Jaffna woman arrested in Habarana

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 22:42 GMT]
A Jaffna born Tamil woman was arrested in Habarana on Thursday by the Habarana police. She had been in possession of a fake National Identity Card (NIC) at that time of arrest, police sources said.
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Jaffna University students call off boycott temporarily

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 22:24 GMT]
Jaffna University students who had been boycotting lectures in protest against the killing of innocent Tamils in Vanni since Monday have decided to call of the boycott temporarily from Sunday, Jaffna University Student Union (JUSU) said in its report Saturday. The university administration which had been forced to stall by the students will resume it activities Monday, the report further said.
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British Tamils stage largest ever march protesting genocide, mandating Tamil Eelam

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 21:50 GMT]
More than one hundred thousand British Tamils marched through central London Saturday condemning Sri Lanka’s war against their people and calling for an independent Tamil Eelam. The unprecedented response on one of the coldest days this year turned out to be the largest ever gathering of the British Tamil community. It seems almost half of the Eezham Tamil community in Britain joined the march Saturday. While the turnout reflected the anger and outrage over the genocide committed on Tamils by Colombo and its international abettors, significant focus of the march was the demand for the recognition of Eezham Tamil sovereignty in the island of Sri Lanka. It was actually a mandate, the organizers said.
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Nagesh, made generations to laugh, passes away

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 20:07 GMT]
Born as Gunddu Rao in a Kannada Madhva Brahmin family on 27th September 1933, C.K. Nagesh, the veteran comedian of Tamil cinema, passed away in Balaji Hospital Chennai on Saturday at the age of 76. Started acting in films since 1961 (Thaayilla Pi’l’lai), his career stretched to almost half a century, the last film being Thasaavathaaram in 2008.
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Colleges closed indefinitely in Tamil Nadu to diffuse student uprising

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 18:03 GMT]
As students of Tamil Nadu declared strike from Monday, demanding a permanent ceasefire in Sri Lanka, the government of Tamil Nadu on Saturday night announced an indefinite closure of all state-aided, state-run and private colleges in the state. "This reminds us of the 1965 anti-Hindi agitations that rocked Tamil Nadu. At that point of time too, colleges were indefinitely closed that lasted well over three months," a senior Tamil activist told TamilNet.
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Artillery-fired cluster shells, aerial bombing on safety zone, 39 civilians killed

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 17:44 GMT]
For the first time within the safety zone, Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers Saturday attacked Moongkilaa'ru and Chuthanthirapuram. Relentless artillery fire also continued throughout the day on civilian targets. 39 civilians were killed and 128 wounded in the indiscriminate attacks. Artillery-fired cluster munitions were used in the attacks by the SLA against civilians targets, blamed LTTE's Political Head B. Nadesan. Meanwhile a doctor attending the wounded at Udaiyaarkaddu hospital described the situation as a two-pronged genocide, one through military operations and the other by refusing medical supplies.
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Grenade attack on SLA sentry post in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 14:40 GMT]
Two unidentified persons on bicycle hurled a hand grenade on the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) sentry post in I'nuvil in Valikaamam Friday around 7:10 p.m during power cut, sources in Jaffna said. The soldiers in the sentry post were injured, according to unconfirmed reports from the area.
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Tamil activists besiege Tanjore Air Force base

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 13:44 GMT]
More than a 1000 Tamil activists belonging to various political organizations and social movements laid siege to the Tanjore Air Force base Saturday morning violating prohibitive orders. The activists led by Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam President Kolathur T.S.Mani and Thamil Desiya Pothuvudamai Katchi (Tamil National Communist Party) General Secretary P. Maniarasan were protesting against the air-force base at Thanjavur being used by the Indian Army to supply lethal and non-lethal weaponry to Sri Lanka in its genocidal war on the Tamils.
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Only 26 respond to Rajapaksa's 48-hour ultimatum

