
victims of what appeared to have been execution-style killings were
found by villagers in a district 206 km (130 miles) north of the
capital Colombo.
(AFP, 1/25/08)
2008 Jan 26, Sri Lankan air force
jets bombed the Tamil Tiger rebels' naval headquarters while the
group's sea wing leaders were holding a meeting there.
(AP, 1/26/08)
2008 Jan 28, In Sri Lanka security
forces killed 45 rebels along the northern frontlines.
(AFP, 1/29/08)
2008 Jan 29, In Sri Lanka the
defense ministry said its troops smashed 16 guerrilla bunkers in the
district of Mannar and killed at least 22 rebels. Tamilnet said at
least 11 school children and the principal of the school were among
those killed when the Sri Lanka Army triggered a Claymore mine
targeting a bus carrying school children.
(AFP, 1/29/08)
2008 Jan 30, In Sri Lanka troops
overran at least 25 bunkers and killed 10 guerrillas.
(AP, 2/1/08)
2008 Jan 31, In northern Sri Lanka
a bomb being transported by a suicide bomber on a bicycle exploded
prematurely, killing 4 people and injuring 13. Separate clashes across
the north killed 15 Tamil rebels. Japan cautioned it will review its
aid policy unless the violence subsided.
(AP, 1/31/08)(AFP, 1/31/08)(AP, 2/1/08)
2008 Feb 1, In northern Sri Lanka
government troops attacked Tamil Tiger rebel bunkers along the front
lines, triggering a battle that killed 10 guerrillas and two soldiers.
In north-central Sri Lanka a bomb tore through a bus packed with mostly
elderly Buddhist pilgrims, killing 18-20 people and wounding 51 others.
(AP, 2/1/08)(AP, 2/2/08)(Econ, 2/9/08, p.48)
2008 Feb 3, In Sri Lanka a female
suicide bomber attacked the main railway station in the capital of
Colombo, killing at least 15 people and wounding 93 others. The dead
included 7 students and their baseball coach killed on the eve of
Freedom Day.
(AP, 2/3/08)(AFP, 2/5/08)(Econ, 2/9/08, p.66)
2008 Feb 4, In northeastern Sri
Lanka a roadside bomb attack blamed on Tamil Tiger rebels tore through
a civilian bus. 14 people were killed and 15 injured in the Freedom day
attack. According to the defense ministry, the rebels have lost at
least 913 fighters since the beginning of the year, compared with just
37 government soldiers killed.
(AP, 2/4/08)(AFP, 2/5/08)
2008 Feb 7, In Sri Lanka
government troops attacked rebel bunkers along the northern front
lines, triggering gunbattles that killed 34 rebels and one soldier.
(AP, 2/9/08)
2008 Feb 8, In Sri Lanka
gunbattles along the front lines in the northern districts of Jaffna,
Mannar and Vavuniya killed 41 Tamil Tiger rebels and three soldiers.
(AP, 2/9/08)
2008 Feb 12, Tiger rebels shelled
a key base in northern Sri Lanka, killing six soldiers and wounding 10,
as the defense ministry said the rebels sustained heavy losses in new
fighting.
(AP, 2/12/08)
2008 Feb 18, Sri Lankan soldiers
captured a line of strategic rebel bunkers after a battle that killed
10 rebels and one soldier.
(AP, 2/18/08)
2008 Feb 22, In Sri Lanka clashes
broke out in at least six locations in northern Jaffna, Mannar,
Vavuniya districts and Welioya, leaving 31 rebels and one soldier dead.
(AP, 2/23/08)
2008 Feb 23, In Sri Lanka fighting
erupted in northeastern Welioya region, where soldiers killed at least
eight guerrillas. A bomb explosion on a bus wounded at least 14 people
in Mount Lavinia, near the Colombo.
(AP, 2/23/08)
2008 Feb 29, In Sri Lanka a
suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber blew himself up injuring 7 people
as police tried to search his house in the heavily-guarded Sri Lankan
capital. In a massive search carried out shortly afterwards, police
recovered six powerful Claymore mines, the type commonly used by Tamil
Tiger rebels, from a house in the same area of Colombo.
(AFP, 2/29/08)
2008 Mar 2, In Sri Lanka artillery
exchanges left at least 25 Tamil rebels and two Sri Lankan soldiers
dead as Pres. Rajapakse vowed to destroy the separatist guerrillas.
(AFP, 3/3/08)
2008 Mar 3, In Sri Lanka 14 rebels
were killed in ongoing clashes with government forces.
(AP, 3/4/08)
2008 Mar 3, The Sri Lankan navy
said it rescued 71 Burmese Bangladeshi citizens aboard a vessel that
had drifted for 12 days in the Indian Ocean. 20 others had died from
lack of food and water.
(SFC, 3/4/08, p.A3)
2008 Mar 4, In Sri Lanka 7 rebels
were killed in ongoing clashes as government forces pushed deeper into
Tamil Tiger territory. 3 days of fighting left at least 90 guerrillas
and nine government soldiers dead.
(AP, 3/4/08)
2008 Mar 6, K. Sivanesan (51), a
Sri Lankan Tamil lawmaker, was killed in a roadside bomb attack by
government security forces. At least 61 Tamil Tiger rebels and five
government troops were killed in 2 days of fresh fighting across Sri
Lanka's embattled north.
(AFP, 3/6/08)(AFP, 3/7/08)
2008 Mar 10, Sri Lankans trickled
to the polls in the turbulent eastern city of Batticaloa to vote in the
first municipal elections since government forces seized control of the
east last year from ethnic Tamil rebels. The Karuna Group, a
pro-government militia composed of former Tamil Tiger rebels, won the
election despite allegations that it used child soldiers, extorted
businessmen and carried out killings.
(AP, 3/10/08)(AP, 3/11/08)
2008 Mar 12, Sri Lanka’s defense
ministry said at least another 28 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed by
security forces in overnight fighting across Sri Lanka's embattled
north. Air force fighter jets pounded three suspected rebel bases in
Mannar.
(AFP, 3/12/08)
2008 Mar 14, Sri Lanka’s pro-rebel
TamilNet Web site said rebels beat back advancing troops on three
fronts in Mannar and Welioya regions, killing 22 soldiers.
(AP, 3/16/08)
2008 Mar 16, In northern Sri Lanka
suspected separatist Tamil rebels killed a police officer and a soldier
in separate attacks, taking the death toll from two days of violence to
30.
(AP, 3/16/08)
2008 Mar 18, In Sri Lanka battles,
roadside bombings and artillery attacks across the front lines of Sri
Lanka's civil war killed 35 ethnic Tamil rebels and two soldiers. The
combatants were killed in at least 17 different confrontations.
(AP, 3/19/08)
2008 Mar 19, Arthur C. Clarke
(b.1917), English-born science fiction writer, died in Sri Lanka.
Clarke wrote or collaborated on close to 100 books and had moved to Sri
Lanka in 1956. He had just finished his last novel, co-authored with
Frederik Pohl, titled “The Last Theorem.”
(AP, 3/19/08)(SFC, 3/19/08, p.A2)(SSFC, 8/10/08,
Books p.7)
2008 Mar 20, In Sri Lanka troops,
according to a statement the next day, ambushed ethnic Tamil rebels
with a roadside bomb, overran bunkers and engaged in firefights across
the north, killing 29 insurgents.
(AP, 3/21/08)
2008 Mar 25, In Sri Lanka fighting
across the war-ravaged northern district killed at least one soldier
and 19 rebels.
(AFP, 3/26/08)
2008 Mar 26, A roadside blast in
Sri Lanka's restive eastern region killed two policemen while fighting
in the north left at least 19 rebels and one soldier dead.
(AFP, 3/26/08)
2008 Mar 27, In northern Sri Lanka
a series of battles along the front lines killed 17 ethnic Tamil rebels
and two government soldiers.
(AP, 3/28/08)
2008 Apr 1, Strong fighting broke
out in northern Sri Lanka as government troops launched a fresh
offensive against Tiger rebels. The heavy fighting left 42 rebels and a
soldier dead.
(AP, 4/1/08)(AP, 4/2/08)
2008 Apr 2, In Sri Lanka
government troops captured a strip of land from Tamil Tigers. 2
civilians were shot dead by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels in the
Wilpattu wildlife park.
(AP, 4/2/08)
2008 Apr 3, In Sri Lanka battles
along the northern front lines left 21 rebels and five soldiers dead.
(AP, 4/4/08)
2008 Apr 4, Sri Lanka's air force
bombed and destroyed a Tamil separatist training camp in the island's
north.
(AP, 4/4/08)
2008 Apr 6, A suspected Tamil
Tiger suicide bomber assassinated Jeyaraj Fernandopulle (55), Sri
Lanka's highways minister, as he opened a marathon in an attack that
also killed 13 others and wounded 100.
(AFP, 4/6/08)
2008 Apr 10, In Sri Lanka
government forces attacked Tamil Tiger rebel bunkers along the front
lines in the war-ravaged northern region, triggering gunbattles that
killed 13 rebels and wounded 11 soldiers.
(AP, 4/11/08)
2008 Apr 11, Soldiers destroyed
two Tamil Tiger rebel bunkers in northern Sri Lanka while fighting in
the region left 11 separatists dead and eight soldiers wounded.
(AP, 4/12/08)
2008 Apr 13, Sri Lanka marked its
traditional new year with security forces and Tamil separatists locked
in fierce combat resulting in heavy losses on both sides. Defense
officials said at least 87 guerrillas had been killed in the last 24
hours. Security forces smashed through defenses of Tamil separatists,
killing at least five rebels.
(AFP, 4/13/08)(AFP, 4/14/08)
2008 Apr 20,
Sri Lankan forces killed a Roman Catholic priest who was also a
top human rights campaigner inside rebel-held territory, as fighting
raged in the troubled north.
(AP, 4/20/08)
2008 Apr 22, In Sri Lanka rebels
said Tamil separatists had destroyed an army tank after Sri Lankan war
planes bombed a Roman Catholic church compound killing a man and
wounding two children.
(AFP, 4/22/08)
2008 Apr 23, In Sri Lanka
officials said at least 52 guerrillas and 38 soldiers were killed and
hundreds more wounded as Tamil separatists reported repulsing a Sri
Lankan offensive ahead of key local elections. The defense ministry
said its forces killed more than 100 Tigers and reported losing 43
soldiers, with another 33 missing in action. It was the security
forces' biggest loss in a single offensive since October 2006. Later
reports said at least 165 government soldiers were killed and 20 more
left missing in the battle with Tamil separatists.
