The Sri Lankan government announced yesterday a "key" military victory combating against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the guerillas who fight for the independence of Tamil territory, North East of the island. According to the military spokesperson, stated by Associated Press, the troops have taken over Muhamalai's front line, one of the most active defense lines in the North.

From the country's capital, Colombo, government authorities claimed yesterday's battle as an important victory due to the number of deaths -not specified- on the rebel's front lines and because it seems that this victory will help deteriorate the second line of defence as well. On the other hand, Tamil sources assure that this offence attack has caused the death of 130 military soldiers and at least 450 have resulted in injuries in the last three days.

Humanitarian Crisis
The clashes between the military and the guerillas that had violently begun when the government lifted the cease fire in the beginning of 2008 has left the Northern locals of the island in a grave situation: Just three days ago, Amnesty International alerted that more than 300,000 civilians face forced displacement due to the conflict, during high monsoon season. The international organization called the Government to provide protection to these people, and accused it of blocking international aide for this area.

The government, that according to AI ordered the United Nations and all personal aide to abandon the region this September, has defended itself, stating that the Tamil towns' shortages are due to the political recruitment forced by the Tamil Tigers, converting civilians into human shields.

An offering of cease fireThe Tamil rebels proposed a cease fire on October 9th, an offering that Colombo rejected due because it considered the proposal "false and not honest" and reiterated that there would be no further agreements with LTTE until they "abandoned their weapons and terrorism". Tamil leader, B. Nadesen, according to the Sri Lankan Daily Mirror newspaper, declared that his side "has always wanted a cease fire" and reminded that the Government lifted the last cease fire with an offensive attack that forced the Tamils to fight "a defensive war".

A demonstration for Tamil Eelam's self-determination
Hundreds of Tamils from the numerous diaspora in the United Kingdom protested on Wednesday in front of the British Parliament in London, against the "genocide" of the Sri Lankan government against its people. They claimed their rights to a dialogue of the current conflict between both parties. The territory known as Tamil Eelam (Eelam means Sri Lanka in Tamil language), currently occupies all the Northern coastal provinces North East of the island.

Last week, the general secratary of Tamil Center for Human Rights (TCHR), S.V. Kirubaharan was in Catalunya, invited by CIEMEN to talk about the current situation of his people and to establish contact with other stateless nations. Kirubaharan defined the conflict like "one huge Sri Lankan military operation which has provoked countless deaths and displaced civilians" and he highlighted the deficiency of human aide. On the topic of the government rejecting peace treaties with the Tamil Tigers, he stated, "There is neither military solution nor solutions without negotiations."

Further information:

• Associated Press: Sri Lanka says it captured key rebel defense line
• Amnesty International: Sri Lankan government must act now to protect 300,000 displaced
• Daily Mirror: Govt. dismisses LTTE call for truce
• Harrow Times: Harrow Tamils demonstrate over violence in Sri Lanka
• Website of the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence and on-line journal TamilNet.
• Interactive map on the battle (Ministry of Defence of Sri Lanka)