Sri Lankan troops moved further into LTTE areas destroying bunkers to capture Kilinochchi, the de facto political capital of Tamil Tigers, as Air Force helicopters bombed the rebel targets, officials said on Sunday.
Sri Lanka's air force carried out a series of attacks against Tamil Tiger rebels, including a heavy gun position and a guerrilla training camp, the military said on Saturday.
Sri Lanka spinner Ajantha Mendis captured a career-best 6-29 as the tourists edged Zimbabwe by two wickets to take a 4-0 lead in the five-match one-day series on Friday.
At least 2,239 Tamil Tiger rebels have been killed in the past 11 months of fighting against the Sri Lankan troops, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has said.
Tamil Tigers leader Velupillai Prabhakaran urged India on Thursday to lift the ban on his group even as he pledged to continue his war against Sri Lanka "till alien Sinhala occupation of our land is removed".
Sri Lanka said on Wednesday that its troops were on the verge of overrunning Kilinochchi, the tamil tigers' political and administrative capital with its forces reported to be almost on city outskirts.
Terming the army offensive against LTTE as a "humanitarian mission," Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has ruled out any halt in operations against the Tamil Tigers till they give up their "terrorist activities" and come to the negotiating table.
The reclusive leader of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers is to deliver his annual policy address this week from a besieged jungle hideout that could soon be totally overrun by government troops.- Sri Lankan army's attempt to broaden the offensive arc on the Tiger stronghold of Kilinochchi received a setback when a push to capture the major town of Nalloor was beaten back by LTTE cadres, who claimed to have killed 43 soldiers.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Monday called for a meeting of all state party leaders on Tuesday to discuss "the worsening situation of minority Tamils in Sri Lanka".
Helicopter gunships attacked Tamil Tiger rebel positions in northern Sri Lanka as ground troops on Sunday moved closer to the rebels' political capital from three fronts, the defence ministry said.
Close on the heels of capturing LTTE stronghold of Pooneryn that opened the land-route to Jaffna, which was blocked for over 20 years, Sri Lanka has ordered a renovation of the highway on a war footing.- Sri Lankan troops on Thursday overran a strategic defence line of the Tamil tigers in Muhalamai in the Jaffna peninsula killing scores of rebel fighters and also laid siege to other nearby areas.
Sri Lanka's navy traded fire with a flotilla of Tamil rebel boats off the island's northeastern coast on Tuesday, a day after ground troops captured three guerrilla-held towns, defence officials said.
Top-level cricket returns to troubled Zimbabwe from Thursday this week after Sri Lanka sent a 15-player squad to play a series of five one-day internationals.- DMK will not be satisfied till a ceasefire was enforced in the embattled north Sri Lanka, party president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi said on Sunday.
Making a major breakthrough, Sri Lankan troops on Saturday captured the strategic northern town of Pooneryn, to open after 20 years the land-link to Tamil heartland of Jaffna and a buoyant President Mahinda Rajapaksa asked the LTTE to surrender and come for talks.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa headed to New Delhi on Tuesday with a clear message that while he understands the political compulsions behind India's concerns about civilian suffering in his country, Colombo will pursue its war against the Tamil Tigers, an aide to Rajapaksa said here.- Fierce battles raged near the Tamil Tiger stronghold of Kilinochchi in conflict-ravaged northern Sri Lanka, killing at least 11 guerrillas, as troops captured a key town west of the rebel 'capital'.
- Sri Lankan troops on Monday captured a strategic area in the LTTE stronghold of Kilinochchi while losing some troops in another offensive near Jaffna peninsula in the restive north, as it rejected the Tiger's ceasefire offer saying it should first lay down arms.
The Sri Lankan army on Sunday pounded LTTE bunkers and inflicted heavy damages on Tiger bases in the restive north as it made further inroads to capture strategic areas in rebel-stronghold of Kilinochchi, officials said today.- Sri Lanka has denied that its Navy fired on Indian fishing vessels off Kodiakkarai (Point Calimere) on Saturday, injuring one fisherman, as reported in a section of the media and reiterated its commitment to the October 26 India-Sri Lanka joint statement on fishing arrangements.
A top US military official on Wednesday commended the Sri Lankan military for its recent successes against the Tamil Tigers, whom Washington has designated as a terrorist group.
Asserting that there was no "secret agreement" between India and Sri Lanka on the Tamil issue, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama on Tuesday said New Delhi shares its view that all forms of terrorism should be defeated.
Sri Lankan security forces have sealed most of north-west coast of Kilinochchi, an LTTE stronghold and killed a senior rebel leader amidst airstrikes on sea tiger bases in the restive north, the military said on Tuesday.
