Sri Lanka
Yesterday it was announced that over 100 sailors of the Sri Lankan navy going on leave were were killed by a suicide bomber in an explosives-laden truck. Sri Lanka, that used to be known as Ceylon, is an island nation, beset by an insurgency that has cost many thousands of lives. The northern tip of the island closest to India is inhabited by the minority Hindu Tamils, who crossed the straits to the island hundreds of years ago. The majority (75%) of Sri Lankans are Singhalese and are Buddhists. The conflict is fueled by the differences between these two groups in language, religion, and culture.
The Tamil Tigers of the Tamil Eelam separatist movement are quite vicious and effective fighters. They were the first to introduce suicide bombing in modern times. The son of Indian PM Indira Gandhi was murdered in a suicide bombing by a woman in Madras, the capital of the Indian state of Tamil Nadhu in the 1980’s. There have also been suicide attacks on Sri Lankan Government Ministers in Colombo.
What is the Mid-East connection? The IDF has in the past advised and trained the Sri Lankan forces to deal with this terrorist insurgency. The Tamils supposedly get most of their money and supplies from their fellow Tamils in India. But, the Indian Government supports the Sri Lankan Government, and in the 1990s when the Tamil Tigers appeared to be winning and they had occupied the northern tip of the island, the Jaffna Peninsula, the Indian Army was sent in to help the Sri Lankans. However, once the main town of the north, Trincomalee, and the Jaffna Peninsula were recaptured, internal politics inside India caused the Government to withdraw its forces and the war resumed.
Several years ago the Norwegians established a peace process that lead to a draft treaty and a ceasefire. But that did not stop the conflict which has escalated in recent months. This is one of the more intractable conflicts in the world, but it does not have strategic significance, so the Tamils and the Singhalese are generally left to kill each other without too much external interference.
The Tamil Tigers of the Tamil Eelam separatist movement are quite vicious and effective fighters. They were the first to introduce suicide bombing in modern times. The son of Indian PM Indira Gandhi was murdered in a suicide bombing by a woman in Madras, the capital of the Indian state of Tamil Nadhu in the 1980’s. There have also been suicide attacks on Sri Lankan Government Ministers in Colombo.
What is the Mid-East connection? The IDF has in the past advised and trained the Sri Lankan forces to deal with this terrorist insurgency. The Tamils supposedly get most of their money and supplies from their fellow Tamils in India. But, the Indian Government supports the Sri Lankan Government, and in the 1990s when the Tamil Tigers appeared to be winning and they had occupied the northern tip of the island, the Jaffna Peninsula, the Indian Army was sent in to help the Sri Lankans. However, once the main town of the north, Trincomalee, and the Jaffna Peninsula were recaptured, internal politics inside India caused the Government to withdraw its forces and the war resumed.
Several years ago the Norwegians established a peace process that lead to a draft treaty and a ceasefire. But that did not stop the conflict which has escalated in recent months. This is one of the more intractable conflicts in the world, but it does not have strategic significance, so the Tamils and the Singhalese are generally left to kill each other without too much external interference.
posted by Jack Cohen at 7:32 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home