Ratwatte explains SLA activity in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 May 2000, 20:10 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Deputy Defence Minister, Gen. Anuruddha Ratwatte, who returned from Jaffna Wednesday after directing military operations there told state run TV that he has ordered the Sri Lanka army not to pull back any further in Jaffna. He said that the Liberation Tigers had shelled Palaly and the army had to counter it. The Minister urged the public to persuade deserters and soldiers who have not reported to duty after going on leave to go back to the front if they happened to see them.
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Two women assaulted in SLA custody

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 May 2000, 16:48 GMT]
Two young girls arrested by Sri Lanka Army soldiers on Sunday, were admitted to Batticaloa hospital Wednesday after they were severely assaulted in army custody, legal sources said.
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UNP bomb blast suspects further remanded

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 May 2000, 16:47 GMT]
Four suspects, described as the chief organizers of the UNP in the Batticaloa district, were Tuesday further remanded till June 13 by the Colombo Chief Magistrate and Additional District Judge D.G.Kulatilleke who is conducting the Magisterial inquiry into the Town Hall bomb blast on December 18, 1999.
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Passengers say Jaffna situation grim

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 May 2000, 11:05 GMT]
Students, government officers and Tamil expatriates from Jaffna who arrived in Trincomalee Wednesday on the passenger ship 'City of Trinco' said that civilians continue to live in fear and uncertainty in the peninsula. A group of university students and officers who spoke to TamilNet this morning said that the Jaffna municipal area is generally deserted and that the curfew imposed by the Sri Lankan army is lifted for only three hours from morning 9 a.m. to 12 noon during the day.
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SLA search in Colombo's business hub

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 May 2000, 19:03 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army cordoned off and searched Sea Street, the island's 'gold market', in the heart of Colombo's business hub Tuesday. More than thousand businessmen and shop assistants in this predominantly Tamil sector of the capital's business district were lined up for identification by 'spotters' who had come with the army. More than thirty youth, including five girls were arrested.
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Vavuniya claymore kills seven, injures nineteen

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 May 2000, 05:31 GMT]
Seven military trained Sri Lankan Policemen were killed and nineteen wounded when the truck in which they were traveling was hit by claymore mine blast six kilometers west of Vavuniya town on the Mannar road Tuesday morning around 9. 15 a.m.
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Grenade attack wounds five soldiers

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 May 2000, 19:08 GMT]
Five Sri Lanka Army soldiers were wounded in Mannar town Monday when a grenade was lobbed at them during a search operation in the suburb of Emil Nagar around 6.45 p.m. The condition of two soldiers is serious, Mannar Police sources said.
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MSF brings Jaffna wounded to Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 May 2000, 17:19 GMT]
Four civilians wounded in shelling in the Thenmaradchi division of Jaffna were transferred from Mallavi to Vavuniya hospital Monday by Medicins Sans Frontiers. The four are from the village of Madduvil south which was captured by the Liberation Tigers when they advanced on Chavakachcheri and its environs on May 19-20. They were brought overland through the Vanni from LTTE held sectors of Jaffna by the MSF.
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Pickering says north needs humanitarian assistance

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 May 2000, 10:18 GMT]
US Under Secretary of State Thomas Pickering who called on United National Party leader Mr.Ranil Wickremesinghe today at his office in Colombo told media persons that there is a need for humanitarian assistance in the northern province. An Indian TV journalist asked Mr.Pickering whether the US will provide military assistance to Sri Lanka. "No" the US Under Secretary of state replied emphatically.
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Police arrest Tamil journalist

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 May 2000, 18:11 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Police today arrested a senior journalist of the state run Tamil daily, Thinakaran. The Tamil journalist, Arul Sathiyanathan, was arrested in his home at Talawakella in the hill country district of Nuwara Eliya. His colleagues at Lake House, the Sri Lankan government's news paper organisation, said that Mr.Sathiyanathan was taken into custody by the Police although he had shown them proof that he was a senior accredited journalist at Thinakaran.
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SLA silence stymies UNHCR effort

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 May 2000, 15:32 GMT]
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a press release issued in Colombo Sunday that it did not receive a response to a request it had made to the Sri Lankan government on May 6 that "military actions be suspended for the period of the LTTE declared cease-fire" on May 27 Saturday, "in the interest of the civilians, who may be moving during that time". The UNHCR had also asked the Sri Lankan government to indicate a safe route to areas held by the army but had got no reply from the Ministry of Defence according to the press release.
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Shelling thwarts civilian evacuation

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 May 2000, 18:12 GMT]
The evacuation of an estimated 15,000 civilians from the embattled Chavakachcheri sector failed Saturday, as heavy shelling by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) prevented them moving to designated points where UNHCR officials were waiting, following the declaration of a ceasefire by the Liberation Tigers, the LTTE said in a statement. The LTTE urged international governments to "prevail on the Sri Lankan armed forces to desist from using civilians as human shields and subjecting them to indiscriminate artillery and aerial bombardment".
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Shell kills one

