The deafening roar of drums and horns rose as thousands of people took to the streets in Sri Lanka Friday for a victory parade marking the end of the decades-long civil war. Enthusiastic revelers danced in the street, carried yellow and red flags and some even carried hand-crafted puppets depicting the dead body of the leader of the rebel Tamil Tigers. Watch the victory parade » Sri Lanka's government declared victory Tuesday in the ...

The Sri Lankan military said Monday that they killed three top leaders of the Tamil Tigers and the son of the rebel group's founder. CNN was unable to confirm the account because of safety and access reasons. The deaths were the result of continuing armed encounters with the last remnants of the rebel group, who are now cornered in a small stretch of land in the country's north, according to the military. The offensive against the rebel group is in ...

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 ...

President Obama on Wednesday urged Sri Lanka to halt "indiscriminate" shelling of civilians trapped with the remnants of the country's Tamil Tiger rebels and to let humanitarian aid in. Obama criticized the Tigers for using civilians as "human shields" and urged them to surrender and let civilians go. But he also called on the island's government to stop using heavy weapons in the conflict zone, which has shrunk to just a few square miles, and allow U.N. and Red Cross ...

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 ...

Sri Lankan military authorities predicted a swift end to the country's 25-year civil war after tens of thousands of civilians who had been trapped in a narrow combat zone in the country's north for over two months escaped the iron grip of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on April 20. But more fighting is in store before that end can be reached. It will take weeks, if not longer, to capture or kill the over 500 hardcore Tigers ...

Tamil rebels in Sri Lanka were ready to accept international calls for a cease-fire but won't lay down their weapons without a political solution in the quarter-century-long civil war, according to a letter released by the group. But no cease-fire offer is being offered as government troops press their offensive against Tamil forces and their remaining strongholds in northern Sri Lanka. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cited "the good intention of ending the human suffering" for its readiness ...

Tamil Tiger rebel aircraft on Friday dropped bombs in Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, and a rural town, military sources told CNN. One or two bombs fell near the nation's air force headquarters, with one striking the Inland Revenue Department building, the sources said. Another fell in the village of Anamaduwa, some 60 miles north of Colombo. Air defense systems were activated and there was a blackout in Colombo in the wake of the raid, the air force said. The attack ...