Tamil Tiger rebels acknowledged the death of their leader Sunday, nearly a week after the Sri Lankan government said it had recovered the body of Velupillai Prabhakaran and declared victory in the country's 25-year civil war with the rebels.
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.
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.
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.
Sri Lanka's government said Monday its forces had killed Tamil rebel chief Velupillai Prabhakaran as he attempted to flee, according to the country's state-run news agency.
Angered by what he perceived as the systemic discrimination of the minority Tamils by successive Sri Lankan governments, 18-year-old Velupillai Prabhakaran, armed with just a revolver, set out in 1972 to right the perceived wrongs by forming a militant group.
CNN's Anna Coren speaks with Suresh Bartlett of World Vision about the situation in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka's prime minister warned Saturday that his country "stands on the brink," as its soldiers cornered Tamil Tiger fighters in an assault that is trapping more than 50,000 civilians on a small plot of coastal land.
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.
Why the death of Tamilselvan hurts the chances for peace in Sri Lanka
Tamil Tiger rebels Monday launched a pre-dawn land and air attack on a Sri Lankan Air Force base that killed 10 Sri Lankan forces and wiped out military hardware worth millions of dollars, military sources said.
A suicide bomber attacked the convoy of Sri Lankan defense secretary and brother to the president, Gothabaya Rajapaksa Friday, wounding 14 people, police said. Rajapaksa escaped unhurt.
Thirteen million Sri Lankans headed to the polls Thursday to elect the troubled island nation's fifth president.
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|