Word: lankans
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...year-old mother of three in northern Sri Lanka, had been running from bullets, shell fire and artillery fire for more than a year. But last week she and thousands of other Tamil civilians had nowhere else to run, caught between the Tamil Tigers and the advancing Sri Lankan government forces working to retake all the land that has been under rebel control since early 2008. Her village, Periyatampanei, was once part of a vast swath of Tiger territory, but upon the first signs of danger last March, she and her family moved deeper into Tiger-held areas. But after...
...Lankan government estimates some 15,000 civilians are still trapped in the war zone; the U.N. says the number could be as high as 50,000. And food and medicine have been in short supply on the Tigers' side of the line. "For a family of four, they would give rations sufficient for two," Rageswari said, three days after fleeing the fighting while meeting a group of journalists flown in by the Sri Lankan military to Putumattalan, about a kilometer (half a mile) from the frontline...
...Five-star hotels some 155 miles (250 km) away in Colombo have made available their kitchens and staff to cook meals that are then airlifted to refugees. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohita Bogollagama appealed for help last week, asking "our friends in the international community" to provide emergency relief aid "initially by way of semipermanent shelter, water purification plants, sanitation facilities and medical assistance...
...Lanka Taking the Tigers' Territory The Sri Lankan military advanced onto the last splinter of coast held by the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, moving the Tigers' 33-year separatist struggle into its likely endgame. Despite being outnumbered nearly 100 to 1, the approximately 500 remaining Tigers have refused to surrender, clinging to their last 5-mile-long strip of territory. The army's advance has allowed more than 90,000 ethnic Tamil civilians trapped between the two sides to flee the fighting, although thousands more still remain. "We're seeing the final stage of this war, with...
...There was no confirmation from the Tigers on the latest exodus, but the pro-Tiger TamilNet website reported that government troops had entered the no-fire zone on Monday morning. "Full firepower is being deployed by the [Sri Lankan army]," the site said. "Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher fire, shelling, RPG fire and gunfire have hit several places causing heavy civilian casualties." The Sri Lankan military said that Tigers used a battle tank to fire at the troops and escaping civilians; footage of the firing obtained by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was later released by the airforce. According...