Combat operation ends in Lanka

The Government of Sri Lanka has finally announced that the combat operations have reached its conclusion and henceforth, the army would only concentrate on rescue of civilians who are held hostage by the LTTE.

An official statement said the security forces have been instructed to end the use of heavy caliber guns, combat aircraft and aerial weapons which could cause civilian causalities.

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Also, the army would confine their attempts to rescuing civilians who are trapped in the conflict zone.

Lankan government’s latest stand came in the wake of mounting international pressure to end the war against the rebels Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and facilitate humanitarian effort to save thousands of Tamils from starvation and diseases.

Earlier on Sunday, LTTE in a statement had first announced a unilateral truce to its fight against Lankan military in northeast Sri Lanka citing an “unprecedented humanitarian crisis”.

It was, however, rejected by the Lankan authority as the government was more inclined to finish the 25-year-old war with the final offensive against the rebels who have been insisting to create an independent Tamil state in the north and east of the island nation.

Karunanidhi breaks fast

Tamil Nadu chief minister and DMK party patriarch M Karunandhi, who on Monday morning went for an indefinite fast demanding ceasefire in Sri Lanka, broke it after six hours (at around 12:30 pm) after prime minister Manmohan Singh gave him the assurance to do the best to bring Sri Lanka to an accord.

The 85-year-old leader announced a sudden fast early this morning. Prime Minister Dr. Singh and Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi immediately called Karunanidhi and expressed their concern about the plight of Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka.

The Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance government, which was continuously backing efforts to wipe out LTTE as a terrorist organisation, was forced to put pressure on Sri Lanka under political pressure from its allies in Tamil Nadu.

Last week, India had also sent National Security Adviser M.K Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon to Sri Lanka to convey India’s concern on rising civilian causalities and the fear of a large humanitarian crisis. United Nations and members of international community too had urged for the same.