(AP, 4/23/08)(AFP, 4/24/08)(AFP, 4/25/08)
2008 Apr 24, Sri Lanka carried out
retaliatory air strikes against Tamil Tiger rebels, a day after intense
artillery battles left hundreds killed or wounded, according to
officials on both sides.
(AFP, 4/24/08)
2008 Apr 25, In Sri Lanka a bomb
in a bus baggage rack exploded outside Colombo killing 24 people and
wounding 40.
(SFC, 4/26/08, p.A3)
2008 Apr 26, In Sri Lanka the
defense ministry said a total of 54 Tiger guerrillas were killed in
separate clashes with security forces and heavy ground fighting was
continuing. The ministry said seven troops were also killed.
(AFP, 4/27/08)
2008 Apr 27, In Sri Lanka Tiger
rebels used aircraft to bomb military targets, dealing a psychological
blow to security forces, as the two sides fought heavy ground battles.
(AFP, 4/27/08)
2008 Apr 28, Sri Lanka hailed
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit as an important step in
cementing closer ties between the two nations.
(AP, 4/28/08)
2008 May 1, In Sri Lanka suspected
Tamil Tiger rebels set off a roadside mine, killing two police
commandos, as violence raged on across the north.
(AP, 5/1/08)
2008 May 3, In Sri Lanka heavy
fighting between government troops and Tamil separatists left 35 rebels
and eight soldiers dead.
(AP, 5/4/08)
2008 May 8, Sri Lanka’s defense
ministry said at least 74 Tamil Tiger rebels and three Sri Lankan
soldiers have been killed in 3 days of fighting in the island's north.
(AFP, 5/8/08)
2008 May 9, In eastern Sri Lanka a
bomb hidden in a package exploded in a cafe in the town of Ampara,
killing 11 people on the eve local elections.
(AP, 5/10/08)
2008 May 10, Tamil Tiger rebels
sank the Invincible, a navy cargo ship moored in the northeast of Sri
Lanka, in an attack coinciding with key elections in the tense eastern
province. Allegations of fraud, voter intimidation and sporadic
violence marred the elections.
(AP, 5/10/08)(Econ, 5/17/08, p.56)
2008 May 11, Sri Lanka's ruling
coalition was declared the winner of key elections in the east of the
island, and hailed its victory as a major boost for the war against
Tamil rebels.
(AP, 5/11/08)
2008 May 16, Sri Lankan ground
troops killed at least 16 Tamil Tiger rebels while air force fighter
jets bombed guerrilla targets in the island's north. The offensive came
hours after a suicide bomber rammed into a police bus in the capital of
Colombo, killing 11 people and injuring more than 80.
(AFP, 5/17/08)
2008 May 17, Sri Lankan air force
helicopters bombed a Tamil Tiger rebel operations center in the
contested north. Separate ground battles killed 12 insurgents.
(AP, 5/18/08)
2008 May 18, In Sri Lanka
government soldiers and the rebels fought several battles in northern
Mannar district, killing 40 rebels and 10 soldiers while three other
soldiers are reported missing. 21 other rebels and seven soldiers were
also killed in scattered fighting, mortar fire and mine blasts across
Jaffna. A pro-rebel Web site reported that the rebels have stalled a
military advance in Mannar, killing 26 soldiers and wounding more than
50. Three insurgents were also killed in the battle the Web site
reported, quoting an unnamed rebel official.
(AP, 5/19/08)
2008 May 20, In Sri Lanka ground
battles in the Welioya, Vavuniya and Mannar areas bordering the rebels'
de facto state in the north killed 25 rebels. Tamil leader Balasegaram
Kandiah (43), known by his nom de guerre, Brig. Balraj, died of a heart
attack. He reportedly led a number of battles against government forces.
(AP, 5/21/08)
2008 May 22, In Sri Lanka
government soldiers killed 11 insurgents in three separate clashes in
Vavuniya. 10 soldiers were wounded. Other battles in Jaffna, Mannar and
Welioya killed 11 rebels and two soldiers.
(AP, 5/23/08)
2008 May 23, In Sri Lanka Army
troops launched two separate attacks along the front lines on the
Jaffna peninsula and destroyed 13 rebel bunkers. Guerrillas said 16
civilians were killed in a roadside bomb attack carried out by
government forces deep inside Tamil Tiger territory. Rebels also said a
government airstrike elsewhere in Kilinochchi killed an infant and a
teenage girl. Other fighting in the Vavuniya and Mannar regions
bordering the rebels' de facto state in the north killed seven rebels
and one soldier.
(AP, 5/24/08)
2008 May 24, In northern Sri Lanka
a new round of fighting killed seven Tamil separatists and two soldiers.
(AP, 5/25/08)
2008 May 26, In Sri Lanka a bomb
ripped through part of a packed passenger train during evening rush
hour, killing 8 people and wounding 70 others near the Colombo.
(AP, 5/26/08)
2008 May 28, Sri Lanka’s military
said 20 insurgents and one soldier were killed in fighting in Jaffna
and Welioya.
(AP, 5/29/08)
2008 May 29, Sri Lanka's military
sank four Tamil Tiger rebel boats off the island's northern coast after
a battle that killed 7 rebels and one soldier. Army troops captured the
stronghold known as Munnagam Base after 3 days of fighting. The
military said 6 civilians were killed in a rebel artillery attack. A
pro-rebel Web site reported that guerrillas raided a navy camp in
Sirutheevu islet, killing 13 sailors and seizing weapons. Other
fighting in the Mannar and Vavuniya regions in the north killed 4
rebels and wounded 8 soldiers.
(AP, 5/29/08)(AP, 5/30/08)
2008 May 30, Sri Lanka’s Tigers
repelled an army advance into rebel-held areas of Vavuniya and Mannar,
killing 31 troops and wounding at least 52 in several clashes according
to Tamilnet.com. The rebels condemned government moves to devolve more
power to the north and east
(AFP, 5/31/08)
2008 May 31, In Sri Lanka 9 Tamil
Tiger rebels and four soldiers were killed in new clashes in Sri
Lanka's restive north.
(AP, 6/1/08)
2008 Jun 4, In Sri Lanka a bomb
blast targeting a passenger train wounded 18 bystanders in Colombo in
the latest attack on civilians in the island nation. Tamil Tigers
reportedly killed 10 soldiers while security forces reportedly killed
35 rebels during the heavy clashes across the island's north. According
to the defense ministry, 4,068 Tamil Tigers and 335 government troops
have been killed since January.
(AP, 6/4/08)(AFP, 6/5/08)
2008 Jun 5, Fighting in northern
Sri Lanka claimed 16 LTTE members and two soldiers.
(AP, 6/6/08)
2008 Jun 6, In Sri Lanka officials
said at least 23 people were killed and 67 wounded in two Tamil Tiger
bomb attacks on public buses packed with civilians.
(AFP, 6/6/08)
2008 Jun 7, In Sri Lanka separate
clashes in Vavuniya district killed 8 rebels and wounded five soldiers.
Other battles in Jaffna and Welioya killed six rebels and wounded 10
soldiers.
(AP, 6/8/08)
2008 Jun 11, In Sri Lanka
government forces destroyed two Tamil Tiger rebel bunkers in the
embattled north while infantry clashes killed 13 rebels and two
soldiers.
(AP, 6/12/08)
2008 Jun 12, In Sri Lanka a new
round of fighting with Tamil Tiger separatists has killed 11 rebels and
two soldiers.
(AP, 6/13/08)
2008 Jun 13, In Sri Lanka's north
clashes in the Welioya area killed seven rebels and four soldiers. 3
confrontations in Vavuniya and Mannar killed four rebels and three
soldiers.
(AP, 6/14/08)
2008 Jun 14, In Sri Lanka ground
battles left 15 guerrillas and two soldiers dead.
(AP, 6/15/08)
2008 Jun 15, Sri Lankan war planes
destroyed a suspected Tamil Tiger logistics base in the island's
northeast. The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said Sri
Lankan jets had killed two civilians and wounded 11 more in the attack.
(AP, 6/15/08)
2008 Jun 16, In Sri Lanka battles
across the volatile north killed 14 ethnic Tamil rebels and one
government soldier.
(AP, 6/17/08)
2008 Jun 16, The Canadian
government added the World Tamil Movement to its list of terrorist
groups, describing it as a front organization that raised funds for the
rebel Tamil Tigers fighting against the government in Sri Lanka.
(Reuters, 6/16/08)
2008 Jun 17, In Sri Lanka
scattered fighting across the restive north killed 25 Tamil Tiger
rebels and six soldiers.
(AP, 6/18/08)
2008 Jun 18, Italian police
arrested 33 Sri Lankan Tamils charged with belonging to the outlawed
Tamil Tigers group fighting a separatist insurgency against the
government in Colombo. In addition to being charged with membership of
a proscribed organization, the 33 were also accused of having helped
finance the Tamil Tigers through remittances.
(AFP, 6/18/08)
2008 Jun 19, In Sri Lanka fighting
between the government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels along the northern
front lines killed 26 rebels and three government soldiers.
(AP, 6/20/08)
2008 Jun 21, Sri Lanka launched
air attacks in rebel-held territory in the island's north as ground
troops killed at least four guerrillas.
(AP, 6/21/08)
2008 Jun 22, Sri Lanka Army troops
captured six rebel bunkers near the front lines in Vavuniya after a
battle that killed 10 rebels and five soldiers. In the nearby Mannar
district, soldiers clashed with guerrillas, leaving 10 rebels and one
soldier dead. Other battles in Welioya, Vavuniya and Jaffna killed 13
rebels while wounding 30 rebels and 15 soldiers.
(AP, 6/23/08)
2008 Jun 23, In Sri Lanka fighting
in northern Sri Lanka killed 21 Tamil Tiger separatist rebels and two
soldiers.
(AP, 6/24/08)
2008 Jun 24, Fighting across Sri
Lanka's embattled northern region killed at least 32 ethnic Tamil
rebels and four government soldiers. Air force fighters bombed a
training base in the rebel stronghold of Mullaitivu while helicopter
gunships pounded rebel bunkers along the front lines in Mannar.
(AP, 6/25/08)
2008 Jun 25, In northern Sri Lanka
at least 69 Tiger rebels and two soldiers were killed in the last 2
days in heavy fighting where security forces wrested more territory
from the guerrillas.
(AFP, 6/26/08)
2008 Jun 26, Sri Lankan forces
captured a Tamil Tiger supply center and bombed a rebel training base
amid a surge in the island's civil war that killed 49 insurgents and
two soldiers.
(AP, 6/27/08)
2008 Jun 27, In Sri Lanka
government troops captured Andankulam town in Mannar after a battle
that killed 28 rebels and one soldier. Other battles killed 12 rebels
and one soldier in the Welioya region, while in the northern Jaffna
peninsula, a soldier died in a roadside bomb blast blamed on the rebels.
