Word: lanka
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...LTTE suicide bomber killed herself inside a crowded transit camp maintained by the government for displaced Tamil civilians in northern Sri Lanka. She killed and injured scores of Tamil men, women, and children awaiting transport to safer areas. A day later, the LTTE shot and killed 19 civilians as they attempted to cross over to government held areas. The incident was not widely reported in international media, perhaps due to its low political appeal. However, it is absolutely imperative that we resolve—as a global community—that no rebel group or government be allowed to commit...
...Lanka The End of the Tamil Tigers? Once considered one of the world's most sophisticated and tightly organized insurgent groups, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) may be nearing defeat in its 25-year war against the Sri Lankan government over a separate homeland for the region's minority Tamils. Sri Lankan troops captured the rebel group's last remaining airstrip on Feb. 3, following the military's Jan. 25 takeover of the city of Mullaittivu, an LTTE stronghold. An estimated 250,000 ethnic Tamils remain trapped in the war zone, with human-rights groups accusing both sides...
...resources has, over the past nine months, helped the military make steady gains against what had once seemed intractable positions held by the rebels. Some have taken Colombo's example as a message for counterinsurgency efforts elsewhere. On Jan. 16, an editorial in the Wall Street Journal hailed Sri Lanka's successes as proof that wars "on terror" could be won militarily when negotiations prove futile. Diplomatic cooperation from India and the EU proved key in drying up the LTTE's sources of funding, and internal squabbles among the LTTE's leadership led to much of the militants' east wing...
...LTTE's guerrilla campaign, and its terrorism - which included assassinations, and suicide bombings by militants wearing explosives on their bodies, a tactic pioneered by the movement - aimed at securing an independent state for Sri Lanka's minority Hindu and Christian Tamils, who still face discrimination at the hands of the country's mostly Buddhist Sinhalese majority. More than two decades of conflict have led to allegations of atrocities on both sides - from kidnappings and extrajudicial killings to the recruitment of child soldiers. Various rounds of peace talks, the last held in 2002, failed to reconcile the LTTE with the government...
...Lanka's murky politics have little to do with its offensive against the LTTE, says Rajiva Wijesinha, who heads up the government agency charged with bringing about a lasting political settlement to the conflict. "After so many years of war, there has been a corrosion of the state," he admits, "but [in this campaign] we have abided by the rules and taken care of our civilians." Once the LTTE is quashed, Wijesinha envisions elections being held in the north and a gradual devolution of power to Tamils who have joined in the peace process. The Indian government, whose ruling coalition...