Yrys
Army.ca Veteran
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Tigers 'kill 51 S Lanka soldiers'
See map of the region :
Tamil Tiger rebels say they have killed 51 soldiers near the town of Dharmapuram
in northern Sri Lanka, a claim denied by the army. It says the area was brought
under government control two days ago and 20 rebels and seven soldiers were killed.
The army has already captured the rebel headquarters at Kilinochchi and the
strategically important Elephant Pass. The Jaffna peninsula and its capital have
been regarded as the heart of the 25-year-old separatist insurgency.
Independent journalists are prevented by the government from travelling to
the conflict zone, so it is impossible to verify the casualty claims made by both
sides. Meanwhile, Shivshankar Menon, India's Foreign Secretary, is meeting with
Mahinda Rajapakse, the Sri Lankan president, as concern grows among India's Tamils.
More than 60 million Tamils live in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. They
share close cultural and ethnic ties with Sri Lanka's Tamil population.
Political parties from Tamil Nadu, who form part of India's federal coalition,
have called on the Indian government to intervene on behalf of the Tamils.
Officially, India favours a negotiated settlement, as many fear what a divided
Sri Lanka could mean for India, says the BBC's Anbarasan Ethirajan in the
Sri Lankan capital, Colombo. The Indian government has not called for an end
to the army's offensive in Sri Lanka but is offering more humanitarian aid.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says that the intense
fighting in northern Sri Lanka has caused a "massive displacement" of civilians.
The Tigers have been fighting for a separate homeland for 25 years. At least
70,000 people have been killed in the insurgency.
See map of the region :
Tamil Tiger rebels say they have killed 51 soldiers near the town of Dharmapuram
in northern Sri Lanka, a claim denied by the army. It says the area was brought
under government control two days ago and 20 rebels and seven soldiers were killed.
The army has already captured the rebel headquarters at Kilinochchi and the
strategically important Elephant Pass. The Jaffna peninsula and its capital have
been regarded as the heart of the 25-year-old separatist insurgency.
Independent journalists are prevented by the government from travelling to
the conflict zone, so it is impossible to verify the casualty claims made by both
sides. Meanwhile, Shivshankar Menon, India's Foreign Secretary, is meeting with
Mahinda Rajapakse, the Sri Lankan president, as concern grows among India's Tamils.
More than 60 million Tamils live in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. They
share close cultural and ethnic ties with Sri Lanka's Tamil population.
Political parties from Tamil Nadu, who form part of India's federal coalition,
have called on the Indian government to intervene on behalf of the Tamils.
Officially, India favours a negotiated settlement, as many fear what a divided
Sri Lanka could mean for India, says the BBC's Anbarasan Ethirajan in the
Sri Lankan capital, Colombo. The Indian government has not called for an end
to the army's offensive in Sri Lanka but is offering more humanitarian aid.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says that the intense
fighting in northern Sri Lanka has caused a "massive displacement" of civilians.
The Tigers have been fighting for a separate homeland for 25 years. At least
70,000 people have been killed in the insurgency.