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 12:11 GMT]
In the last 48-hours, only 26 civilians have crossed through Oamanthai into Sri Lankan government controlled area, District Secretariat sources in Vavuniyaa said Saturday evening. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan military sources put the number of civilians who crossed Oamanthai at 65. In the meantime, the representatives of the Internally Displaced People in Vanni have expressed fear that many hundreds of civilians are going to perish within the next few hours as a Sri Lankan military official in Colombo said the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) would go on an "all out operation" to "eliminate the remaining Tigers" after the lapse of 48-hour ultimatum.
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'UN subtly abets Colombo's genocide' - MP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 10:28 GMT]
The United Nations, which has not asserted its international authority and responsibility with the Colombo government in directly taking charge of the affected civilians of Vanni, has no moral or humanitarian grounds to urge the civilians to submit themselves against their will into the hands of those who commit genocide on them, said Batticaloa parliamentarian S. Jeyananthamoorthy on Saturday. "Hitherto, the UN and the International Community have only demonstrated their miserable failure in making the Colombo government to observe human rights. What is their guarantee now for the security and dignity of civilians, other than untrustworthy assurance of Mahinda Rajapaksa," asked the MP who charged the UN for playing in the hands of a genocidal government.
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Umbrella front announces February 4 statewide bandh in Tamil Nadu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 09:34 GMT]
Demanding a permanent ceasefire in Sri Lanka and the withdrawal of all Indian military aid to Colombo, leaders of the umbrella front in Tamil Nadu, Ilangkaith Thamizhar Paathukaappu Pearavai, which was recently formed to protect the Eezham Tamils, announced Saturday that they would mark the Sri Lankan Independence Day on February 4 as a day of protest. A state-wide bandh and a black-flag procession have been announced.
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SLA shelling continues on 'safety zone', Colombo refuses international call for ceasefire

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 08:37 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) continued artillery shelling Saturday on civilian targets in Chuthanthirapuram. Eight wounded civilians have been rushed to Udaiyaarkaddu hospital and a mother has succumbed to injuries, according to initial reports from the medical sources. The shelling continues as Colombo refused International call for ceasefire. On Friday, the shelling destroyed Vanni head office of the Human Development Centre (HUDEC) of Caritas Jaffna, the social arm of the Catholic Church in the Jaffna Diocese.
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Stop the human tragedy in Vanni – CJPCD Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 08:18 GMT]
The Catholic community of Jaffna district, led by Jaffna Bishop Rt. Rev. Thomas Saundaranayagam, continuing its hunger strike for the third day at Jaffna Central College along with members of other faiths and civil organizations, issued a statement Friday, requesting the immediate halt to the human tragedy that is taking place in Vanni, the statement released by the Commission For Justice and of the Catholic Diocese of Jaffna (CJPCD) said.
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Family man immolates himself, Tamil Nadu tense

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 07:23 GMT]
A father of five children, set himself ablaze in Madurai, Tamil Nadu Friday night, demanding justice and peace for Eezham Tamils. The man, Ravi, has succumbed to his injuries at the hospital Saturday evening, sending shock waves across the state, according to media sources in Madurai.
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Canadian Tamils form human chain to protest Sri Lanka's genocide

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 06:30 GMT]
In a show of solidarity with the Northeast Tamils caught up in the war in Sri Lanka, about 45,000 Canadian Tamils people took part in the protest throughout the day Friday, forming a human chain stretching from Bloor St. to University Ave. and Yonge St. and snaked all the way to Front.according to Staff Sgt. Deb Abbott of 52 Division, with about 30,000 on Front St. alone, Toronto Star reported.
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Muththukumar hailed as hero, tension escalates across Tamil Nadu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 January 2009, 05:13 GMT]
Protests and strikes spread across Tamil Nadu, snarling traffic at major important roads particularly in Chennai, demonstrators held vigils in Coimbatore, Thiruvannaamalai and Salem paying homage to Muththukumar who self-immolated to show solidarity with Eezham Tamils, and Madras High Court Advocates Association boycotted courts on Friday, while mainstream media said the prevailing tension in Tamil Nadu can snowball into a potentially explosive situation.
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LTTE appoints Pathmanathan as head of international relations

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 23:51 GMT]
The leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) has recently named Selvarasa Pathmanathan, a high profile representative of the movement, as the Head of a newly established Department of International Relations, sources close to the LTTE said on Saturday.
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Train service to Vavuniyaa suspended until further notice

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 23:20 GMT]
Passenger train service between Colombo and Vavuniyaa has been suspended from Thursday until further notice as a security measure. The service will be run upto Madawachchi, Railway Department said.
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Trincomalee Tamil civilian arrested in Peradeniya