(AP, 6/28/08)
2008 Jun 28, In northern Sri Lanka
government troops captured a Tamil Tiger rebel-held village. 20 rebels
and a soldier were killed in Vavuniya. Seven Tigers and a soldier were
killed in Mannar and 14 rebels died in Welioya.
(AP, 6/28/08)(AP, 6/29/08)
2008 Jun 29, In Sri Lanka army
troops took control of about 46 square miles of rebel-held territory in
the Mannar region. Soldiers killed 13 rebels in clashes in the Welioya
region. Another 13 rebels and two soldiers were killed in battles in
Mannar and Vavuniya districts.
(AP, 6/30/08)
2008 Jun 30, Sri Lanka's air force
bombed a Tamil Tiger rebel navy base, while separate ground clashes in
the country's war-torn north left 20 combatants dead.
(AP, 7/1/08)
2008 Jul 1, In Sri Lanka fighting
erupted in the Vavuniya and Welioya regions bordering the rebels' de
facto state in the north. The fighting in Vavuniya killed 16 rebels and
one soldier, while in the nearby Welioya region, 11 rebels and one
soldier died.
(AP, 7/2/08)
2008 Jul 2, In Sri Lanka a series
of battles between government forces and Tamil Tiger fighters on the
front lines of the civil war killed 26 rebels. The fighting took place
throughout the day, killing two rebels in the Vavuniya area, 12 in
Mannar and 12 in Welioya. Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan disputed
those figures, saying three of his fighters and 11 soldiers were killed
in the fighting.
(AP, 7/3/08)
2008 Jul 3, In Sri Lanka a wave of
battles in Mannar, Vavuniya and Welioya killed 32 rebels and two
soldiers.
(AP, 7/4/08)
2008 Jul 4, In Sri Lanka soldiers
took control of Michael Base in the rebel stronghold of Mullaitivu
district after three days of fighting. Other battles in Vavuniya killed
18 rebels and wounded three soldiers. Fighting in Mannar, Jaffna and
Welioya left 15 rebels dead and one soldier wounded.
(AP, 7/4/08)(AP, 7/5/08)
2008 Jul 5, In Sri Lanka clashes
were reported in several villages in Vavuniya district where 12 rebels
were killed. 3 rebels were killed in Mannar and 4 rebels and a soldier
were killed in Welioya.
(AP, 7/6/08)
2008 Jul 6, Sri Lankan fighter
jets bombed a Tamil Tiger rebel position in their northern stronghold.
(AP, 7/6/08)
2008 Jul 11, In southern Sri Lanka
suspected rebel gunmen ambushed a crowded passenger bus as it traveled
down a small rural road. The attack killed a boy and three women and
wounded 25 others. Clashes broke out in the Mannar, Vavuniya and
Welioya regions surrounding the rebel stronghold killed 17 rebels.
(AP, 7/12/08)
2008 Jul 12, In Sri Lanka 18
rebels and a soldier were killed in Mannar district; 7 rebels and a
soldier were killed in Vavuniya and six guerrillas died in Welioya.
Each side often exaggerates the casualties and damage inflicted on its
enemy while underreporting its own losses.
(AP, 7/13/08)
2008 Jul 15, In Sri Lanka fighting
reportedly killed a total of 51 rebels and a soldier.
(AP, 7/16/08)
2008 Jul 16, Sri Lankan soldiers
captured a key naval base used by the Tamil Tiger rebels in the
northern part of the country. Fighting in the north killed 24 rebels
and 3 soldiers.
(AP, 7/16/08)(AP, 7/17/08)
2008 Jul 17, Sri Lankan air force
jets bombed a group of ethnic Tamil rebels. Troops attacked rebel
bunkers along the front lines in the Vavuniya area, killing 10 Tamil
Tiger fighters. Fighting in the area also killed four soldiers, while a
fifth soldier was missing in action. Fighting in Welioya killed nine
rebels and one soldier, while another rebel was killed in Jaffna.
(AP, 7/17/08)(AFP, 7/18/08)
2008 Jul 18, Sri Lankan warplanes
carried out air raids over the rebel-controlled northern region of
Mullaittivu, targeting a Tiger logistics base. The military said
fighting in the northern Vavuniya district left nine rebels killed. 7
insurgents were killed along the Welioya front, while 3 more were
killed in Jaffna.
(AFP, 7/18/08)(AP, 7/19/08)
2008 Jul 19, In Sri Lanka soldiers
killed 11 rebels in Vavuniya while five rebels died in the nearby
Mannar district. A soldier was killed by a sniper's bullet in Mannar.
(AP, 7/20/08)
2008 Jul 20, Sri Lankan government
forces captured a Tamil Tiger rebel base in the north after a 48-hour
battle that left at least 15 rebels dead. Air force jets destroyed six
rebel boats.
(AP, 7/20/08)
2008 Jul 21, In Sri Lanka 44
rebels and two government soldiers were killed in fighting.
(AP, 7/22/08)
2008 Jul 22, The Tamil Tiger
rebels announced they would observe a unilateral 10-day cease-fire as a
goodwill gesture during a regional summit to be held later this month.
An airstrike deep inside the rebels' de facto state killed 22 members
of the Black Tigers, the group's suicide force.
(AP, 7/22/08)
2008 Jul 23, In Sri Lanka
government forces killed 25 rebels in battles in the Vavuniya, Mannar,
Jaffna and Welioya regions along the front lines.
(AP, 7/24/08)
2008 Jul 24, Sri Lankan forces
battled rebel gunmen deep inside the nation's northern jungles, killing
25 guerrilla fighters and seizing new territory. Battles in other parts
of the war zone killed 13 rebels and three soldiers.
(AP, 7/24/08)(AP, 7/25/08)
2008 Jul 25, In Sri Lanka heavy
fighting between Sri Lankan government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels
along the front lines of their civil war killed 62 rebels and eight
soldiers.
(AP, 7/26/08)
2008 Jul 26, In northern Sri Lanka
12 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed by security forces in fresh clashes
in the Wanni region.
(AP, 7/28/08)
2008 Jul 27, In Sri Lanka at least
16 different battles broke out in the Welioya and Vavuniya regions,
some of them sparked by government attacks on the rebels' bunker lines.
The rebels also carried out at least five roadside bombings against
troops. The violence killed 18 rebels and four soldiers.
(AP, 7/28/08)
2008 Jul 29, In Sri Lanka 21 Tamil
Tigers and 4 soldiers were slain in clashes in the northern Wanni
region.
(AP, 7/30/08)
2008 Jul 30, Sri Lankan war planes
bombed a suspected Tiger base in the north. The army launched a wave of
attacks against Tamil Tiger separatists in the north, sparking battles
that killed 24 rebels and one soldier.
(AFP, 7/30/08)(AP, 7/31/08)
2008 Jul 31, Sri Lanka’s army
troops crossed into Kilinochchi district, where the rebels' de facto
capital is located, in fighting for the first time in 11 years.
(AP, 8/2/08)
2008 Aug 1, In Sri Lanka new
fighting between government forces and the rebels across the country's
embattled northern region killed 38 rebels and 14 soldiers.
(AP, 8/2/08)
2008 Aug 2, In Sri Lanka a two-day
summit of leaders of the 15th South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC), opened amid extraordinary security. Leaders of
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, The Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan
and Sri Lanka attended the summit. Government troops captured
rebel-held Vellankulam village in Mannar, the last rebel stronghold in
the area. Fresh fighting between Sri Lankan troops and Tamil Tiger
separatists killed 14 rebels and two soldiers across the embattled
northern region.
(AP, 8/2/08)(AP, 8/3/08)
2008 Aug 3, In Sri Lanka the South
Asian summit ended. Tensions between India and Pakistan overshadowed
the summit, but the two nuclear-armed rivals vowed to work together and
save a tenuous peace process. A draft summit declaration called for
collective action to combat "all forms of terrorist violence" that was
threatening their "peace, stability and security." The leaders also
agreed to implement a regional trade pact, signed in 1995 but never
fully implemented. Troops repulsed an attempt by Tamil rebels to retake
a recently captured guerrilla stronghold in heavy fighting that killed
21 rebels and three soldiers. Thirteen rebels and three soldiers were
killed in other clashes in the Mannar, Vavuniya and Welioya regions.
(AFP, 8/3/08)(AP, 8/4/08)
2008 Aug 7, In Sri Lanka army
troops attacked and captured a rebel bunker in Welioya, where separate
clashes killed 15 rebels and four soldiers. In nearby Vavuniya
district, fighting killed two rebels and wounded two soldiers.
(AP, 8/8/08)
2008 Aug 8, In Sri Lanka artillery
shells fired by the army hit a hospital overnight killing an
18-month-old baby and wounding 16 people. Infantry clashes in the north
killed 31 rebels and four soldiers.
(AP, 8/8/08)(AP, 8/9/08)
2008 Aug 9, In Sri Lanka air force
fighter jets pounded a Tamil Tiger supply base and an intelligence
operation center deep in rebel-held Mullaitivu district. Separately,
helicopter gunships overnight hit a radio center operated by the Sea
Tigers. Scattered battles in Vavuniya killed 16 rebels and one soldier
while three rebels died in Mullaitivu. Separate clashes killed five
insurgents in Welioya and Jaffna.
(AP, 8/9/08)(AP, 8/10/08)
2008 Aug 10, Sri Lankan soldiers
launched a pre-dawn attack on Tamil separatists in the embattled north,
killing 15 rebels, while other battles in the region left 24 rebels and
one soldier dead, said the military.
(AP, 8/10/08)
2008 Aug 13, In Sri Lanka a wave
of battles across the front lines in the 25-year-old civil war killed
14 ethnic Tamil rebels and two government soldiers.
(AP, 8/14/08)
2008 Aug 14, In Sri Lanka
government jets hit a series of Tamil Tiger targets in the Mullaittivu
region in support of troops fighting on the ground. Fighting between
the two sides killed 27 rebels and two government soldiers.
(AP, 8/14/08)(AP, 8/15/08)
2008 Aug 15, International aid
groups said tens of thousands of civilians have fled their homes in
northern Sri Lanka in recent weeks as the military ramped up its
offensive against the Tamil Tiger rebels' heartland.
(AP, 8/15/08)
2008 Aug 16, In Sri Lanka a series
of raging battles across the northern war zone killed 27 Tamil Tiger
fighters and seven government troops. Soldiers took control of a rebel
training base in Andankulam in the Welioya region after Tamil Tiger
fighters fled the area.
