Word: colombo
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...troops had battled their way up Jaffna Peninsula, ousting ethnic Tamil separatists from a number of strongholds in the northern tip of the island nation. The cost was high: as many as 200 civilians believed dead and thousands more left without food. But, said a high-ranking official in Colombo, the capital, "we were winning...
This year's Capa award seemed especially ironic to Nachtwey, since the presentation came the day after the bombing of the Colombo bus station. Says he: "The recent news from Sri Lanka has underlined for me a sense of futility about effecting some kind of positive change in the world. But I believe journalists have to keep trying to shed some light on troubled areas...
...dark, promising rain, as thousands of office workers in Colombo hurried along Gasworks Street toward the bus station. Some passengers dawdled for a moment before boarding, to sip pineapple juice or buy a bag of plantains from one of the many kiosks. For some, that decision proved fatal. The explosion came at the very height of the rush hour, ripping through the open- air depot and setting buses ablaze. Those who were not killed instantly were stunned, deafened or knocked unconscious by the blast. "People were running and screaming all around me," said B.D. Premadasa, a government worker...
Bystanders arriving at the scene dragged the injured from the wreckage and helped load victims into private cars even before the first ambulances arrived. At Colombo's General Hospital, doctors and nurses worked through the night on hundreds of patients while relatives scoured the wards, searching for people missing since the blast. The official estimate of 106 killed was probably low, said a government spokesman, as police continued to sort through dismembered bodies. "We cannot count heads and arms...
...attacks seemed designed to divide the country even further -- and reduce the options available to the beleaguered Jayewardene government. Though many Sinhalese in Colombo have Tamil relatives and friends, the growing violence has forced moderates on both sides to drift toward the extremes. Some analysts speculate that this is the Tigers' intent: by provoking a backlash and polarizing opinion, they hope to preclude a negotiated peace. For many Sinhalese, any sympathy for the Tamil cause evaporated in the wake of last week's attacks...