Photograph: Daily Mirror A bomb from a Sri Lankan fighter jet weighing over 300kg has been found in Kilinochchi. The bomb, identified as having been launched from a Sri Lankan air force Kfir jet, measures 6 foot long. Sri Lanka’s Special Task Force were called out to the Chundikulam reserve, where the bomb was discovered. It has not yet been reported when the bomb was launched.
The Sri Lankan military took part in organising charity cricket matches for Tamils schoolchildren in the North-East last week, alongside Sri Lanka’s international cricketers. Sri Lanka’s Security Forces Commander for Kilinochchi Major General Amal Karunasekara was garlanded as the chief guest at a ceremony held to launch the 'Murali Harmony Cup 20-20'. The cup is supported by several Sri Lankan cricketers, including like Muttiah Muralidharan, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. Mr Sangakarra has previously praised the military’s work in the North-East and was tipped to become Sri Lanka’s...
Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena claimed that global leaders praised his government’s achievements, during his visit to New York for the UN General Assembly this week. “They express open appreciation about our achievements,” said Mr Sirisena, speaking on his meeting with various officials this week. “I assured them that we, as a government, are determined to take the country towards progress and make Sri Lanka a truly democratic and prosperous nation,” he said. The president’s official media unit also quoted Sri Lankan minister Gayantha Karunathilake as saying “world leaders have a...
Thousands of Tamils from across the North-East participated in the Ezhuka Tamil rally (Rise Up Tamil) in Jaffna today. The rally, which was organised by the Tamil People's Council, raised awareness about key issues of concern for the Tamil people, including ongoing militarisation and state sponsored Sinhala colonisation of the Tamil homeland, the need for an international investigation into mass atrocities committed against the Tamil people, the continued detention of Tamils under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the need for a political solution based on a federal model which recognises the Tamil nation and its right to self-determination. See full declaration here . Organisers estimate that approximately 10,000 people attended the rally, making it the largest Tamil rights protest since the end of the armed conflict more than 7 years ago. A procession from Nallur was joined by another from Jaffna University and gathered at Muttaveli for the main rally, which saw speeches from politicians and activists. As crowds gathered outside the famous Nallur temple, the arrival of Northern Province Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran signalled the start of the rally. After Justice Wigneswaran cermeoniously broke coconuts, crowds marched thorugh the streets of Jaffna, holding placards and chanting slogans.
The UK’s Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office met with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera in New York today, to discuss implementation of a UN resolution calling for an internationalised accountability mechanism. Good meeting with @MangalaLK and discussion of #SriLanka commitment to UNHRC Resolution 30/01 at #UNGA — Alok Sharma MP (@AlokSharma_RDG) September 22, 2016 Alok Sharma met with Mr Samaraweera at the side-lines of the UN General Assembly in New York and said he had a “good meeting” regarding Sri Lanka’s “commitment to UNHRC...
The US Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC) said it was “deeply disturbed” by Sri Lanka’s justice minister’s rejection of war crimes and threat of legal action against those who attempt to pursue accountability for human rights violations committed by Sri Lankan soldiers. "USTPAC is deeply troubled by Justice Minister Rajapakshe's comments,” said USTPAC president Dr Karunyan Arulanantham, adding that it should “raise alarm bells among the international community”. “His calls for legal action against those who accuse the armed forces of war crimes appears an attempt to silence victims and...
Schoolchildren at the Nagarkovil Maha Vidyalayam clasp their hands in prayer, in remembrance of the children that were killed on the same spot 21 years ago. The 21 st anniversary of the Nagarkovil massacre was marked in Jaffna on Thursday evening. The parents of schoolchildren killed in the Sri Lankan bombing raid laid flowers on a monument at the site of the attack, as they remembered the lives lost in the massacre. On September 22, 1995, SLAF aircraft bombed the Nagarkovil Maha Vidyalayam school yard crammed with 750 children on their lunch break, killing 26 – of whom 12 were six or seven...
The chief minister of the Northern Province, C V Wigneswaran, the Tamil People's Council and the Tamil Civil Society Forum urged Tamils to join the "Ezhuha Tamil!" mass rally in Jaffna tomorrow. The rally, translating to 'Tamils Rise!', demands the Tamil people's rights as well as protest against militarisation and Sinhala colonisation in the Tamil homeland of the North-East. It begins from the Nalloor temple as well as the University of Jaffna, and will finish in Muttaveli grounds. The rally has widespread support from a number of Tamil political parties, including constituent parties of the...
Sri Lanka's president Maithripala Sirisena addressing the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday said the country was is "no hurry" in its journey towards reconciliation and lasting peace. His address, which comes after a number of international calls for increased momentum towards delivering on key concerns of the Tamil people, also stressed that Sri Lanka would formulate its own recipe for reconciliation. "Sri Lanka, being a free, independent and a sovereign nation with territorial integrity, like all other nations that have gathered here today, will find its own recipe for the...
The European Union may have to remove the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Tamil Eelam, from its list of terrorist organisations according to a top European Court advisor, reports the BBC. Speaking to the BBC, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) Advocate General Sharpston said she found the Council incorrectly relied on judgements made by government’s without checking that they had the same human rights as the EU. In response to an EU Court appeal to a ruling in 2014 that the LTTE should be taken of the list on technical grounds and not as a reassessment of their classification as a terrorist group...