(AP, 8/17/08)
2008 Aug 21, In Sri Lanka
helicopter gunships attacked a rebel fortification in the northern
district of Vavuniya. 21 rebels and two soldiers died in fighting.
(AP, 8/21/08)(AP, 8/22/08)
2008 Aug 22, Sri Lankan troops
captured two strategic towns from Tamil Tigers as they closed in on the
rebels' political capital. With the fall of Thunukkai and Uyilankulam,
the military was just 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) south of Kilinochchi.
(AFP, 8/22/08)
2008 Aug 23, Sri Lanka staged
local elections under tight security as troops pushed deeper into Tamil
Tiger territory, closing in on the rebel capital in the war-ravaged
north. The defense ministry said a total of 28 rebels and two soldiers
were killed in clashes over the last 24 hours across the island's north.
(AFP, 8/23/08)
2008 Aug 24, In Sri Lanka soldiers
reportedly killed 12 Tamil separatists in fighting along the front
lines dividing government territory from the rebels de facto state.
(AP, 8/25/08)
2008 Aug 25, In northern Sri Lanka
a series of gunbattles between government forces and the Tamil Tigers
killed 15 rebels and seven soldiers.
(AP, 8/26/08)
2008 Aug 26, In Sri Lanka ground
battles in the northern regions of Jaffna, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu,
Kilinochchi and Welioya killed 27 rebels and two soldiers.
(AP, 8/27/08)
2008 Aug 29, In Sri Lanka
renewed fighting in the embattled north killed 18 rebels and 5 soldiers.
(AP, 8/30/08)
2008 Aug 30, A bomb blast blamed
on separatist Tamil Tigers wounded 45 people in Colombo. A clash killed
three soldiers and a rebel in Anuradhapura district. Rebels said that a
shell fired by government forces hit a shelter for civilians displaced
by fighting in Kilinochchi, killing five people and wounding three
others.
(AP, 8/30/08)
2008 Aug 31, Sri Lanka’s defense
ministry said troops killed 12 rebels in the north, while three
soldiers also died in combat.
(AP, 8/31/08)
2008 Aug, Inflation in Sri Lanka
reached an annual rate close to 30%. The 25-year average annual
inflation rate was 12%.
(Econ, 8/16/08, p.44)
2008 Sep 1, Sri Lanka’s defense
ministry said 33 rebels and four of its own troops were killed in
fighting across the north of the island. It said 49 guerrillas and 11
soldiers were also wounded in the fighting. Government troops marched
into Mallavi, a key LTTE bastion.
(AP, 9/2/08)
2008 Sep 2, Sri Lanka's government
said it had dealt a major blow to Tamil rebels by capturing the key
northern town and guerrilla bastion of Mallavi after heavy fighting
that left dozens dead. Government forces pounded rebel defenses with
airstrikes, helicopter attacks and ground assaults as heavy fighting
across northern Sri Lanka killed 47 Tamil Tiger fighters and left 13
soldiers dead or missing. A rebel affiliated Web site claimed the Tamil
Tigers had killed as many as 75 government soldiers in the recent
fighting.
(AP, 9/2/08)(AP, 9/3/08)
2008 Sep 3, In Sri Lanka fighter
jets bombed two rebel boats off the northeast coast in the rebel
stronghold of Mullaitivu, destroying one and causing heavy damage to
the other.
(AP, 9/3/08)
2008 Sep 5, In Sri Lankan soldiers
captured three Tamil Tiger rebel bunkers and killed 24 guerrillas in
fighting across the island's restive north.
(AP, 9/6/08)
2008 Sep 6, In Sri Lanka air force
helicopters bombed rebel bunkers in the rebel-held Mullaittivu district
to support advancing ground troops.
(AP, 9/6/08)
2008 Sep 9, Tamil Tiger rebels
launched an air and ground assault on a military complex in northern
Sri Lanka. 5 women were among 10 suicide bombers that struck the
Vavuniya military complex, 260 kilometers (160 miles) north of Colombo.
At least 15 people were killed in the attack. The UN announced it was
withdrawing its aid workers from Sri Lanka's embattled north ahead of a
major military drive, as Colombo claimed its first downing of a rebel
aircraft.
(AP, 9/9/08)(AFP, 9/12/08)
2008 Sep 10, In Sri Lanka air
force jets attacked a rebel intelligence base in the north, stepping up
a punishing wave of airstrikes a day after Tamil Tiger fighters
launched a surprise attack on a military base. UN chief Ban Ki-moon
expressed international concern for tens of thousands civilians trapped
in Sri Lanka's north as government forces prepared for a major showdown
with Tamil separatists.
(AP, 9/10/08)
2008 Sep 11, Sri Lankan troops
killed 37 Tiger rebels during fresh fighting across the island's north.
(AP, 9/12/08)
2008 Sep 13, Sri Lanka's Tamil
Tigers accused the government of planning a genocidal campaign against
Tamils as UN agencies pulled out of rebel-held regions in the island's
north. Violence in the last 24 hours killed eight Tiger rebels and two
troops.
(AP, 9/13/08)
2008 Sep 18, Sri Lanka's military
said it was moving closer to the headquarters of the Tamil Tigers.
Naval forces fought a ferocious sea battle with Tamil Tiger separatists
off Sri Lanka's northwestern coast, sinking 10 boats. Tamil Tiger
separatists and government forces fought intense battles across the
embattled northern region, killing at least 62 rebels and eight
soldiers according to military officials. The Tamil Tigers, meanwhile,
said they repelled a government offensive in Kilinochchi, killing 25
soldiers.
(AFP, 9/18/08)(AP, 9/18/08)(AP, 9/19/08)
2008 Sep 22, In Sri Lanka some 26
Tamil Tigers were killed in ground fighting across the across the
embattled regions of Weli Oya, Kilinochchi and Vavuniya, where troops
were trying to wrest control of the rebel capital of Kilinochchi.
(AFP, 9/23/08)
2008 Sep 25, In Sri Lanka fighting
in Kilinochchi left at least 24 Tamil Tiger soldiers dead, with two
killed on the government side. Troops also killed nine rebels in
separate attacks along the northern front of Vavuniya and Weli Oya.
(AP, 9/26/08)
2008 Sep 26, In Sri Lanka at least
52 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed in heavy fighting between troops and
the guerrillas just outside the insurgents' northern capital. Fighting
along the northern region of Weli Oya and Jaffna left eight rebels and
two soldiers dead.
(AFP, 9/27/08)
2008 Sep 27, Sri Lankan fighter
jets bombed a rebel base in Kilinochchi district. The government it
said was used to train suicide bombers. The pro-rebel Tamilnet website
said the bombs fell on a civilian town, killing one person and injuring
two, including a child. Clashes between government soldiers and rebels
left 17 dead in the country's war-ravaged north.
(AFP, 9/27/08)(AFP, 9/28/08)
2008 Sep 28, In Sri Lanka a
suicide attack in Vavuniya killed one civilian and left 8 wounded. A
soldier died form wounds the next day. Troops captured part of a
strategic road in Kilinochchi district after a seven-hour battle that
killed seven rebels and one soldier. Attacks on rebel bunkers and other
scattered fighting killed 11 rebels in the Welioya, Jaffna and Vavuniya
districts. Two other rebels were killed in a brief clash in Ampara in
the east, which the government ousted the rebels from last year.
(AP, 9/28/08)(AP, 9/29/08)
2008 Sep 29, Suspected Tamil
separatists set off a bomb in a parking lot in Colombo, Sri Lanka's
capital, wounding three people.
(AP, 9/29/08)
2008 Oct 2, Sri Lanka’s air force
bombed the offices of the rebel peace secretariat, the headquarters for
its negotiating team in long-defunct peace talks. Scattered battles
killed 42 rebel fighters and two soldiers.
(AP, 10/3/08)
2008 Oct 3, Sri Lankan air force
jets bombed the offices of the Tamil Tiger political chief Balasingham
Nadesan.
(AP, 10/3/08)
2008 Oct 4, In Sri Lanka heavy
fighting near the rebels' administrative capital of Kilinochchi left 20
guerrillas and 4 soldiers dead. Soldiers overran five rebel bunkers in
the Mullaitivu district, killing 5 rebels. 4 rebels and a soldier were
killed in clashes in the Vavuniya and Welioya regions.
(AP, 10/5/08)
2008 Oct 6, In northern Sri Lanka
a suspected rebel suicide bomber blew himself up inside a crowded
opposition party office, killing a former army general and 26 others.
(AP, 10/6/08)
2008 Oct 9, A suspected Tamil
Tiger suicide bomber blew himself up near a convoy carrying a senior
Sri Lankan Cabinet minister, wounding his deputy and at least six
others. One bystander was killed and a wounded person died in the
hospital.
(AP, 10/9/08)(SFC, 10/10/08, p.A17)
2008 Oct 11, In Sri Lanka fighting
around Kilinochchi killed 26 rebels and two soldiers in two separate
clashes. Other battles in Welioya and Vavuniya killed four rebels.
(AP, 10/12/08)
2008 Oct 12, Sri Lanka’s soldiers
destroyed three bunkers and captured four others after battles that
killed 15 rebels near their administrative capital of Kilinochchi.
Separate clashes in the same area killed four rebels and one soldier.
In the northern Jaffna peninsula, troops killed four rebels along the
front lines while a rebel mortar attack killed two soldiers. Clashes in
Mullaitivu killed four rebels and wounded one soldier.
(AP, 10/13/08)
2008 Oct 13, In Sri Lanka fighting
in the Kilinochchi region killed 11 rebel fighters and two soldiers.
Fighting in Jaffna, Vavuniya and Mullaittivu killed nine other rebels.
(AP, 10/14/08)
2008 Oct 13, Swiss authorities
said they have found high concentrations of melamine in biscuits from
Thailand and Sri Lanka and have called on other European countries to
withdraw the products.
(AP, 10/13/08)
2008 Oct 14, In Sri Lanka
government forces pounded rebel defenses with airstrikes and ground
assaults. Heavy fighting across the north killed 49 Tamil Tiger
fighters and 7 soldiers. TamilNet reported that 3 soldiers were killed
in the government–controlled east.
(AP, 10/15/08)(SFC, 10/15/08, p.A5)
2008 Oct 15, In Sri Lanka air
force jets bombed a group of rebels who were building an earthen
embankment as a defense against advancing government forces in
Mullaitivu.
(AP, 10/15/08)
2008 Oct 16, Sri Lankan troops
captured the rebel-held town of Maniyakkulam, in the island's north
following heavy fighting that killed a large group of guerrillas.
