Headlines for Friday, January 2, 2009

• Tamil Tigers Loose De-Fact Capital to Sri Lankan Army
• Khyber People Emerge after 3-Day Curfew
• Bhutan Communists Demand Refugees in Nepal be Allowed to Return Home
• Six Dead in Series of Bombings in Assam, India
• New Water Tests Near Tennessee Coal Ash Spill Reveal Contamination

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Tamil Tigers Loose De-Fact Capital to Sri Lankan Army
The Sri Lankan army claimed a major victory today in their 25-year battle with Tamil Tiger separatists, but the victory celebrations did not last long.  From Colombo, FSRN's Ann Raber reports.

Early today the Sri Lankan army captured the de-facto capital of the Tamil Tigers at Killinochchi. President Mahinda Rajapakja called this an "unparalleled victory" in the campaign against the Tamil Tigers, or LTTE, who have been fighting to establish a separate homeland in the northern and eastern part of the country. Then, several hours after the president's announcement, a suicide bomb detonated near an Air Force Headquarters in a crowded area of Colombo.  The bombing occurred in the Fort area of the city, a popular market and transit hub, where revelers had earlier celebrated the victory at Killinochchi.  Two Air Force personnel are confirmed dead, 32 people are injured. People in Colombo were shaken by the attacks, and news spread quickly around the city.  Although the progress at Killinochchi is certainly pleasing to many in Sri Lanka, the people of Colombo are still very much on the front lines of this kind of terrorism.  Further, it is not certain if the dismantling of the leadership in Killinochchi will end the suicide bombings that have plagued the city throughout the year.  For FSRN in Colombo, I'm Ann Raber.

Khyber People Emerge after 3-Day Curfew
Unmanned US aircraft once again enter Pakistani Territory today, damaging a girl's school in South Waziristan, on the border of Afghanistan.  Meanwhile, the Pakistani military briefly paused its on going operation in the Khyber Agency after destroying several Taliban hideouts.  The famed Khyber Pass is once again open as a supply route, but the news for those who live in the region is not nearly as good.  Afridai Afridi is there and has this report.

Residents of the Khyber Agency crowded small bazaars today, buying groceries and medical supplies after being held indoors under curfew for three days.  The army lifted the curfew for 5 hours today.  They claim to have successfully raided several Taliban hideouts.  On a path leading to a local market Abid Hussain, a teacher, talks about the operation and military attacks.

"The army had an expert shooter in a helicopter who hit the exact Taliban hideout - like somebody has pointed it out to him. Most of us are happy with this operation because these Taliban have started kidnapping people and looting trucks on the main Khyber Pass road. They give a bad name and bad reputation to our area throughout the world."

Those who have relatives in other places have sent children and women there. But many of the poor are still trapped in their homes.  I'm Afridai Afridi for FSRN in Jamrud, Khyber Agency.

Bhutan Communists Demand Refugees in Nepal be Allowed to Return Home
Bhutan continues to be on high alert after a landmine explosion and guerrilla attack killed four forest security workers early yesterday.  And now Communist guerrillas have taken credit for the blast, demanding the country take back thousands of refugees currently living in Nepal.  PC Dubey has more.

The explosion took place in southern Bhutan, which is primarily inhabited by Nepalese ethnic Hindus.  Bhutanese police have blamed the guerrillas of the Communist Party of Bhutan, which draws its strength from some 100-thousand Bhutanese Hindu and Christian refugees dwelling in UN camps in southern Nepal.  Meanwhile, the guerrillas have issued a statement accepting credit for the blast and threatened to intensify war against Bhutan if it fails to repatriate the refugees in Nepal. Last April Bhutan became a parliamentary democracy, but retained the monarch as constitutional head of the state.  But the refugees call this change in government a smokescreen created to reinforce the country's Buddhist oligarchy, which they claim yearns to eliminate other ethnic and religious minorities.  From Siliguri, near the India-Bhutan border, I am PC Dubey.

Six Dead in Series of Bombings in Assam, India
In a bloody start to the New Year, three bomb blasts in the Indian state of Assam killed 6 on Thursday evening. Authorities are blaming a local separatist group for the attack. Bismillah Geelani has more From New Delhi.

Hours before the Indian Home Minister's visit to the northeastern state of Assam, three explosions shook the state capital of Guwahati. The blasts occurred in crowded market places killing 6 and injuring more than 50 others.  Police say three members of the United Liberation Front of Assam or ULFA carried out the bombings.   ULFA is among the several separatist militant groups operating in the region, and has not yet claimed the responsibility for the attack. Thursday's attack in Guwahati is the first in the region since a series of bomb blasts killed nearly 90 people in the state in October 2008. For FSRN, this is Bismillah Geelani from New Delhi.

New Water Tests Near Tennessee Coal Ash Spill Reveal Contamination
Elevated levels of heavy metals are now showing up in Tennessee rivers near a huge coal ash spill, the environmental group Appalachian Voices says.  More than five million cubic yards of power plant sludge spilled over 400 acres after a dike collapsed on December 22.  The EPA and the Tennessee Valley Authority said initial testing showed no contamination.  But new tests by Appalachian State University show elevated levels of arsenic, mercury and lead in surrounding rivers.  Environmental groups accuse the TVA and EPA of not being candid about the threat to public health and drinking water.