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 23:19 GMT]
Peradeniya Police in the central province took a 53 year-old Tamil civilian P.K.Murugesu of Kannakipuram, Orr's Hill in Trincomalee town into custody Wednesday evening in a cordon and search operation conducted in Peradeniya town.
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SLA separates relatives of seriously wounded, sends them to internment camp

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 19:56 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Vavuniyaa, inhumanely separated 122 immediate family members accompanying the seriously wounded 226 civilians transported by the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), and sent them to an internment camp in Nelukku'lam, Vavuniyaa, medical sources in Vavuniyaa told TamilNet. Mothers of number of injured children, between ages 8 and 10 years, were also not allowed to remain with their children, and were transferred to the internment camp.
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Shut down observed in East despite SLA threats

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 17:07 GMT]
A shut down in the North and East Friday called by the Tamil National Alliance to condemn the killing of Tamils in Vanni was totally observed in the East in a peaceful manner despite harassment and threats by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) of severe consequences for those taking part in the shut down, sources in Batticaloa said.
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Tamils held in prisonlike SLA detention centres - CJPCD

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 16:23 GMT]
“Considering the plight of the 2000 Tamils who had fled war and are detained in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) detention centres, a justifiable fear arises as to what would happen to those who come to these detention centres which are like prisons; youths detained in these centres are said to have gone missing,” Commission for Justice and Peace of the Catholic Diocese of Jaffna (CJPCD) said in its appeal sent on its third day of the protest fast observed in Jaffna, against the killing of Tamils in the Vanni, sources in Jaffna said.
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'Vision' of a Sinhala sociologist

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 13:22 GMT]
"This victory should not be lost in the peace. [….] The mono-ethnic nature of the North should be dismantled. [….] 'Defence Colonies' defence settlements should be established all over the North. Retired husband and wife ex-employees of the armed forces should be settled in such strategic settlements. Like in mainland China, and earlier in Korea, Armed Forces owned industries should be established in these areas for both defence and civilian production. Our forces should be further strengthened to deter any future attempts,” writes engineer turned Sinhala sociologist Dr. Susanta Goonatilake in Sunday Times, dated, January 18. His article is a specimen to understand the vision of a section of Sinhala elite on the political process to follow Colombo’s victory.
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TNA salutes Muthukumar’s sacrifice of life to the cause of Eelam Tamils

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 13:02 GMT]
“Tamil National Alliance (TNA) wishes to express its deepest grief and condolence to Muthukumar’s family and the people of Tamil Nadu along with the entire Tamils of the world for having laid his live in supreme sacrifice in support of the Eelam Tamils,” the message of condolence released by TNA said.
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Maya tells of Sri Lanka Genocide to U.S., world fans

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 13:00 GMT]
Oscar and Grammy award nominee, Eezham born music phenom, Maya Arulpragasam, in the PBS interview on Tavis Smiley show Thursday told the U.S. listeners and fans worldwide that "there's been a systematic genocide which has quiet thing because no one knows where Sri Lanka is. And now it's just escalated to the point there's 350,000 people who are stuck in a battle zone and can't get out, and aid's banned and humanitarian organizations are banned, journalists are banned from telling the story."
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South Africa calls for permanent ceasefire in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 12:56 GMT]
Expressing deep concern for the safety and well-being of the 250, 000 civilians, including humanitarian aid workers, reportedly caught up in the conflict in the North-East region of Sri-Lanka, South African government Friday called for a permanent ceasefire. South Africa also urged the parties to the conflict, as a priority, respect existing safe zones and protect civilians, and to allow the delivery of relief supplies, including medicine, food, water and temporary shelters.
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Nadesan regrets misinformation of Colombo UN office

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 12:54 GMT]
A 'security officer' of UN Colombo office, who was only pressing for the transfer of the families of local UN staff, didn't cooperate with the ICRC causing the delay in the transfer of wounded civilians from Vanni. The altercation led to the misinformation by the UN staff of Colombo office that the LTTE initially refused permission for the transfer of civilian patients, LTTE Poltical Head B. Nadesan told TamilNet Friday when he was contacted on the allegation appeared in a section of international media to the extent that LTTE committed a war crime.
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‘Allow food, medicine, international mercy mission to Vanni’ – civil society groups