(AFP, 10/17/08)
2008 Oct 20, The Sri Lankan
government admitted that scores of its troops had been killed or
injured in fierce fighting with the Tamil Tigers, its biggest reported
battlefield loss in months. Battles since Oct 18 had left 33 soldiers
dead, three missing in action and 48 injured. The bodies of 11 rebels
were recovered from the battlefield.
(AFP, 10/20/08)
2008 Oct 22, In Sri Lanka the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rammed explosives-laden boats
against the MV Ruhuna and MV Nimalawa which were supplying the besieged
Jaffna peninsula in a pre-dawn attack. Officials said at least six
members of the elite Black Sea Tiger suicide squad may have perished in
the attack.
(AP, 10/22/08)
2008 Oct 28, In Sri Lanka the
Tamil Tigers' rudimentary air force bombed a power station on the
outskirts of Colombo. The bombing damaged some turbines at the power
station. A worker hospitalized after the attack died the next day.
(AP, 10/29/08)
2008 Oct 29, Sri Lankan troops
captured a small village in northern Sri Lanka, pushing ahead with
their offensive against the Tamil Tigers hours after the rebel group
launched a brazen airstrike on the capital.
(AP, 10/29/08)
2008 Nov 1, Sri Lanka's defense
ministry said its warships sank at least four rebel boats and killed at
least 14 guerrillas while the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
said they destroyed a navy fast attack craft and a hovercraft. Security
forces took control of a two-kilometer (1.25-mile) rebel bunker line
north of Kilinochchi amidst heavy fire.
(AFP, 11/1/08)
2008 Nov 15, Sri Lanka's president
asked Tamil Tigers to surrender after troops claimed re-taking
Pooneryn, a strategically-important town from the separatists,
following months of heavy fighting. Army troops destroyed 16 rebel
bunkers in the Mullaitivu district and fought a series of battles in
the rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi, inflicting "heavy casualties" on
the guerrillas.
(AP, 11/15/08)
2008 Nov 16, Sri Lanka's air force
pounded the Tamil Tiger rebels' main northern defense line in the
Muhamalai area of Jaffna peninsula.
(AP, 11/16/08)
2008 Nov 17, Sri Lankan troops
captured the strategic towns of Mankulam, Pannikankulam, and
Kumalamunai from Tamil Tiger rebels following fierce fighting in the
north of the island.
(AP, 11/17/08)
2008 Nov 18, Sri Lankan naval
forces backed by helicopter gunships attacked a group of rebel boats,
sinking two and killing six Tamil Tiger sailors. Sri Lankan air force
jets bombed a rebel training camp in the north as ground forces waged
new battles with Tamil Tiger rebels across the front lines.
(AP, 11/18/08)(AP, 11/19/08)
2008 Nov 20, Sri Lanka's military
said that it smashed a key Tamil Tiger defense line in the island's far
north and seized an airfield, putting new pressure on the shrinking
jungle mini-state.
(AFP, 11/20/08)
2008 Nov 23, In Sri Lanka at least
27 soldiers were killed and another 70 wounded in fresh fighting just
outside Kilinochchi, the political capital of the Liberation Tigers
(LTTE). Tamil Tiger rebels said they killed 43 Sri Lankan soldiers in
the island's north, halting the government's march toward a strategic
crossroads.
(AFP, 11/24/08)(AP, 11/24/08)
2008 Nov 25, In eastern Sri Lanka
12 people, including three suspected Tiger rebels, were killed in fresh
violence. Heavy fighting raged on three fronts around the northern town
of Kilinochchi, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's (LTTE) political
headquarters.
(AFP, 11/26/08)
2008 Nov 29, Officials in Sri
Lanka said floods caused by days of heavy rains killed at least seven
people, left four soldiers missing and displaced tens of thousands in
insurgency-ravaged northern Sri Lanka.
(AP, 11/29/08)
2008 Nov 30, Sri Lankan soldiers
recaptured Kokavil, a key northern town near the headquarters of Tamil
Tiger rebels, 18 years after the area was seized by the insurgents.
(AP, 12/1/08)
2008 Dec 6, Sri Lanka's military
captured a rebel-held village, bringing half of a main highway leading
to the rebels' de facto capital of Kilinochchi under government control.
(AP, 12/6/08)
2008 Dec 10, In northern Sri Lanka
separatist Tamil rebels fought intense battles against government
forces trying to advance on the militants' de facto capital, killing at
least 89 soldiers. The military disputed the death toll, saying pitched
battles in the north over the past two days had left 20 soldiers and 27
rebels dead.
(AP, 12/11/08)
2008 Dec 12, In Sri Lanka clashes
with troops left 10 rebels dead near their de facto northern capital.
(AP, 12/13/08)
2008 Dec 13, Sri Lankan air force
jets bombed Tamil separatists in the island's embattled north.
(AP, 12/13/08)
2008 Dec 16, In northern Sri Lanka
intense fighting left at least 25 government troops and 120 Tamil
Tigers dead in ongoing battles for the rebels' political capital. The
rebels said they forced the troops to retreat after a day of bloody
battles, killing 170 soldiers and wounding more than 400 others.
(AP, 12/16/08)(AP, 12/17/08)
2008 Dec 17, Sri Lankan fighter
jets and attack helicopters pummeled rebel fortifications across the
north, as government forces pushed ahead with their offensive against
the Tamil Tigers' northern stronghold in the face of punishing seasonal
rains and stiff rebel resistance.
(AP, 12/17/08)
2008 Dec 19, Sri Lankan fighter
jets and attack helicopters bombed rebel bunkers and a flotilla of
boats in the northern war zone Friday as government troops breached
another section of the Tamil Tigers defense fortifications.
(AP, 12/19/08)
2008 Dec 21, Sri Lanka’s
government said its troops captured the strategic village of Nedunkerni
in the northeast. A pro-rebel report said Tamil Tiger rebels killed 60
Sri Lankan troops advancing toward their de facto capital. The
government said 12 soldiers died.
(AP, 12/21/08)
2008 Dec 22, Sri Lankan troops
launched a major attack against Tamil rebel fortifications, sparking
clashes that killed 57 insurgents and 10 soldiers. The Tamil Tigers
said more than 100 soldiers were killed.
(AP, 12/22/08)
2008 Dec 28, In Sri Lanka a
suspected Tamil rebel suicide bomber killed at least seven troops and
one civilian in a blast at a guard post near the Sri Lankan capital.
Another 17 people, including four civilians, were wounded.
(AP, 12/28/08)
2008 Dec 30, Sri Lanka's Tamil
Tiger separatists said are open to restarting peace talks with the
government, despite the continuing military offensive aimed at crushing
the group.
(AP, 12/31/08)
2009 Jan 1, Sri Lanka said its
forces have captured a key crossroads from Tamil Tiger rebels in the
north and that it will seize the guerrillas' de facto capital within
two days. The fighting killed 50 rebels and four soldiers. A roadside
bomb blast blamed on the rebels killed two policemen on a foot patrol
in the eastern region.
(AP, 1/1/09)
2009 Jan 2, In northern Sri Lanka
government forces captured the Tamil Tigers' de facto capital, dealing
a devastating blow to the rebels' quarter-century fight for an
independent state. A suspected Tamil Tiger suicide attacker on a
motorcycle detonated a bomb near the air force headquarters in the
heart of Colombo during the afternoon rush hour, killing two airmen.
(AP, 1/2/09)
2009 Jan 3, Sri Lankan troops
advanced on the military headquarters of the Tamil Tigers and engaged
the rebels in fresh gun battles. At least three people were wounded in
a bomb blast in Colombo.
(AFP, 1/3/09)
2009 Jan 4, Sri Lanka’s
rebel-affiliated TamilNet Web site reported that the insurgents stalled
a military advance on the road to Mullaittivu, killing 53 soldiers and
wounding 80 others.
(AP, 1/5/09)
2009 Jan 5, Sri Lanka’s government
troops captured a strategic Tamil Tiger-held town and moved closer to a
key rebel base, as citizens raised flags and held a moment of silence
to honor the military as it battles to end the country's 25-year-old
civil war. The rebels, as well has hundreds of thousands of civilians
displaced by the fighting, were confined to a jungle area slightly
larger than the city of Los Angeles.
(AP, 1/5/09)
2009 Jan 6, Sri Lankan forces
overran the Tamil Tigers' northernmost defense line and took full
control of Muhamalai, forcing the rebels to fall back about 600 yards
to another defense line. Armed men attacked a private Sri Lankan
television station, tossing hand grenades, shooting out TV screens and
starting a fire that caused heavy damage. Reporters Without Borders
said the attack follows accusations by state media that the Maharaja
Organization's television and radio stations were not "patriotic"
enough in their coverage of the government's recent victories.
(AP, 1/6/09)
2009 Jan 7, Sri Lanka officially
outlawed the Tamil Tigers, ruling out for now the possibility of peace
talks to end a 25-year civil war.
(WSJ, 1/8/09, p.A1)
2009 Jan 8, Sri Lankan troops
captured an important Tamil Tiger base and pounded the rebels with air
attacks, forcing the insurgents to withdraw deeper into the dwindling
area that remains under their control. Gunmen on a motorcycle shot and
killed Lasantha Wickrematunge, the editor of a Sri Lankan newspaper
critical of the government, the second violent attack on media this
week. Three days after he was gunned down execution-style,
Wickrematunge's newspaper published a haunting, self-written obituary
in which he says he was targeted for his writings and adds: "When
finally I am killed, it will be the government that kills me."
(AP, 1/8/09)(AP, 1/12/09)
2009 Jan 9, Sri Lankan troops
captured Elephant Pass, the Tamil Tigers' last stronghold on the Jaffna
peninsula, seizing control of a symbolic highway and isolating the
retreating rebels in a shrinking slice of northeastern jungle.
Government soldiers seized a rebel training camp near the village of
Mulliyaweli, in Mullaitivu.
(AP, 1/9/09)(AP, 1/11/09)
2009 Jan 10, In Sri Lanka
government soldiers captured a guerrilla camp in the village of
Aiyamperumal in Mullaittivu. A pro-rebel TamilNet Web site reported
that four civilians were killed in a government artillery assault on a
rebel-held village in Mullaitivu.
(AP, 1/11/09)
2009 Jan 12, In Sri Lanka heavy
fighting was reported around guerrilla-controlled Mullaittivu district,
with troops seizing a rebel administration base, a training camp and a
bunker line.
(AFP, 1/13/09)
2009 Jan 14, Sri Lankan defense
officials said troops have established total control over the northern
peninsula of Jaffna after flushing out the last remaining pockets of
rebel resistance.
(AFP, 1/14/09)
2009 Jan 17, Sri Lanka’s
Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka said troops have almost completely
cornered the Tamil Tigers in their northeastern jungle base and that
the rebels' elusive supremo may already have fled the island.