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 May 2000, 17:42 GMT]
A civilian was killed and another wounded when the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shelled Madduvil South, a village northwest of Chavakachcheri, this evening around 6.30 p.m., according to the Voice of Tigers radio.
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Search operation in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 May 2000, 17:24 GMT]
At least 25 persons were arrested during a search operation by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers in the Thaandavanveli area in the Batticaloa town around 6 p.m. this evening, residents said. Security sources said the arrested are being interrogated at the Batticaloa police station.
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No response to ceasefire offer

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 May 2000, 16:29 GMT]
There was no official reaction from the Sri Lankan government to the ceasefire declared unilaterally by the Liberation Tigers Friday to enable civilians in the Thenmaradchi division and other sectors of the Jaffna peninsula to move out, with the assistance of the UNHCR, to designated safer areas. Sri Lankan army headquarters sources in Colombo peremptorily dismissed the LTTE ceasefire.
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Claymore blast kills one

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 May 2000, 14:09 GMT]
A Special Task Force (STF) elite soldier was killed and three others, including an officer, were wounded when a land rover they were travelling in was hit by a claymore blast at Nelukkulam around 11 a.m. this morning.
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Ceasefire to evacuate civilians - LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 May 2000, 17:16 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers will observe a temporary ceasefire between 10am and 10pm Saturday May 27 to facilitate the evacuation of civilians to safe areas from battlezeones of the Thenmarachchi division of the Jaffna peninsula, the LTTE said Friday in a statement from its London offices. The UNHCR is to assist the evacuation, the Tigers said. Over 40 civilians have been killed and 150 wounded by indiscriminate shelling and bombing by the Sri Lankan armed forces, the LTTE statement said, adding that the Sri Lankan military was also preventing civilians from moving to areas of safety.
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Radio says civilians killed in bombing

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 May 2000, 16:05 GMT]
Two civilians identified as Viswalingam and Ariyanayagam were killed and eighteen wounded in heavy bombing by Kfirs this morning on the village of Maravanpulavu, southwest of Chavakachcheri, this morning around 11 a.m. according to night news broadcast of the Voice of Tigers Friday. A young mother, Sivanesan Annaimary, and her infant son were killed when shells fired by the Sri Lanka army hit their house in Madduvil Sivankovilady this morning the VoT said.
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ICRC ship aborts Jaffna trip

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 May 2000, 09:23 GMT]
'Java Gulf', the vessel operated by the International Committee of the Red Cross to the embattled Jaffna peninsula will be returning to Trincomalee port later Friday afternoon because the ICRC was "unable, at the final moment, to secure agreement with the Sri Lankan security forces and the Liberation Tigers regarding the port of disembarkation" a spokesman for the organisation said.
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Suresh case to Supreme Court

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 May 2000, 08:08 GMT]
The Supreme Court of Canada rendered a decision Thursday that Manickavasagam Suresh, a recognised Convention refugee from Sri Lanka can proceed with his appeal before it, legal sources said. In granting leave, the Supreme Court has also awarded costs to Suresh.
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Group claims Norway embassy bombing

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 May 2000, 17:17 GMT]
A group calling itself as National Front Against Tigers (NFAT) claimed responsibility for the grenades attack on the well guarded Norwegian mission in Colombo on Wednesday. The group in a statement faxed to the newspaper offices in Colombo said that the Norwegian government is the "international agent" of the Liberation Tigers. The same group claimed responsibility for the outspoken Tamil politician Kumar Ponnambalam on 5 January.
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Ranil criticises gagging of press

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 May 2000, 14:44 GMT]
Sri Lanka's opposition leader Mr.Ranil Wickremesinghe Thursday lambasted the government in Parliament for suppressing the freedom of expression. He pointed out that the appeal procedure available to the papers that have been shut down by the Sri Lankan government is specious. He called on the government to immediately withdraw the regulation that gives sweeping powers to the government to shut down papers and printing presses.
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Dissanayake contempt case to proceed

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 May 2000, 14:32 GMT]
A notice has been issued for Sports Minister S.B.Dissanayake to appear before the Supreme Court on June 21 to show cause as to why he should not be found in contempt of court for his controversial remarks about Judges.
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Athas intimidation case trial date fixed

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 May 2000, 14:31 GMT]
The English language weekly Sunday Times Defence Columnist Iqbal Athas intimidation case was re-fixed for trail on September 6th and 7th by a Colombo High Court Judge Andrew Somawanse. The prosecution amended the charges, to which defence counsel did not object.
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Tear gas breaks demonstration

