Naked, bound and blindfolded, a crudely shot video shows a man being pushed to the ground by men wearing what appear to be military, camouflage fatigues. One of the men kicks the blindfolded man in the back. Another man raises a gun, points it at the back of the man's head and pulls the trigger. A loud crack is heard; the man slumps to the ground. Off-camera, someone can be heard saying in Sinhala, the majority language of ...

Sri Lankan security forces have arrested a leader of the defeated Tamil Tiger rebel group and are questioning him, a defense official said Friday.

The United Nations is demanding full access to refugee camps that are home to an estimated quarter of a million people fleeing war in Sri Lanka, the United Nations Children's Fund said Tuesday. "People are arriving into camps sick, malnourished and some with untended wounds of war," UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman said in a written statement. "... Water and sanitation needs are critical." Some 65,000 people have fled what had been the fighting zone in northeast Sri Lanka over ...

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, flashing a broad smile, declared victory Tuesday in the country's 25-year civil war against the Tamil Tiger rebels. "We are celebrating the defeat of terrorism," he said in a nationally televised speech before parliament. "We have won and restored democracy in the country." Rajapaksa announced that Wednesday would be a national holiday, to celebrate the end of a war that has led to an estimated 70,000 to 80,000 deaths. Meanwhile, a rebel Web site said ...

For more than a quarter-century, the Tamil Tigers have waged a guerilla war against the Sri Lankan government in their attempt to establish an independent state — which they call Eelam — for minority Hindu Tamils in the north and east of the island nation. Suicide bombings and assassinations have been the group's calling cards, all orchestrated by Velupillai Prabhakaran, who founded the insurgent group in the mid-70s. Now, a months-long push by the Sri Lankan military appears to have ...

Sri Lankan government soldiers seized the last remaining coastal stretch under the control of Tamil Tiger rebels, the Ministry of Defense said Saturday, marking a possible end to a quarter-century-long fight in the island nation. The seizure marks the total capture of coastline territory previously controlled by the rebels, the government said, after army divisions advanced from the north and south to link up. No formal declaration of victory is expected at least until the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa ...

Sri Lanka's quarter-century-long civil war is in its final phase, the government suggested Friday, as its troops pounded Tamil Tiger rebels in the country's north. The rebels -- formally known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) -- have fought for an independent state in Sri Lanka since 1983. As many as 70,000 people have been killed since the civil war began. President Mahinda Rajapaksa said the end of the current military push, which is often referred to as ...

Sri Lankan authorities on Saturday detained a British news team that produced a report about allegations of abuse and ill-treatment of Tamil refugees. Three journalists from Channel 4 were seized and handed over to Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department for interrogation, police spokesman Ranjih Gunasekera told reporters. The report, aired Tuesday on Channel 4, chronicled the alleged abuse of Tamils in internment camps in the city of Vavuniya in northern Sri Lanka, where fighting has raged between government and rebels. ...

Tamil Tiger rebels have been pinned down by Sri Lankan government troops in a small section of the country's north, the Ministry of Defense claimed Tuesday. "Security forces have now cornered the remaining [rebels], including its most wanted terror chiefs," the ministry's Web site reported, saying the rebels are confined to less than 2 square miles (4.5 sq. km) of land south of Rektavaikkal. "Terrorists have suffered heavy beating from the security forces and now left in total disarray with ...

Tamil rebels in northern Sri Lanka faced another possible onslaught from government forces, as a mid-day deadline for them to surrender passed on Tuesday. There were no immediate reports from northern Sri Lanka where recent fighting has been taking place. The Sri Lankan army launched an operation against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam in the country's north on Monday, with military claiming to have rescued 35,000 civilians trapped in a government safe zone. Rebel Web site TamilNet reported heavy ...