(AFP, 1/18/09)
2009 Jan 21, Sri Lanka's military
declared a "safety zone" to enable some 250,000 trapped civilians to
cross into government-controlled territory from the diminishing area
held by Tamil Tiger rebels in the war-torn north.
(AP, 1/21/09)
2009 Jan 22, The Sri Lankan
military shelled a village and a makeshift hospital inside a
government-declared "safe zone" for civilians in the north, killing at
least 30 people and injuring scores of others, according to local
health officials.
(AP, 1/22/09)
2009 Jan 23, In Sri Lanka
assailants on motorbikes attacked and wounded a newspaper editor and
his wife as they drove to work, the latest in a string of assault on
journalists.
(AP, 1/23/09)
2009 Jan 25, Sri Lankan troops
overran the last town controlled by Tamil rebels, striking a major blow
in Asia's longest-running ethnic conflict.
(AFP, 1/25/09)
2009 Jan 26, A UN spokesman in
Colombo said dozens of civilians have been killed in Sri Lanka's
embattled north during ongoing heavy fighting between government troops
and Tamil rebels. At least 10 civilians were killed today inside an
area declared as a "safety zone." Over the weekend, dozens of people
were killed or wounded.
(AFP, 1/26/09)
2009 Jan 27, In Sri Lanka a health
official alleged that at least 300 civilians were wounded and scores
feared killed by Sri Lankan army artillery shells fired into a
designated "safe zone" for ethnic Tamils trapped by fighting between
the military and Tamil rebels.
(AP, 1/27/09)
2009 Jan 28, Sri Lankan forces
fought their way into another village still held by Tamil Tiger rebels,
as neighboring India raised fears for civilians caught up in the war.
(AFP, 1/28/09)
2009 Jan 29, In Sri Lanka UN
workers evacuated hundreds of severely wounded civilians from behind
rebel lines as government troops fought to secure final victory over
the Tamil Tigers. Up to 250,000 civilians were trapped in the combat
zone in the northeast of the island.
(AFP, 1/29/09)
2009 Jan 30, Sri Lanka rejected
growing international calls for a ceasefire amid fears for the safety
of 250,000 civilians trapped as the military pushed for victory against
Tamil rebels.
(AFP, 1/30/09)
2009 Feb 1, Sri Lanka's army
declared that rescuing civilians trapped by its offensive against Tamil
Tiger rebels is now one of its top priorities, and said it captured two
camps used by suicide squads. Shells hit a crowded hospital in the
northeast combat zone, killing at least nine people.
(AP, 2/1/09)(AFP, 2/2/09)
2009 Feb 2, In Sri Lanka rare
images of suffering civilians trapped in the war zone emerged: Dead
parents still cradling their children. A teenage boy with no arms
crying in despair. A severely crowded hospital with many patients lying
on mats under already full beds.
(AP, 2/2/09)
2009 Feb 3, In Sri Lanka patients
who could walk fled one of last functioning hospitals in the northern
war zone after it was hit by artillery shells, while the Red Cross
negotiated for the evacuation of those severely wounded. The military
said it captured the Tamil Tigers' seventh and final airstrip,
effectively grounding their tiny air force.
(AP, 2/3/09)
2009 Feb 4, Sri Lanka's president
said that the Tamil Tiger rebels are on the verge of defeat, but dozens
of civilians were reported killed as fierce fighting continued in
Asia's longest-running civil war. The last hospital in Sri Lanka's
shrinking war zone was evacuated as Red Cross staff and wounded
civilians fled attacks that apparently included cluster munitions. At
least 52 civilians were killed by shelling in the war zone.
(AFP, 2/4/09)(AP, 2/4/09)(WSJ, 2/5/09, p.A1)
2009 Feb 5, Sri Lanka's prime
minister rejected calls for a cease-fire from donor countries concerned
by reports of growing civilian casualties in the South Asian nation's
civil war and instead demanded the Tamil Tiger rebels' unconditional
surrender.
(AP, 2/5/09)
2009 Feb 8, In Sri Lanka an
official said more than 15,000 civilians have fled the northern war
zone over the last three days, as government forces appeared poised to
crush the separatist Tamil Tigers.
(AP, 2/8/09)
2009 Feb 9, In Sri Lanka a woman
with a bomb strapped to her body hid in a crowd of civilians at a
refugee camp in Vishvamadu, blowing herself up and killing 29 people as
security forces frisked people fleeing the northern war zone.
(AP, 2/9/09)(SFC, 2/10/09, p.A6)(Econ, 2/14/09, p.52)
2009 Feb 10, Sri Lanka's military
spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said Tamil Tiger guerrillas shot dead 19
civilians and wounded 75 others fleeing territory still under rebel
control. The Red Cross loaded some 240 sick and wounded onto a boat to
evacuate them from the war zone. The Red Cross said at least 16
patients at a makeshift hospital were killed by shelling.
(AFP, 2/10/09)(AP, 2/10/09)(SFC, 2/11/09, p.A2)
2009 Feb 12, Sri Lanka's army
disbanded the mostly ineffective "safe zone" it had established in the
war-wracked north and set up a new refuge for the tens of thousands of
civilians still trapped. A Sri Lankan (26) set himself on fire outside
the UN complex in Geneva in apparent protest against the military
campaign. A five-page letter found near his body identified the man as
a Tamil who had been living in Britain.
(AP, 2/12/09)(AP, 2/14/09)
2009 Feb 13, In Sri Lanka the top
health official said artillery shelling and gunbattles between
government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels were killing about 40
civilians every day and wounding more than 100 others inside Sri
Lanka's war zone.
(AP, 2/13/09)
2009 Feb 13, In the southern
Philippines 9 gunmen snatched a Sri Lankan peace activist from his
home, the latest in a wave of kidnappings blamed on al-Qaida-linked
militants.
(AP, 2/13/09)
2009 Feb 14, In Sri Lanka a
suspected Tamil Tiger rebel hurled a hand grenade at a bus full of
war-displaced refugees, killing a woman and wounding 13 others.
(AP, 2/14/09)
2009 Feb 16, The UN said Tamil
Tiger guerrillas have prevented tens of thousands of civilians from
leaving Sri Lanka's war zone and those trying to escape have been "shot
and sometimes killed."
(AP, 2/16/09)
2009 Feb 17, The UN agency for
children said Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers have stepped up conscription of
child soldiers, as the rebels prepare to face a final onslaught by the
military. Tamil politicians accused the Sri Lankan government of
ignoring the safety of tens of thousands of civilians in its campaign
to wipe out the Tamil Tiger rebels, saying more than 2,000
noncombatants have been killed in the recent fighting.
(AFP, 2/17/09)(AP, 2/17/09)
2009 Feb 18, In Sri Lanka
government artillery attacks and air raids inside the northern war zone
killed at least 38 civilians and wounded 140 others.
(AP, 2/18/09)
2009 Feb 19, In southern India
lawyers sympathetic to Sri Lankan rebels set fire to a police station
in Chennai and clashed with police leaving 20 polcie injured.
(WSJ, 2/20/09, p.A12)
2009 Feb 20, Tamil Tiger rebel
pilots on a kamikaze mission crashed their planes in the Sri Lankan
capital, killing two people.
(AP, 2/21/09)
2009 Feb 21, In eastern Sri Lanka
a group of Tamil rebels stormed a village, killing two ethnic Sinhalese
farmers and wounding 15 others.
(AP, 2/21/09)
2009 Feb 21, In India Sivaprakasam
(60), a former civil servant, burned himself to death in Tamil Nadu to
protest Sri Lanka’s campaign against the Tamil Tiger rebels. His was
the 5th Tamil Nadu suicide by fire this year.
(Econ, 2/28/09, p.46)
2009 Feb 23, Sri Lanka's Tamil
rebels, facing likely defeat on the battlefield, appealed for a
cease-fire, a call immediately rejected by the government. Rebels said
more than 30 civilians were killed and many more injured as the
government advanced on Puthukkudirirppu.
(AP, 2/23/09)(AP, 2/24/09)
2009 Feb 24, Sri Lanka’s
government troops advanced on the last urban area in the north still in
the hands of Tamil Tiger rebels. The defense ministry said 13 bodies of
rebel fighters were recovered. The LTTE said 10 civilians were
killed and 25 injured when troops fired artillery guns at the densely
populated Puttumattalan.
(AFP, 2/24/09)
2009 Feb 25, In Sri Lanka troops
fought on the outskirts of the last town under rebel control. Aid
groups estimated that more than 200,000 people were trapped in a small
strip of rebel-held territory.
(AP, 2/25/09)
2009 Feb 27, In Sri Lanka
government forces drove deeper into the Tamil Tigers' dwindling
stronghold, confining the rebel group that once controlled a vast swath
of northern Sri Lanka to an area smaller than Manhattan.
(AP, 2/27/09)
2009 Mar 3, In Pakistan at least a
dozen men ambushed Sri Lanka's cricket team with rifles, grenades and
rocket launchers as they drove to the stadium ahead of a match in
Lahore, killing 6 policemen and a driver. The attackers melted away
into the city. None were killed or captured.
(AP, 3/3/09)
2009 Mar 4, The UN described the
war zone in northern Sri Lanka as an "unfolding humanitarian
catastrophe," where civilians were trapped and dying because they
lacked food and medicine.
(AP, 3/4/09)
2009 Mar 5, Sri Lanka offered a
new safe passage for thousands of civilians trapped in the island's war
zone as a local Red Cross employee was killed while helping
non-combatants leave the area.
(AP, 3/5/09)
2009 Mar 6, The Sri Lankan
government appealed for tens of thousands of civilians to flee the
northern war zone and said it would open two safe passages for the
exodus. Sri Lankan soldiers assailed the last slice of land still
controlled by ethnic Tamil separatists, killing at least 32 rebels in
Mullaitivu.
(AP, 3/6/09)(AP, 3/7/09)
2009 Mar 7, In Sri Lanka more than
100 Tamil Tiger rebels were killed in two days of fighting as they
tried to break a military stranglehold.
(AFP, 3/8/09)
2009 Mar 9, The Sri Lankan
military said its troops had killed at least 250 Tamil Tigers during a
weekend of fierce fighting around the rebels' shrinking fiefdom in the
northeast of the island.
(AP, 3/9/09)
2009 Mar 10, In southern Sri Lanka
a rebel suicide bomber attacked a procession of Muslims celebrating a
religious holiday, killing 15 people and critically wounding Postal
Services Minister Mahinda Wijesekera (66).