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 May 2000, 09:15 GMT]
Sri Lankan police fired teargas and used water cannon Thursday to disperse demonstrators protesting against the government's emergency regulations which civic rights activists say are draconian. A large number of people gathered outside the Colombo town hall in the afternoon, defying the government's ban on demonstrations, sources said.
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PLOTE cadres killed in claymore blast

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 May 2000, 06:49 GMT]
A senior PLOTE cadre, Vincent, and his assistant identified as Pannai were killed, when a claymore mine packed in a bicycle exploded in Vavuniya town Thursday morning around 9.20 a.m. police sources in Vavuniya said.
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Shelling claim victims

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 May 2000, 06:44 GMT]
Police sources in Batticaloa said that six civilians living close to the Sri Lanka army camp in a Batticaloa suburb were killed last night around 9.45 p.m. when a shell hit their garden.
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Tigers advance on Meesalai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 May 2000, 16:25 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers resumed their offensive in the Jaffna peninsula Wednesday and are advancing towards Meesalai on the A9 highway, the LTTE said in a statement from its London offices. The crew of a Sri Lankan Air Force helicopter gunship were killed when it was shot down, the Tigers said. Meanwhile the town of Chavacachcheri had come under "a continuous barrage of indiscriminate artillery shelling" from the Sri Lanka armed forces, the LTTE said. The Tigers took control of the town in an offensive last week.
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Grenade attack on Norwegian embassy

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 May 2000, 16:19 GMT]

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SLAF helicopter shot down

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 May 2000, 15:25 GMT]
A Sri Lankan Air Force helicopter gunship was shot downed by the Liberation Tigers this evening near Sarasalai in the Thenmaradchi Division security sources said.
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ICRC vessel to anchor off Pt.Pedro

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 May 2000, 14:35 GMT]
The Java Gulf, the ship operated by the International Committee of the Red Cross for humanitarian and medical purposes between Trincomalee and Jaffna set sail around 6 p.m. Wednesday from the eastern port. Patients at the Jaffna teaching hospital who are in need of urgent medical attention will be evacuated tomorrow ICRC sources said. The Java Gulf will drop anchor off the Pt.Pedro jetty and not at the Kankesanthurai (KKS) harbour sources said.
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Hartal in Batticaloa to protest killings

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 May 2000, 13:00 GMT]
Shops and schools were closed, few reported for work in government offices and roads were generally deserted Wednesday in Batticaloa, Valaichenai and other towns in the eastern district. This hartal was in response to a call by a student organisation to protest against the indiscriminate shooting by Sri Lankan security forces on May 17 in which scores of civilians were killed and wounded. The Police failed in the morning to compel shops in Batticaloa town to open up for business.
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Kumaratunga urges more donations for war

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 May 2000, 21:52 GMT]
The Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga asked employees in the government and in public and private companies to donate 2 days of their salaries to the state's war fund to fight the Liberation Tigers in an address to the nation Tuesday. She asserted that the Sri Lankan army is determined to win the war.
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Fighting erupts near Batticaloa town

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 May 2000, 21:50 GMT]
Heavy fighting erupted close to the Batticaloa this evening when the Liberation Tigers shelled the Sri Lanka army camp on the approach to the Sri Lanka Air Force base southwest of the town. Mi 24 Helicopter gunships were sent in to strafe the positions of the Tiger troops ahead of the Vavunathivu camp late in the evening today. The Tigers returned fire and continued to shell and fire on the camp sources in batticaloa said.
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FMM condemns closure of papers

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 May 2000, 09:33 GMT]
The Free Media Movement (FMM) in Sri Lanka, while condemning the closure of two newspapers, has called upon "all democratic forces, here and aboard, to exert maximum pressure upon the Sri Lankan government to desist from using emergency regulations to restrict the freedom of expression and other democratic rights in Sri Lanka."
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Call in Vanni against military intervention

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 May 2000, 06:37 GMT]
The voice of Tigers (VoT) said in its morning news broadcast today that a mass rally and meeting were held in Mallavi Monday evening to protest against the Sri Lankan government's embargo on food and medicine to the Vanni and against international military intervention in the Sri Lankan conflict.
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ICRC ship cancelled

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 May 2000, 14:11 GMT]
Mr. Harasha Gunawardene, the spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Colombo told TamilNet that his organisation's weekly ship service between Trincomalee and Jaffna was cancelled Monday due to security reasons. The ICRC ship was to sail from the eastern port town of Trincomalee to Kankesanthurai (KKS) harbour.
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Sunday Leader closed down

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 May 2000, 13:29 GMT]
The Sunday Leader, one of Sri Lanka's main newspapers was closed down by the government Monday, media sources told TamilNet by telephone. No reason had been given the sources said. The sources quoted Sunday Leader staff as speculating the move was linked to an article by the paper's defence correspondent published in its latest issue.
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Civilians urged to build bomb shelters

