Vaharai
23 January 2007, mid-afternoon
My dad mentioned over the weekend that Sri Lankan troops have taken the key town of Vaharai. This is a pretty big win for the Sri Lankan army. As I understand things, Vaharai links the North to the South, and was used as a supply route. The town was basically under LTTE control for quite some time. It sounds like the fight was messy to say the least. Reports indicate there is a serious refugee situation in the area. (People are being internally displaced due to the fighting.) Post 9/11, catching terrorists is more important than human rights or anything else — both within Sri Lanka and abroad. The war in Sri Lanka doesn’t look like it will end till the government has wrestled control of the East back from the LTTE. Then where will Sri Lanka be? Where will the Tamil’s of Sri Lanka be? After 30 years or so of fighting, pretty much nothing will have changed for the better.
Update: Another good article at the BBC on the conflict in Vaharai.