(AP, 3/10/09)(AFP, 3/11/09)
2009 Mar 11, Sri Lanka’s military
killed Sabaratnam Selvathurai, a senior rebel leader, in fighting in
Puthukkudiyiruppu, the last town held by the rebels.
(AP, 3/12/09)
2009 Mar 12, The Sri Lankan army
seized the last remaining medical facility held by separatist Tamil
Tiger rebels in the north of the island. The army estimated that fewer
than 500 Tigers were still fighting, although they had also forced some
civilians to fight as well.
(AP, 3/12/09)
2009 Mar 15, Sri Lanka’s
government forces overran a former Tamil Tiger police post, killing at
least nine rebels and raising to 41 the number killed in weekend
fighting.
(AFP, 3/15/09)
2009 Mar 21, In Sri Lanka more
than 1,100 civilians fled the war zone as government troops fought to
wipe out separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.
(AFP, 3/22/09)
2009 Mar 22, In Sri Lanka the
military said it had killed two rebel leaders during fighting in the
northeast of the island, where the LTTE guerrillas are cornered.
(AFP, 3/22/09)
2009 Mar 24, Sri Lanka's military
accused "a vicious coalition" of international aid groups of harboring
terrorists and seeking to prolong the island's civil war for economic
gain.
(AP, 3/24/09)
2009 Mar 25, Sri Lanka's military
repulsed a Tamil Tiger counterattack in the north of the island and
killed at least 30 of the rebels.
(AP, 3/26/09)
2009 Mar 26, In Sri Lanka more
than 2,100 civilians fled in one day from the northern war zone where
the military is squeezing the Tamil Tiger rebels into a smaller area as
it pushes to end 25 years of civil war. in New York, John Holmes, the
UN's top humanitarian official, said the international organization
estimated 150,000 to 190,000 civilians were trapped by the fighting and
unable to escape, resulting in dozens of deaths each day.
(AP, 3/27/09)
2009 Mar 27, Sri Lanka’s military
said it had killed 29 rebels. 13 were reported killed in a battle near
Puthkkudiyirippu, while army snipers killed another 16.
(AP, 3/27/09)
2009 Mar 29, In Sri Lanka heavy
ground battles between the army troops and the guerrillas left 29
rebels dead.
(AP, 3/30/09)
2009 Mar 30, In Sri Lanka 26
rebels were killed in a sea battle off Chalai. Four boats belonging to
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were sunk in the battle, which
lasted about four hours before dawn. A leader of the Sea Tigers, the
rebels' naval wing, was among the dead while one government sailor died
and three were wounded.
(AP, 3/30/09)
2009 Mar 31, Sri Lanka's Tamil
Tiger rebels appealed again for a halt to fighting in their war against
the government, though they denied they were on the brink of defeat
despite being backed into an ever-shrinking pocket of land.
(AP, 3/31/09)
2009 Apr 1, Sri Lanka’s government
said more than 23,000 civilians escaped last month from the northern
war zone, where the military appeared close to crushing the separatist
rebels.
(AP, 4/1/09)
2009 Apr 3, Sri Lankan troops
captured Anandapuram, a key village from the Tamil Tigers, after heavy
fighting that left at least 44 guerrillas dead. Police commandos killed
13 Tiger rebels in the eastern district of Ampara.
(AFP, 4/3/09)
2009 Apr 5, Sri Lanka’s military
said 3 days of intense fighting in the northeast has left 525 Tamil
Tiger rebels dead and pushed the remaining guerrillas into a small
"no-fire" zone crowded with tens of thousands of civilians. Woman rebel
commanders Vidusha and Durga were reported to be among those killed.
(AP, 4/5/09)(Econ, 4/11/09, p.38)
2009 Apr 7, UNESCO awarded the
World Press Freedom Prize to Lasantha Wickrematunge, a murdered Sri
Lankan journalist, whose self-written obituary accused the government
of silencing him. His self-written obituary was published three days
after his murder in early January, in which no arrests have been made.
(AP, 4/7/09)
2009 Apr 9, Sri Lanka’s defense
ministry said at least 10 Tiger rebels were killed in overnight
fighting in Mullaittivu district, and accused the rebels of positioning
their heavy weapons near civilian shelters. The pro-Tamil Tiger website
Tamilnet.com said heavy shelling by the Sri Lankan army of a designated
safe area had left 129 civilians dead and 282 wounded.
(AFP, 4/9/09)
2009 Apr 12, Sri Lanka's president
ordered government troops to halt their offensive against cornered
Tamil rebels for two days to give tens of thousands of civilians a
chance to escape the fighting.
(AFP, 4/12/09)
2009 Apr 15, Sri Lankan forces
attacked Tamil guerrillas with mortar fire, artillery and heavy machine
guns following a two-day cease-fire aimed at letting civilians flee the
war zone, a pro-rebel Web site reported. The government denied
launching a new attack.
(AP, 4/15/09)
2009 Apr 16, Sri Lankan troops
backed by helicopter gunships attacked Tamil Tiger defenses in the
northeast, a rebel-allied Web site reported, as international pressure
grew for a new cease-fire to allow civilians to escape the fighting.
(AP, 4/16/09)
2009 Apr 18, In Sri Lanka 17
rebels were killed and 22 wounded in offensives aimed at clearing new
escape routes for the civilians and a road link for the military to
enter the zone. According to the military more than 2,800 civilians
were able to flee the war zone.
(AP, 4/19/09)
2009 Apr 20, Sri Lanka’s military
said some 35,000 civilians fled the last corner of territory held by
the Tamil Tigers, as the government warned the rebels it would launch a
final assault in 24 hours. According to Tamil rebels 1,000 civilians
died in a government raid on their territory. The military denied the
accusation saying only 17 civilians were killed and that they died in
rebels suicide bombing. Over the next 9 days some 114,520 civilians
fled the area.
(AP, 4/20/09)(AP, 4/21/09)(Econ, 5/2/09, p.44)
2009 Apr 20, Thousands of Tamils
blocked some of London's busiest roads, demonstrating outside the
Houses of Parliament for an immediate ceasefire in the war between
Tamil rebels and Sri Lanka's government.
(AFP, 4/20/09)
2009 Apr 21, Sri Lanka’s military
said 52,000 had escaped the war zone.
(AP, 4/21/09)
2009 Apr 22, Two Tamil Tiger
officials surrendered to the Sri Lankan army, and refugees joined a
stream of more than 80,000 people the government says have fled a war
zone that appeared to shrink by the hour.
(AP, 4/22/09)
2009 Apr 23, Sri Lanka pleaded for
international help after Doctors Without Borders warned that civilian
casualties are rising rapidly in the country's war zone despite the
exodus of more than 100,000 people. 15 people were killed when shells
hit a Roman Catholic church, wounding a priest whose leg was amputated.
(AP, 4/23/09)
2009 Apr 25, In Sri Lanka the
Tamil Tiger rebels warned that tens of thousands of civilians trapped
in the northern war zone are facing starvation, as the UN sent its top
humanitarian official to assess the crisis.
(AP, 4/25/09)
2009 Apr 26, Facing imminent
battlefield defeat, Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels declared a
unilateral cease-fire and called on the government to halt its
offensive to spare the tens of thousands of civilians trapped by the
fighting.
(AP, 4/26/09)
2009 Apr 27, The Sri Lankan
government, under intense pressure to prevent civilian deaths, said it
would immediately stop airstrikes and artillery attacks but rejected
calls for a cease-fire in its war against the Tamil Tiger rebels.
(AP, 4/27/09)
2009 Apr 28, A Sri Lanka
rebel-linked Web site and a doctor in the region said government forces
pounded rebel territory with a fierce artillery barrage, a day after
the government pledged to stop using heavy weapons to prevent civilian
casualties.
(AP, 4/28/09)
2009 Apr 29, In Sri Lanka the
visiting French and British foreign ministers urged Sri Lanka to accept
a cease-fire in its war with ethnic Tamil rebels, saying it needed to
act quickly to save the lives of civilians in the war zone.
(AP, 4/29/09)
2009 Apr 30, Sri Lanka's president
rejected international appeals for a cease-fire in his nation's bloody
civil war, as the Tamil Tiger rebels vowed never to surrender to the
advancing government forces.
(AP, 4/30/09)
2009 May 1, Sri Lanka's government
dropped leaflets across the northern war zone urging civilians to flee
the fighting amid accusations the military pounded the area with
artillery shells that killed at least 10 civilians.
(AP, 5/1/09)
2009 May 2, In Sri Lanka a
government doctor and a rebel-linked Web site said artillery shells hit
a makeshift hospital in Sri Lanka's northern war zone, killing at least
64 civilians.
(AP, 5/2/09)
2009 May 4, Sri Lankan forces
battled Tamil Tiger insurgents, pushing deeper into rebel-held
territory amid a report that navy gunboats heavily shelled an area
packed with civilians.
(AP, 5/4/09)
2009 May 6, Sri Lanka’s Tamil
Tiger rebels said intense fighting in the war zone was killing and
wounding hundreds of civilians a day and asked for the UN to push for
urgent food shipments to avert a hunger crisis.
(AP, 5/6/09)
2009 May 9, Human Rights Watch
accused Sri Lankan forces of repeatedly striking hospitals in the
northern war zone with indiscriminate artillery and aerial attacks that
have killed scores of people, a charge the military denied. Sri Lankan
police arrested three journalists for London-based Channel 4 television
news on charges of tarnishing the image of government security forces.
(AP, 5/9/09)
2009 May 10, In Sri Lanka a
government doctor said an all-night artillery barrage in the war zone
killed at least 378 civilians and forced thousands to flee to makeshift
shelters. Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels accused the government of
killing more than 2,000 civilians in 24 hours of artillery attacks, but
the military vehemently denied the allegations.
(AP, 5/10/09)(AFP, 5/10/09)
2009 May 11, The UN condemned a
"bloodbath" in Sri Lanka's northern war zone after two days of shelling
that a government doctor said killed as many as 1,000 ethnic Tamil
civilians, including 106 children.
(AP, 5/11/09)
2009 May 12, Sri Lanka's Tamil
Tiger rebels accused government forces of killing at least 47 people in
an artillery and mortar attack on a hospital. The island's military
denied the charges. The defense ministry said its troops had captured
more ground in the latest fighting and had recovered 35 rebel bodies.
(AFP, 5/12/09)
2009 May 13, In Sri Lanka shells
hit the only hospital in the northern war zone, killing at least 50
people in the second such attack in two days. Medics at the makeshift
facility said they were using brief lulls between explosions to tend to
patients but had little to offer beyond gauze and bandages.
(AP, 5/13/09)
2009 May 14, In Sri Lanka doctors
and aides abandoned the only hospital in the war zone amid unrelenting
shell attacks. The military said thousands of civilians braved rebel
gunfire and fled across the front lines.