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 May 2000, 09:01 GMT]
The Voice of Tigers radio repeatedly urged civilians in Thenmaradchi division since Sunday to construct bunkers to protect themselves from heavy bombing by Sri Lanka Air Force jets. The radio said that four civilians were killed and eight were wounded when the Sri Lanka army yesterday shelled the Madduvil sector that was captured by the Liberation Tigers Saturday.
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Tigers train guns beyond harbour

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 May 2000, 18:06 GMT]
Artillery shells fired by the Liberation Tigers hit coastal areas to the west of Kankesanthurai (KKS), Sri Lanka army's only harbour in Jaffna, yesterday sources contacted by phone in the northern peninsula said Sunday. The shelling indicates that the LTTE has moved its field guns closer to the sprawling military base complex in Palaly and Kankesanthurai the sources said.
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Shelling kills fifteen at home for aged

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 May 2000, 17:51 GMT]
Aid agency sources in the north said Sunday that 15 persons were killed and 31 wounded at the home for the aged in Kaithady, east of Jaffna town, when it was hit by artillery shells on Friday May 19. The Sri Lankan army has been shelling the general area of Kaithadi heavily since the Liberation Tigers overran its positions in around this junction town on May 17.
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Tiger manoeuvres pressure SLA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 May 2000, 11:46 GMT]
The special forces of the Liberation Tigers which on Saturday overran the Sri Lankan army garrison and other defensive positions in Chavakachcheri and its environs, fifteen kilometers south of Jaffna, are attacking the Kilali base and the remaining Sri Lanka army positions in the peninsula's Thenmaradchi division said the special noon news broadcast of the Voice of Tigers today.
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Chavakachcheri captured - LTTE

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 May 2000, 14:41 GMT]
Chavakachcheri, the second largest town on the Jaffna peninsula, fell to the Liberation Tigers Saturday, after 12 hours of heavy fighting, the LTTE said in a press release from its London offices. The troops of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) were fleeing towards Kodigamam, the last SLA-held position in the Thenmarachchi sector, the Tigers said.
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Tigers advance further in Jaffna - VoT

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 May 2000, 11:15 GMT]
The advancing troops of the Liberation Tigers captured the Sri Lanka army positions defending the approaches to Chavakachcheri, Jaffna peninsula's second largest town, the Voice of Tigers said in its noon special news broadcast today. The special forces of the Tigers had advanced on multiple fronts to interdict the third supply route from Palaly to the government troops in the Thenmaradchi division in Jaffna's southern sector since midnight the radio said.
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SLA shuts down Jaffna paper

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 May 2000, 05:28 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army sealed the Jaffna daily, Uthayan, yesterday. Soldiers who went to the paper's office in Jaffna town last evening locked the building, cut phone lines and took the keys away said a journalist at the paper. The Sri Lankan government declared draconian laws recently granting sweeping powers to specially appointed officials including the authority to close down news papers and printing presses.
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Tigers urge SLA surrender

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 May 2000, 17:44 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers Friday appealed to the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers in the Jaffna peninsula to surrender "to avoid a bloodbath." The LTTE said in a statement from its London offices that soldiers who lay down their arms "will be treated with dignity and honour" and handed over to the custody of the International Committee of the Red Cross "within 24 hours".
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Artillery fire closes Jaffna air, sea ports - LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 May 2000, 16:03 GMT]
The Sri Lankan military has suspended operations in Jaffna's lone sea port and cancelled flights from the single airstrip on the peninsula after both came under direct artillery fire, the Liberation Tigers said Friday. The LTTE said in a statement from its London offices that its guns had hit the runway at Palali airbase and military installations at Kankesanthurai sea port. Meanwhile, advancing columns of LTTE troops captured the areas of Madduvil and Sarasali today, the organization said, adding that fighting was raging at the strategic Sarasali junction.
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ICRC monitoring condition of Jaffna displaced

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 May 2000, 13:09 GMT]
Aid agency sources in the north said that the Sri Lanka Army lifted the curfew in the Jaffna municipality area today from 9 a.m to 12.30 p.m. The town was generally quiet they said. The ICRC spokesman Harasha Gunawardena told Tamilnet that his organisation visited three camps for the displaced in Manipay today. He said that ICRC, along with Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (Jaffna), continues to monitor and assess the humanitarian needs of the displaced population in Jaffna.
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Palaly shelling cancels Jaffna ship

