Daily News Channel
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.
Facing the crushing defeat of their 26-year insurgency as Sri Lankan military closes in on the last sliver of territory under their control, the embattled separatist fighters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are not expected to allow themselves to be taken alive.
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.
A U.N.
Sri Lanka has ordered an end to combat operations against Tamil Tiger rebels in the country’s north, the president’s office said Monday. “Our security forces have been instructed to end the use of heavy-caliber guns, combat aircraft and aerial weapons which could cause civilian causalities,” according a statement from the Presidential Secretariat.
Sri Lankan officials rejected a proposed cease-fire from the Tamil Tiger rebels Sunday, warning instead that government troops intended to continue a new offensive until the group surrenders, a senior government official said. “The government is firm that (the rebels) lay down their arms and surrender. We do not recognize this so-called offer,” said Lakshman Hulugalle, director of Sri Lanka’s Media Center for National Security.