(AP, 5/14/09)
2009 May 16, Sri Lankan forces
seized control of the island's entire coastline for the first time in
decades, sealing the Tamil Tigers in a tiny pocket of territory and
cutting off the possibility of a sea escape by the rebels' top leaders.
(AP, 5/16/09)
2009 May 17, The Tamil Tiger
rebels admitted defeat in their 25-year-old war with the Sri Lankan
government, offering to lay down their guns as government forces swept
across their last strongholds in the northeast. The government rejected
the last-ditch call for a cease-fire, saying the thousands of civilians
trapped in the war zone all have escaped to safety and there was no
longer any reason to stop the battle. Troops killed at least 70 rebels
trying to escape the one-square km patch of land that government troops
have surrounded.
(AP, 5/17/09)
2009 May 18, Sri Lanka declared it
had crushed the Tamil Tiger rebels, killing their chief, Velupillai
Prabhakaran, along with top deputies, Soosai and Pottu Amman, and
ending their three-decade quest for an independent homeland for
minority Tamils. Diplomats in Brussels said the EU will endorse a call
for an independent war crimes investigation into the killing of
civilians in Sri Lanka. LTTE leaders Balasingham Nadesan and S.
Puleedevan and their families were reportedly machine-gunned while
advancing under a white flag. Defense Sec. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, brother
of the president, later said 6,261 soldiers had been killed in 3 years
of fighting and that a total of 23,00 troops had died since October,
1981, when the insurgency began.
(AP, 5/18/09)(Econ, 5/30/09, p.44)(Econ, 6/6/09,
p.42)
2009 May 19, In London, England, a
protest outside parliament turned violent early as relief agencies and
governments called for urgent humanitarian aid after Sri Lanka
announced defeat for Tamil Tiger rebels.
(AFP, 5/19/09)
2009 May 20, Sri Lanka celebrated
victory over the Tamil Tigers with a national holiday as the army
hunted fugitive rebels, shooting dead 8 thought to have escaped from
the final battle.
(AFP, 5/20/09)
2009 May 21, Sri Lanka said it
planned to return most of the nearly 300,000 civilians displaced by
civil war to their homes this year as the president called on the
country to be magnanimous in victory.
(AP, 5/21/09)
2009 May 27, In Sri Lanka
government troops killed 11 suspected guerrillas in the eastern
jungles, where rebel holdouts were said to be entrenched.
(SFC, 5/28/09, p.A2)
2009 Jun 4, Sri Lanka's navy
seized a foreign-owned ship loaded with medical, food and other
supplies for war-hit civilians, saying the vessel had entered its
territorial waters illegally.
(AFP, 6/4/09)
2009 Jul 21, Sri Lanka welcomed a
tentative agreement with the IMF for a 2.5-billion-dollar bailout as
the country emerged from a near four-decade-long separatist war.
(AFP, 7/21/09)
2009 Jul 24, The IMF approved a
$2.6 billion loan to Sri Lanka.
(Econ, 8/8/09, p.35)
2009 Aug 7, Sri Lankan authorities
questioned Selvarasa Pathmanathan, former chief arms smuggler the new
leader of the Tamil Tiger rebels, after he was arrested 2 days earlier
in Southeast Asia and flown to Sri Lanka. Rebels said he was arrested
in Kuala Lumpur.
(AP, 8/7/09)
2009 Aug 8, Sri Lanka held local
elections near an area once dominated by the Tamil Tiger rebels, but
voters largely stayed away from the polls in the violence-scarred
region. Voter turnout was 22% in Jaffna and 52% in Vavuniya, according
to election monitors. The pro-Tiger Tamil National Alliance (TNA)
scored unexpected success.
(AP, 8/8/09)(Econ, 8/15/09, p.35)
2009 Aug 15, Sri Lanka's Roman
Catholic leaders called for the release of ethnic Tamils held in
military-run displacement camps, saying they are confined like
prisoners behind barbed wire.
(AP, 8/15/09)
2009 Aug 31, In Sri Lanka reporter
J.S. Tissainayagam, singled out by President Barack Obama as an example
of persecuted journalists around the globe, was sentenced to 20 years
in prison on charges of violating the country's harsh anti-terror law.
He was arrested in March, 2008, and indicted five months later under
the anti-terror law.
(AP, 8/31/09)
2009 Sep 7, The UN’s Children's
Fund reacted furiously to Sri Lanka's decision to expel its spokesman
over his allegedly pro-rebel stance in the final stages of the island's
ethnic war. James Elder, communications chief for UNICEF in Sri Lanka,
was accused by the government of issuing "propaganda" in support of the
Tamil Tiger separatists before their defeat at the hands of government
forces in May.
(AFP, 9/7/09)
2009 Sep 11, Sri Lankan
authorities sent home nearly 10,000 war refugees amid growing
international concern for the nearly 300,000 Tamil civilians still
detained in government-run camps.
(AP, 9/11/09)
2009 Sep 26, In Sri Lanka soldiers
fired on a group of war refugees trying to flee a camp in the north of
the island, wounding two.
(AP, 9/27/09)
2009 Oct 2, In Sri Lanka a
schoolgirl (12) was killed by a car bomb in northwestern Sri Lanka that
also wounded 12 others, mostly students who were about to travel in the
vehicle.
(AP, 10/2/09)
2009 Oct 16, Canada detained the
rusting merchant vessel named Ocean Lady, believed to be trying to
smuggle 76 migrants from Sri Lanka onto its Pacific coast at Vancouver
Island.
(Reuters, 10/17/09)
2009 Oct 19, Sri Lankan shares
tumbled after the US slapped fraud charges on Raj Rajaratnam (52), a
billionaire Sri Lankan-born hedge fund manager, whose investments in
the island came under a fresh "review." Rajaratnam had admitted funding
the Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) soon after the December
2004 tsunami. The TRO was outlawed as a front of the separatist Tamil
Tigers in both Sri Lanka and the United States in 2007.
(AFP, 10/19/09)
2009 Oct 22, In Sri Lanka more
than 4,000 ethnic Tamils displaced by civil war left government-run
camps, the latest to be released amid international criticism that Sri
Lanka is moving too slowly to let thousands of others go.
(AP, 10/22/09)
2009 Nov 21, Sri Lanka said it
would grant free movement to the remaining war-displaced civilians held
in internment camps, meeting a key demand of the international
community. The government reiterated it would complete the resettlement
of civilians by the end of January.
(AFP, 11/21/09)
2009 Dec 1, Sri Lanka gave
permission to nearly 127,000 Tamil refugees to leave squalid and
overrun government camps where they have been detained since the
country's civil war ended six months ago.
(AP, 12/1/09)
2009 Dec 12, In Thailand 4 Kazakhs
and a Belarusian were detained and their New Zealand registered
aircraft impounded after it landed in the Thai capital with tons of war
weaponry on board that originated in North Korea. The Ilyushin 76
transport from Kazakhstan was allegedly traveling from North Korea to
Sri Lanka when it asked to land in Bangkok to refuel. According to a
flight plan seen by arms trafficking researchers, the aircraft was
chartered by Hong Kong-based Union Top Management Ltd. to fly oil
industry spare parts from Pyongyang to Tehran, Iran, with several other
stops, including Bangkok, Colombo in Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
A New Zealand shell company, SP Trading Ltd., had leased the airplane.
(AP, 12/12/09)(AP, 12/23/09)(AP, 1/22/10)
2009 Dec 26, Berlin-based
Transparency International said nearly half a billion dollars in
tsunami aid for Sri Lanka is unaccounted for and over 600 million
dollars has been spent on projects unrelated to the Dec 26, 2004,
tsunami disaster.
(AFP, 12/26/09)
2010 Jan 7, A top UN human rights
investigator said video footage purportedly showing troops shooting
blindfolded, naked Tamils in the final months of Sri Lanka's civil war,
appeared to be authentic. The video, reportedly shot by a soldier with
a mobile phone, revived calls for a war crimes investigation and cast a
shadow over the upcoming presidential elections.
(AP, 1/8/10)
2010 Jan 9, In Sri Lanka more than
700 former Tamil Tiger rebels were reunited with family members after
months in rehabilitation camps since the country's decades-long civil
war ended last year.
(AP, 1/9/10)
2010 Jan 12, In Sri Lanka Gunmen
opened fire on a bus carrying supporters of the main opposition
presidential candidate, killing one political activist.
(AFP, 1/12/10)
2010 Jan 22, In Sri Lanka a key
opposition activist was targeted at home by a bomb attack blamed on the
ruling party as violence escalated ahead of next week's presidential
election.
(AFP, 1/22/10)
2010 Jan 25, In New York 2
Canadian men who pleaded guilty to conspiring to buy anti-aircraft
missiles and other equipment for the Tamil Tigers rebel group in Sri
Lanka were sentenced to 25 years in a US prison. Thiruthanikan
Thanigasalam (41) and Sahilal Sabaratnam (30) were among four men
arrested in Long Island, New York, in 2006 in an FBI sting operation as
they tried to buy surface-to-air missiles, missile launchers and
hundreds of AK-47 assault rifles to be used against Sri Lankan forces.
(Reuters, 1/26/10)
2010 Jan 26, Sri Lankans voted
between two Sinhalese war heroes, the president and his former army
chief, in an election that could be decided by minority Tamils, who
suffered most from the government offensive to end the civil conflict.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa won a resounding re-election victory.
(AP, 1/26/10)(AP, 1/27/10)
2010 Jan 27, In Sri Lanka the
election commission declared Pres. Rajapaksa the winner with 57.8% of
the vote to Sarath Fonseka's 40%. Rajapaksa beat back a challenge from
his former army chief, who rejected the official results and said he
feared arrest as troops surrounded his hotel. Dayanada Dissanayake, the
distraught election commissioner, said the state media violated
guidelines he had crafted, government institutions behaved in a way
that embarrassed him, and he pleaded to be allowed to resign his post.
(AP, 1/27/10)
2010 Jan 29, In Sri Lanka police
raided the office of defeated presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka and
arrested 15 of its workers as monitors and rights groups criticized the
Sri Lankan election that returned President Mahinda Rajapakse to power.
(AFP, 1/29/10)
2010 Jan 30, In Sri Lanka police
shut down the offices of an opposition newspaper, as international
rights groups accused the authorities of a vendetta against critical
media.
(AFP, 1/30/10)
2010 Feb 3, In Sri Lanka thousands
of opposition supporters took to the streets of the capital to protest
the results of the recent presidential election, which they say was
marred by fraud.
(AP, 2/3/10)
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Subject = Sri Lanka
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