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 May 2000, 07:33 GMT]
'The City of Trinco', a passenger ship to Jaffna that was scheduled to depart this morning from the eastern port of Trincomalee was canceled by the Sri Lanka Navy for security reasons officials said. The ship was to set sail with 350 passengers to the Kankesanthurai harbour (KKS), located in the sprawling Palaly base complex in the northern sector of the Jaffna peninsula. The Liberation Tigers say that their artillery units have been firing on the base since Wednesday.
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Tigers shell Palaly

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 May 2000, 13:04 GMT]
Artillery shells fired by the Liberation Tigers on the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) base at Palaly hit the main communications tower and the air strip of the northern military complex said the Thamileela Vaanoli, the commercial broadcast of the Voice of Tigers said in its 5 p.m. news broadcast Thursday. The radio said that two policemen who were on duty at the communications tower were killed in the shelling.
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Investigators query telecast of censored news

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 May 2000, 06:27 GMT]
Mr. Namal Perera, the news editor of the private TV station TNL was interviewed by the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CID) of the Sri Lankan Police last night for putting out a story that had been censored by the Sri Lankan government's competent authority for the media.
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Kaithady SLA base captured - LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 May 2000, 16:07 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers said Wednesday they had overrun the strategically important Sri Lanka Army (SLA) base at Kaithady, killing one hundred soldiers and wounding hundreds more and cutting off thousands of SLA troops in the Thenmaradchchi sector.
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Bomb explodes in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 May 2000, 14:06 GMT]
At least 19 people, including 4 Sri Lanka Army soldiers and a police officer were killed when a powerful bomb exploded in the Batticaloa town around 5.50 p.m. Wednesday evening. Forty-two civilians and 21 members of the security forces were wounded in the blast police sources said.
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Tigers advance on twin fronts

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 May 2000, 21:41 GMT]
In a twin fronted assault, the Liberation Tigers have advanced deep into Sri Lanka Army (SLA) held territory in the Jaffna peninsula, the LTTE said Tuesday. Tiger forces have advanced from earlier captured positions into the Chavakachcheri sector and are attacking the SLA base at Kaithady having overrun SLA defences at Navatkuli, the LTTE said in a statement from its London offices. LTTE forces have also smashed SLA defences at Pasaiyur and Kurunagar in the outskirts of Jaffna city, the statement said further.
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Kadirgamar says paying dearly for arms

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 May 2000, 20:41 GMT]
"What is the message that you would like to give Prabhakaran at this juncture?" asked Dilip Ganguly, the Colombo correspondent of Associated Press, as Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Mr.Lakshman Kadirgamar was winding up his press conference today. The Minister replied "Is it not time for you (Prabhaharan) to say 'I've seen a good battle; now it must end' ?" Mr.Kadirgamar ruled out the possibility of his government getting down foreign troops to fight the Liberation Tigers.
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Tigers ask civilians to move

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 May 2000, 11:38 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers said that Operation Unceasing Waves III has resumed in Jaffna following a few days gap for the safe out movement of civilians, according to the Voice of Tigers broadcast monitored in Vavuniya this morning. The Tigers asked civilians in theMunicipality limits of the Jaffna town to urgentlymove out to safer areas such as Chankanai, Manipay, Siththankerni, Sandilippai and Vaddukkoddai in the Waligamam west sector of the peninsula according to the radio.
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Tigers overrun SLA defences in Chavakachcheri

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 May 2000, 09:30 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers overran the defences of the Sri Lanka army on the approach to Chavakachcheri, east of Jaffna town according military sources in Colombo. A press release by the Sri Lankan government's Media Centre said this afternoon that senior ground commanders of the SLA "shifted their defences to prepared positions to the north east" of the Thanangkilappu sector.
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All party backing sought for war

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 May 2000, 16:56 GMT]
"The government doesn't intend stopping the war. The Tigers wont be allowed to advance any further in Jaffna" said Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga addressing an all party meeting convened today to discuss the military crisis in the north. A proposal that all parties should unanimously resolve to defeat the Liberation Tigers was objected to by the Tamil United Liberation Front although the President was in agreement with this suggestion of the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna and the Sinhala Mahasammata Bhoomiputra party.
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EPDP member killed in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 May 2000, 16:49 GMT]
A member of the Valikamam South Pradeshiya Sabha (PS), Santhanam Kandeepan,30, representing the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EDPD) was shot dead by unidentified youth in Jaffna around 12.30 p.m. today said sources.
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SLA warns Jaffna journalist

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 May 2000, 20:15 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army in Jaffna reprimanded and warned senior Jaffna journalist Mr.C.N Vithyatharan today for publishing in his paper a story about the Sri Lankan President breaking into tears during her meeting with Indian Air Force chief A.Y Tipnis last week. He was also severely warned that action would be taken against him for publishing in his paper, Uthayan, the names of the five civlians, including two children, who were killed in the Sri Lanka Air Force bombing in Pooneryn on Friday, May 12.
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Tigers overrun camp in Trinco

