After 25 years, for the first time, the election was held for the demerged Northern Provincial Council (NPC) on September 21. Though the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) victory with a thumping two-thirds majority was predicted, some thought the development route to ethnic reconciliation, as relentlessly articulated and pursued by the Rajapakse government, would give it some electoral benefits. It managed to win only 7 seats (18.38 per cent of the votes) in the 38-member council.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which has been involved in the armed struggle with the Sri Lankan government since 1983, has now lost many of its senior cadres and strategic hideouts to the Sri Lankan military. For the first time, questions have been raised internationally on the future of Eelam movement under the Rajapakse's military doctrine. Despite the Sri Lankan military success, the LTTE could still stunningly make its presence felt by its active sympathisers worldwide and probably resorting to more suicide strikes at the same time.
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels launch air strikes against government installations, boosting their morale after last year's losses and taking the renewed conflict to a dangerous new level.
After assuming office late last year, Admiral Sureesh Mehta, the Indian Navy chief made his maiden visit to UAE. At Abu Dhabi, he described West Asia as part of India's ‘strategic neighborhood’ and highlighted the importance of a regional security forum comprising of Persian Gulf littoral states modeled on the lines of the Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS) where India has an observer status. The Admiral also called for greater bilateral naval engagements between Indian and UAE maritime forces.
Amid mixed reports of a rebel withdrawal and relative calm, there continue to be fierce and bloody clashes on the island nation of Sri Lanka between military forces of the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), commonly known as the Tamil Tigers.