Word: lankans
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...Lankan who has spent most of his life in a brutal conflict between the government and the LTTE—also known as the Tamil Tigers—I have seen many instances in which crime against helpless civilians could have been avoided had the global community devised better mechanisms and conventions to those affected by conflict...
...extreme precautions to ensure no covert foreign force creeps into their internal politics again. This was evident in Sri Lanka when the government ordered all non-governmental organizations except the International Committee of Red Cross to leave rebel-held areas in September 2008. This action was taken after Sri Lankan authorities learned that several NGOs had wittingly or unwittingly given material aid to the Tamil Tigers...
...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...
...Having brought the LTTE insurgency to the verge of collapse is a triumph for President Rajapaksa, who has revitalized the Sri Lankan armed forces through a massive injection of funds that has boosted everything from tactical capability to morale. Some 20% of the nation's budget is now devoted to military spending (6% of its GDP), and the boost in 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...
...Domestic critics of the Sri Lankan government suggest that the success of the military campaign has spawned a bellicose nationalism that brooks little dissent, and as such has heightened unease within the country's civil society. Journalists and dissidents have felt pressure to remain silent, and the President's brother, tough-talking Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, told local press that he would "chase away" any foreign media deemed to be offering a sympathetic ear to the rebels. Outspoken newspaper editor (and freelance TIME contributor) Lasantha Wickrematunge, whose paper accused the Defense Minister and other prominent politicians of corruption, was last...