Sri Lankan soldiers patrol a road across from a government agency in Colombo, the capital. The military says it has added 40,000 recruits in each of the last two years. Ishara S. Kodikara AFP/Getty ImagesSri Lanka's War On Several Fronts -- Washington Post
With Government Troops Nearing Victory, Social and Political Issues Still Simmer
VAVUNIYA, Sri Lanka -- Sandya Kanthi and her husband were once rice farmers. They tended paddies among the lush coconut groves and banana palms just outside this town. Now they are warriors, rifles in hand and neatly pressed khaki uniforms on their backs.
They are among an estimated 45,000 largely Sinhalese villagers who have joined what is known here as the Civil Defense Forces, Sri Lanka's version of the National Guard, a paramilitary civilian group whose job is to defend villages, often in areas that have been attacked by ethnic Tamil separatist rebels in Asia's longest-running insurgency. After a few weeks of weapons training, the villagers are given uniforms, guns and a monthly salary of about $140.
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More News On Sri Lanka's Civil War
73 Tiger rebels killed in fierce clashes: Lankan army -- NDTV
Sri Lanka says 65 Tiger rebels killed -- AFP
21 civilians killed by LTTE in eastern Sri Lanka -- The Hindu
Sri Lankan troops capture last big rebel town: Army -- Canada.com
Tamil group alleges safe zone raid -- Al Jazeera
Sri Lanka kamikaze attack targeted air force -- AP
Price of Sri Lanka's Army Expansion is Paid in Grief -- Los Angeles Times