Israel Strikes Tehran and Beirut as Iran Vows ‘Complete Destruction’ in Region

THE GUARDIAN: Rapidly escalating war enters fifth day and spreads as far as Indian Ocean with sinking of Iranian vessel off Sri Lanka

Israel has carried out a wave of airstrikes on Iranian security targets and Hezbollah in Beirut as Tehran threatened the “complete destruction of the region’s military and economic infrastructure” as the rapidly escalating war entered its fifth day and reached as far as the Indian Ocean off Sri Lanka.

The Israeli military said it had hit buildings in Iran belonging to the Basij, the volunteer police arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), and buildings belonging to internal security forces. Police stations and IRGC headquarters in the Kurdish regions of north-western Iran were also razed by strikes, Kurdish media reported.

Iran’s security structures have been instrumental in putting down protest movements in the past, and the US has urged Iranians to overthrow the country’s government. Washington has also reportedly been exploring the possibility of using Kurdish separatist groups to invade parts of Iran and establish a safe zone in the predominantly Kurdish groups in the north-west.

The regional dimension of the conflict continued to expand, as Iran struck Gulf states and Hezbollah fired on Israel and Cyprus. Turkey said Nato air defences had intercepted a ballistic missile heading towards its airspace, and the US said it had sunk an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean. Sri Lankan authorities said at least 80 people had been killed and 23 rescued. There were thought have been 180 people on board. » | William Christou in Beirut | Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Sri Lanka President Resigns after Fleeing Country Following Mass Protests - BBC News

Jul 14, 2022 Gotabaya Rajapaksa has resigned as president of Sri Lanka after fleeing to Singapore in the face of mass protests at home over his rule.

He is believed to have wanted to leave Sri Lanka before stepping down in order to avoid the possibility of arrest under a new administration.

The cost of food, fuel and other basic supplies has soared for Sri Lankans.

In the capital Colombo, delighted demonstrators greeted news of the president's departure with dancing.

Sri Lanka President Flees Country on Military Jet - BBC News

Jul 13, 2022 Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled the country on a military jet, amid mass protests over its economic crisis.

The country's air force confirmed the 73-year-old flew to the Maldives with his wife and two security officials

. Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has declared a state of emergency across the country.


BBC News: Sri Lanka protesters storm prime minister's office »

Protesters Storm Sri Lanka's Presidential Palace in Colombo | DW News

Jul 9, 2022 Sri Lanka's capital Colombo is in turmoil after protesters stormed the compound of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Security sources say he left the area earlier for his own safety.

Public anger at the countrys leader has been mounting during the country's unprecedented economic crisis. People are enduring acute shortages of fuel, food and medicines, with the country unable to pay for imports. Critics blame the hardships on Rajapaksa and his family, who they say are corrupt. Meanwhile the prime minister's office says he's willing to resign.


Related.

Sri Lanka: Thousands of Protesters Storm President's Official Residence

Jul 9, 2022 Protesters stormed the president's official residence in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo after clashing with police and breaking through barriers. The march is the country's biggest demonstration after thousands called for the president to resign amid a huge economic crisis

ri Lanka Is "Grinding to a Halt" Amid Fuel Shortage, Inflation & Austerity, Prompting Mass Protests

Jul 7, 2022 Fuel shortages in Sri Lanka have triggered a wave of protests calling for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. This comes as Sri Lanka's government has forced the closure of all schools and announced plans to cut electricity by up to three hours a day, as well as stop printing currency to quell inflation. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka is also facing a dire shortage of food and medicine, and doctors say the country's entire health system could collapse. "There is no discussion on the part of the government on how we as Sri Lankans are going to come out of this crisis," says Ahilan Kadirgamar, political economist and senior lecturer at the University of Jaffna, who explains how the government's doubling down on austerity measures has devastated the working class.

Sri Lanka Unrest: Security Forces Ordered to Shoot on Sight

May 11, 2022 • Security forces in Sri Lanka have been ordered to shoot on sight anyone considered to be taking part in violence - as anti-government protests continue around the country.

