President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s ruling coalition has won Sri Lanka’s first post-war parliamentary elections, further consolidating his political dominance after the battlefield defeat of the Tamil Tigers last year.

SRI LANKA’S rebels declared a unilateral ceasefire yesterday, but the government refused to halt its offensive into the last strip of land the insurgents hold despite concerns for tens of thousands of civilians trapped there.

Sri Lanka’s ruling party today won disputed regional elections in the country’s Eastern Province.

The Sri Lankan military today began deploying soldiers to help police maintain security on the eve of parliamentary elections that could result in a hung Parliament with no clear winner.