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 May 2000, 17:57 GMT]
Six military trained Policemen were wounded and two were killed when the Liberation Tigers attacked and destroyed their camp at Poovarasanthivu, 10 kilometers south west of Trincomalee, in the early hours of the morning around 1.30 a.m. Sunday. The attackers removed some weapons from the camp, including a Rocket Propelled Grenade launcher, sources said.
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Offensive exposes Jaffna's 'soft underbelly'

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 May 2000, 16:02 GMT]
Sri Lankan Air Force jets continued bombing raids on the positions of the Tiger troops holding the Ariyalai and Thanangkilappu sectors to the south east of Jaffna town. However, the situation report put out by the Sri Lankan government's Media Centre today indicated that the Tigers are active in these sectors despite the heavy bombing.
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Jaffna town deserted

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 May 2000, 13:50 GMT]
The Jaffna town was deserted this morning though the curfew imposed by the army was lifted for three hours from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Most of the town's population have moved out to the Waligamam sector, a journalist at a Jaffna daily office contacted by phone this afternoon said. Ex-Tamil militant sources in the town claimed that Sri Lanka Air Force's Israeli Kfir jets heavily bombed the Navatkuly and Thanangkilappu areas this morning.
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Thousands leaving northern town

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 May 2000, 20:18 GMT]
The Jaffna teaching hospital continues to function with all of its staff spokesman for International Committee of the Red Cross, Mr.Harasha Gunawardena, told TamilNet this evening. He said that neither the government nor the Liberation Tigers have so far approached the ICRC about establishing a demilitarized zone comprising the hospital and its immediate environs.
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Tigers prepare final assault

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 May 2000, 17:11 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers said Friday they were preparing for "the final push" into Jaffna city. Heavily armed LTTE troops have moved from the Vanni into the newly captured areas for this purpose amid panic and confusion amongst the defending Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops, the Tigers said in a statement from their London offices, adding that civilians were leaving the northern city despite an SLA-imposed curfew.
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Send succor to Jaffna troops - Ranil

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 May 2000, 14:27 GMT]
Addressing the Sri Lankan Parliament today on the war crisis in northern Sri Lanka, opposition leader Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe said that the government should guarantee the life and property of the civilians in Jaffna. The opposition leader urged the Sri Lankan government to send food and medicine urgently required by the beleaguered troops in Jaffna.
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Fresh advances in Jaffna town -LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 May 2000, 16:22 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers have advanced close to Jaffna city centre as their offensive in the northern peninsula continues, the LTTE said Thursday. The Tigers have also overrun two key Sri Lanka Army (SLA) bases at Kovilakandy and Thanankillappu in another prong of their operation, the organisation said in a statement from its London offices.
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Minister says war needs 12 billion more

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 May 2000, 14:13 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Deputy Minister for Finance Prof.G.L.Pieris told Parliament today that his government has to raise 12 billion rupees more to prosecute the war against the Liberation Tigers. He announced that the defence levy on all goods and services will be increased again to raise part of the monies required for the war effort.
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Tigers pushing closer to town centre

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 May 2000, 13:13 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers have begun moving into the coastal suburbs of Jaffna town said a senior journalist at a daily newspaper published in the northern peninsula contacted by phone this evening. He said that the Sri Lankan army positions in Maniyanthottam, Ariyalai, Colombuthurai have been vacated.
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CSU personnel injured in claymore attack

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 May 2000, 06:16 GMT]
Five military trained Policemen including three operatives of the Counter Subversive Unit (CSU) were wounded when they were hit by a claymore mine blast in the heart of Mannar town this morning around 10.30 a.m. The Police said that the Liberation Tigers were responsible for the attack in this high security zone.
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New advances in Jaffna -LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 May 2000, 19:38 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers said Wednesday they are advancing into the Navatkuli, Ariyalai and Thanankillapu areas in the outskirts of Jaffna town, following fierce fighting with the Sri Lanka Army (SLA). A 2km stretch of the A9 highway, inclusive of the Navatkuli bridge, had come under the LTTE's control, the organisation said in a press release from its London offices Wednesday night. LTTE troops have also advanced 2km into the Thanankillapu area and occupied Maniyanthoddan in the Ariyalai sector, the statement said.
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Strategic bridge captured - LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 May 2000, 10:15 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers said Wednesday their commando units had taken control of a section of the strategic Navatkuli bridge, cutting off the A9 highway. Heavy fighting was continuing in the area, the LTTE said in a statement released from its London offices.
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Heavy fighting in Jaffna - MoD

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 May 2000, 10:07 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Wednesday that the Liberation Tigers had launched a "major attack" on Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops manning defences at Ariyalai and Tanankillappu in Jaffna, using " heavy volume of artillery and mortars".
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Fighting erupts again in Kilali