Le Sri Lanka plonge dans le chaos

LE MONDE : Au terme d’une journée d’affrontements très violents dans l’île de l’océan Indien, le premier ministre, Mahinda Rajapaksa, a présenté sa démission.

Des manifestants anti-gouvernementaux ont mis le feu à la maison du ministre Sanath Nishantha, membre du cabinet du Premier ministre Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sril Lanka le 9 mai. Reuters STRINGER / REUTERS
Après deux mois de manifestations ininterrompues, et au terme d’une journée totalement chaotique, le premier ministre sri lankais, Mahinda Rajapaksa, a démissionné, lundi 9 mai. Son gouvernement a été dissous.

Les partisans du pouvoir avaient organisé à Colombo, la capitale historique, une action punitive contre les opposants au régime, qui réclament le départ des frères Rajapaksa – le président Gotabaya et le premier ministre Mahinda –, jugés responsables d’une crise économique et financière d’une ampleur inédite. Pour tenter de reprendre la main, le président Rajapaksa avait décrété, le 7 mai, l’état d’urgence, pour la deuxième fois en cinq semaines, et déployé des militaires en renfort de la police. » | Par Sophie Landrin (New Delhi, correspondante) | mardi 10 mai 2022

Article réservé aux abonnés

The rise and fall of a political dynasty that brought Sri Lanka to its knees: At the height of their power, four brothers from Sri Lanka’s Rajapaksa dynasty held the presidency and the prime minister’s office as well as the finance, interior and defence portfolios, among others. But just when the Rajapaksa clan seemed invincible, an economic crisis of their own making led to their undoing. But does that spell the end of South Asia’s most powerful political family? »

Sri Lanka: After the Attacks, Muslims Fear a Backlash

Sri Lanka Easter Attacks: Multiple Explosions Hit Churches, Hotels | Al Jazeera English

Sri Lanka was rocked by multiple explosions, including at churches, on Easter Sunday, a police spokesman said. One of the explosions was at St Anthony's Church in the Kochchikade district of the capital, Colombo. Another church in Negombo was also hit. Police also reported explosions at the Shangri-La, Kingsbury, and Cinnamon Grand hotels. Al Jazeera's Minelle Fernandez joins us by phone now from Colombo.

THE GUARDIAN: Sri Lanka imposes curfew after more than 150 killed in attacks » | Jason Burke and Benjamin Parkin in Delhi | Sunday, April 21, 2019

Inside Story: Who Is Behind Sri Lanka's Religious Violence?

Tensions are running high in the Democratic Socialist Republic after the worst acts of religious violence in decades.

Radikale Buddhisten in Sri Lanka greifen Muslime an »

Radikale Buddhisten in Sri Lanka greifen Muslime an

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Häuser und Fahrzeuge wurden in Brand gesetzt, Moscheen zerstört - in Sri Lanka haben radikale Buddhisten die muslimische Bevölkerung angegriffen. Seit Sonntagabend starben vier Menschen. Das Auswärtige Amt rät Touristen, ihr Hotelgelände nicht zu verlassen.

Alutgama - Seit einigen Tagen greifen radikale Buddhisten in Sri Lanka die muslimische Bevölkerung an. Trotz einer Ausgangssperre in der Nacht zu Dienstag wurden erneut Geschäfte und Wohnhäuser angezündet. Das berichteten Polizei und Anwohner. Bei einem Angriff auf eine Farm in Alutgama starb mindestens ein Wächter. Seit Sonntagabend wurden damit insgesamt vier Menschen getötet. » | vek/AFP/dpa | Dienstag, 17. Juni 2014

Maid Not Paid by Employer for 15 Years
EMIRATES 24|7: A Sri Lankan housemaid in Saudi Arabia had thought she would return home with a fortune when she told her employer to pay her only when she decides to leave the Gulf Kingdom. When it was time for the return after 15 years, she realized her grave mistake as her employer simply vanished.

Just before Kosoma Tandani was about to leave, her Saudi employer took her to the government-run Housemaid Service Centre in Riyadh and dumped her there.