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 May 2000, 17:07 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army base in Kilali is being attacked by the Liberation Tigers from 5.30 a.m. this morning Tamil media reports in Europe quoting Voice of Tigers radio said Tuesday. The Tigers in Jaffna have announced that Operation Unceasing Waves III has resumed the reports said. Meanwhile a statement by the Sri Lankan government's Media Centre said that there was a heavy assault this morning on SLA positions north of Pallai.
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UNICEF ambulances for Vanni can't go

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 May 2000, 16:59 GMT]
Three ambulances donated by the UNICEF to the Mallavi, Kilinochchi, and Mullaithivu hospitals in the Vanni cannot be sent there because Sri Lanka's Ministry of Defence is continuing to to delay permission, health department officials in Vavuniya said today.
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Ratwatte vows to keep Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 May 2000, 10:06 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Deputy Minister for Defence, General Anuruddha Ratwatte wowed today in Parliament to defend Jaffna by 'recouping all resources' available to his government. Addressing the Parliament this morning on the military crisis in the north, he claimed that the draconian regulations imposed by the Sri Lankan government under the Public Security Ordinance will not be used to postpone the general elections which are due in August this year.
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UNP wants army de-politicized

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 May 2000, 20:43 GMT]
The United National Party today decided to oppose the monthly extension of the Emergency in Parliament on May 10. Generally the UNP is not present in Parliament when the extension of the Emergency comes up for voting. The party also claimed that the need of hour is to de-politicize the security forces.
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Chandrika says will win war soon

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 May 2000, 20:40 GMT]
"The government has decided to win the war as soon as possible" said the Sri Lankan President today in an address to the nation. She claimed that the draconian regulations promulgated by her government last week under the Public Security Ordinance was only a temporary measure and would be put into effect only in extreme situations.
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SLA dismisses ceasefire offer

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 May 2000, 11:36 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army totally rejected the ceasefire offer by the Liberation Tigers today. An officer at the operational headquarters of the Ministry of defence said this afternoon that the SLA will fight to the last man to defend Jaffna. An official release stating the government's position would be out later this afternoon he said.
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LTTE offers cease-fire for safe withdrawal

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 May 2000, 09:35 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers said Monday that they are prepared to declare a temporary cease-fire to allow the Sri Lanka Army troops in the northern Jaffna peninsula to withdraw safely. In a statement from its London offices, the LTTE said its offer was "gesture of goodwill" to prevent further bloodshed and "to create a congenial environment" for the SLA "to withdraw from the unfavourable theatre of war with dignity and honour".
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President briefs PLOTE, EPDP

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 May 2000, 18:44 GMT]
The Sri Lankan President briefed the leaders of the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) this evening about the war situation in Jaffna and the state of the talks between the government and the opposition on reaching a consensus on the constitutional reform package. She told them she hopes for a lot of assistance from India to deal with the crisis in the north.
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Surgery and dispensaries close down in Vanni

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 May 2000, 18:43 GMT]
The surgery of the Mallavi hospital and two branches of the Mullaithivu hospital were closed down today due to a severe shortage of medical supplies in the Vanni aid agency sources in the north said.
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SLA vacates camps north of Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 May 2000, 13:17 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army vacated two key camps north of Batticaloa on Friday. The pull out was acknowledged in the situation report put out today the Special Media Information Centre set up under the regulations of the Public Security Act.
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UNP blames government for debacle

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 May 2000, 12:32 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government, and not the Sri Lanka Army, has to take responsibility for the fall of the Elephant Pass base to the Liberation Tigers, Ranil Wickremesinghe, leader of Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party (UNP) said in an interview to The Week magazine.
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UNP protest blocked

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 May 2000, 18:16 GMT]
A group of about thirty United National Party MPs were blocked by the Sri Lankan Police from staging a protest this morning at Independent Square near down town Colombo against the promulgation of the draconian regulations under the Public Security Ordinance.
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Censorship seen heralding authoritarian rule

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 May 2000, 09:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka's new censorship laws will lead to an authoritarian rule in the country, a press freedom organization said Friday. The Free Media Movement said the government was using Sri Lanka's ongoing conflict as a cover for its "repressive political project".
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Censorship on foreign media

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 May 2000, 17:27 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Government Thursday followed up the tough security measures it announced Wednesday night with renewed press censorship on the foreign media. Sri Lanka's local media have been subject to censorship since last year. However, Colombo-based foreign media had been exempted.
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Sri Lanka resumes diplomatic relations with Israel

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 May 2000, 08:18 GMT]
The Government of Sri Lanka has decided to resume diplomatic relations with the Government of Israel with immediate effect, said foreign ministry in a news release today.
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Sri Lanka promulgates draconian measures

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 May 2000, 06:07 GMT]
The Sri Lankan President promulgated draconian measures under the public security ordinance banning all activities perceived as a threat to national security last night. Under these regulations, the government can take possession of ships, planes and vehicles and other assets from the public for national security purposes and for the maintenance of the essential services. The regulations also provide for the government to ban any publication and seize printing presses.
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Sri Lanka on war-footing

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 May 2000, 16:15 GMT]
The Sri Lankan minister of Post, Telecommunication and Media Mr.Mangala Samaraweera announcing cabinet decision Wednesday said that the country has been put on a war footing. Meanwhile sources said the Indian Central Government has declined to respond positively to the Sri Lankan Government's request for assistance to handle the military crisis in the north of the island.
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Indian assistance not possible - President

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 May 2000, 11:14 GMT]
The Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunge, said today that she did not think that it was possible to obtain military assistance from India to alleviate the military situation in the northern Jaffna peninsula, according to an MP of the ruling People's Alliance who attended a meeting of the party's Parliamentary Group Wednesday between 10 and 12.30pm.
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Tigers to return 14 bodies

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 May 2000, 20:45 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers have contacted today the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) delegation in the Vanni, regarding handing over of 14 more bodies of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers killed in the fighting in Pallai on Sunday, said Harsha Gunawardene, the Spokesman for the organisation.
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Police investigate EU media seminar

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 May 2000, 20:34 GMT]
The Counter Subversive Unit (CSU) of the Sri Lankan Police questioned today a senior Tamil journalist regarding a seminar sponsored by the European Union (EU) in Batticaloa last month. The CSU interrogated Mr.R.Thurairatnman, the Batticaloa correspondent for the Tamil daily Thinakaran, the Daily News and the Sri Lankan Broadcasting Corporation, and recorded a statement from him this afternoon regarding the participants and purpose of the EU sponsored seminar.
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President discusses crisis with opposition

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 May 2000, 20:31 GMT]
The Sri Lankan President and the leader of the opposition held a two hour meeting to discuss crisis over the military debacles in the northern part of the island today. The United National Party delegation had asked the President to remove the stringent censorship on all war related news and to convene the Parliament by May 5 according to a press communique issued by the Presidential secretariat this afternoon.
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Lagoon coast road taken - VoT

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 May 2000, 20:21 GMT]
The Voice of Tigers said in its night news broadcast today that the Liberation Tigers have brought 12 kilometers of the road along the coast of the Jaffna lagoon between Elephant Pass and Kilali under their control. It said that the fighting formations of the Tigers are continuing to press on with the Unceasing Waves Offensive into Jaffna.
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Two SLA soldiers killed in Welikanda

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 May 2000, 13:06 GMT]
Two soldiers were killed and a military trained Policeman was wounded when the Liberation Tigers shelled Sri Lanka Army (SLA) positions in Welikanda, about 62 kilometers northwest of Batticaloa, this morning around 7 a.m. The Tigers had fired long range mortars from the region under their control east of Welikanda, hitting two border security posts of the SLA.
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Tigers hand over 42 SLA bodies

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 May 2000, 07:29 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers handed over the bodies of 42 soldiers who were killed at Pallai to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) at Kilinochchi around 11.15 a.m. today.
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Tigers attack Kilali

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 May 2000, 17:18 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army's Kilali base on the Jaffna lagoon's southeastern coast is being attacked by the Liberation Tigers said the Voice of Tigers (VoT) radio in its night news broadcast today.
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SLA bodies transfer tomorrow -ICRC

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 May 2000, 16:01 GMT]
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that the Liberation Tigers had got in touch with its delegation in the Vanni this evening about handing over the bodies of the Sri Lanka army soldiers who were killed in the fighting yesterday in Pallai and its environs.
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SLA builds bulwark as Tigers advance

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 May 2000, 12:24 GMT]
The Operational headquarters of Sri Lanka's Ministry of Defence (MoD) acknowledged that the Sri Lanka army was pushed out of Pallai, Pulopalai and Iththaavil by the Liberation Tigers yesterday in a press release issued Monday afternoon. The SLA, according to the release, was forced to withdraw with heavy casualties. Sources in Jaffna, meanwhile, said that the SLA is constructing a massive bulwark to stall the advancing Tigers.
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Tigers to return SLA bodies

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 May 2000, 11:25 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers have recovered the bodies of several Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers from the recently captured town of Pallai and are making arrangements to return 50 which are in good condition to the SLA, LTTE sources in London said Monday.
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Eight Tamils arrested in city

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 May 2000, 07:13 GMT]
Eight Tamil youth, including two girls, were arrested in Colombo Saturday night. The boys and girls were taken into custody by the Sri Lankan Police during a search conducted in several lodges in the suburb of Bambalapitiya.
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