He then disappeared, triggering a police manhunt for him. » | Staff | Monday, March 26, 2012

Sri Lanka 'Expels 161 Foreign Muslim Clerics'
BBC: Sri Lanka has reportedly ordered 161 foreign Muslim preachers to leave the country for flouting visa regulations.

A senior immigration official was quoted as saying that the clerics had no right to preach in mosques because they had arrived on tourist visas.

He also said that some local Muslims had complained that the visitors were not teaching a moderate form of Islam.

The preachers - from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, the Maldives and Arab nations - must now leave by 31 January.

'Laughable idea'

"They have violated immigration laws. A tourist visa is to have a holiday or visit friends and family, and not to preach Islam," Sri Lanka's immigration head Chulananda Perera told the AFP news agency.

Mr Perera said the group belonged to Tablighi Jamaat - an international Islamic movement popular in Sri Lanka and the region. » | Sunday, January 22, 2012

Author Sarah Malini Perera Held ‘For Offending Buddhists’ In Sri Lanka
THE TELEGRAPH: An expatriate Sri Lankan woman who wrote two books about her conversion from Buddhism to Islam has been arrested while on holiday in Sri Lanka, apparently for causing offence to Buddhists.

Sarah Malini Perera, who was born in Sri Lanka but has lived in Bahrain since 1985 and converted to Islam in 1999, was arrested last week under the country’s strict emergency laws, according to the police.

They declined to give precise details of the 38-year-old writer’s offence, but suggested that her books were deemed to have caused offence to ethnic Sinhalese Buddhists, who account for about 70 per cent of Sri Lanka’s 20 million people.

News of her arrest came just a few days after protests by Buddhist nationalists prompted the Sri Lankan Government to refuse a visa to Akon, the Senegalese-American singer who had been due to perform in Colombo next month.

Buddhist activists stormed the concert’s media partner last Monday to protest over the video for Akon’s song Sexy Bitch, which showed bikini-clad women dancing by a pool in Ibiza with a Buddha statue in the background.

The two incidents have raised concerns about the growing influence of hardline Buddhist nationalists on Sri Lanka’s ruling coalition, which is widely expected to win parliamentary elections on April 8.

Sri Lanka’s constitution guarantees freedom of religion, but also says that the state “shall give Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly it shall be the duty of the state to protect and foster” the religion. >>> Jeremy Page, South Asia Correspondent | Monday, March 29, 2010

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger Rebels Lay Down Weapons
THE TELEGRAPH: Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have declared an end to their fight against government forces after the army claimed victory in the 26-year conflict and said the last of civilians escaped from the war zone.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who have been fighting for a separate ethnic homeland on the island, effectively surrendered when they said that their campaign had reached its "bitter end" and they would lay down their weapons after weeks spent trapped inside a tiny enclave on the north-east coast.

They appealed for safe passage for 2,000 fighters and their families still in the enclave, which had been reduced to less than a square kilometre, but the government in Colombo said that its forces would seize back "every inch of land" and were pressing on with their offensive.

As thousands of members of the Sinhalese majority celebrated in the streets of Colombo after President Mahinda Rajapaksa claimed victory, his government claimed that the "last" of as many as 50,000 civilians had been freed from the territory after the army mounted a successful operation at the weekend which pinned down the rebels in a pincer movement and cut off possible escape from a stretch of beach. However thousands of civilians are believed to have died in recent weeks under heavy shelling.

There was also speculation about the fate of the Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. It was reported on Sunday that his body might have been found - suggesting that he could have taken cyanide - but this was later dismissed.

In a statement released on the pro-LTTE Tamilnet website, the Tigers' head of international relations, Selvarasa Pathmanathan, said the group's leadership was sorry for the thousands of lives lost and that it could not have held out longer.

He appealed for "dignity and respect" for Tamil people and said the movement's decision to lay down its arms had been taken because it could no longer tolerate the growing number of civilian casualties. >>> By Dean Nelson, South Asia Editor | Monday, May 18, 2009

TIMESONLINE (BREAKING NEWS):
Tamil Tigers Supreme Commander Prabhakaran 'Shot Dead' >>> Robert Bosleigh in Colombo | Monday, May 18, 2009