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 12:17 GMT]
A groups of Sri Lankan civil society organizations Thursday expressed alarm over the fast deepening humanitarian crisis in the Vanni and in a joint statement called on the Sri Lankan government to allow the “urgent delivery of food and medicine to the Mullaitivu area, …. the passage of medical convoys … and the [Sri Lankan] security forces respect areas which are demarcated as safe zones.” They also called for an “international mission of mercy immediate access to the Vanni to enable an accurate assessment of the humanitarian and protection needs of the people”. The They also protested reports of violence and abuse in the detention camps where people who fled the warzones are being held by the Sri Lankan military.
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UN spokesperson ducks, Ban Ki Moon meets Basil

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 11:49 GMT]
When press over reports the Sri Lanka Army had shelled UN staff in the government-declared ‘safe zone’ in Vanni this week, Marie Okabe, the Deputy Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon refused to answer journalists Thursday. Ban Ki-Moon met with Basil Rajapakse, brother of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse, the Inner City Press also reported.
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LTTE salutes sacrifice of Tamil Nadu Journalist Muththukumar

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 10:18 GMT]
"The LTTE salutes the sacrifice of Muthukumar, who carried the emotional message of the 70 million Tamil Nadu people against the genocidal war by the Sinhala chauvinism in Tamil Eelam," said the condolence message from LTTE Political Head B. Nadesan.
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Only international-sponsored ceasefire can lead to the end of conflict - LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 09:14 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Political Head B. Nadesan Friday blamed Colombo for stepped up genocidal artillery attacks on civilian targets Friday after committing a war crime of issuing ultimatum to civilians to move against their will into the hands of the genocidal military. Most of the civilians are continuously forced to live inside the bunkers and civilian casualties were mounting in Udaiyaarkaddu, Thearaavil and other areas, Mr. Nadesan charged. Only a permanent ceasefire mooted by the International Community and negotiations followed by it would resolve the conflict as envisaged by the Tamil people and the LTTE, Mr. Nadesan said.
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Batticaloa district Tamils condemn killing of Tamils in Vanni

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 07:47 GMT]
The Association of Tamil People (ATP) in Batticaloa district vehemently condemns the systematic killings of the Tamils in Vanni by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) while urging the International Community to come forward to stop the genocide and exert pressure on GoSL for an immediate ceasefire, according to an appeal made by the Association Thursday.
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4 Indian military experts wounded in Vanni

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 07:01 GMT]
Four Indian military experts, assisting the Sri Lankan military, were wounded this week in Vanni and are undergoing treatment in Colombo, reliable sources told TamilNet Friday. The story, first broke by the Australia based Global Tamil Vision (GTV) on Thursday, had said the wounded were Indian soldiers who were undergoing treatment at a military hospital in Colombo. Although TamilNet was able to confirm through reliable sources on Friday that there are at least 4 Indian military experts undergoing treatment, specific details were not obtainable due to the prevailing threat on the right to know information in the island.
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Tamil family man reported missing in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 06:58 GMT]
A Tamil family man from Kimbulawela in Colombo is reported missing since 16 January on his way home after leaving his video rental shop around 8:30 p.m, according to a complaint lodged with Mukaththuvaaram police by his father.
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4 SLA soldiers killed in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 06:41 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) combatants killed 4 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers Thursday around 9:45 a.m, in an attack on the SLA road patrol team at Nilaave’li in Trincomalee district, LTTE sources in Trincomalee said.
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Advocates in Tamil Nadu announce indefinite court boycott

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 2009, 06:39 GMT]
Demanding the International Community to impose sanctions on Sri Lanka and calling for the resignation of Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee for his approach to the Tamil issue, the Madras High Court Advocates Association Thursday called for an indefinite boycott of courts. The Tamil Nadu Advocates Association, the other major lawyers collective, has also asked its members to abstain from court proceedings for the next one week.
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ANC urges immediate ceasefire between GoSL, LTTE, citing genocide

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2009, 18:11 GMT]
The African National Congress (ANC) on Thursday called on the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) to halt the war and immediately institute a ceasefire and allow humanitarian aid to be brought to civilians caught in the conflict who are in dire need of assistance. "The continued conflict in Sri Lanka has been cited on the human rights watch international monitoring mechanisms as a conflict now reaching genocidal proportions," the statement said.
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British Foreign Office calls for 'Humanitarian Ceasefire'

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2009, 17:24 GMT]
The British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Thursday urged the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) to agree on immediate 'Humanitarian Ceasefire'. Mr. Miliband said in his statement that "military advances by the Sri Lankan Government against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have come at a severe humanitarian cost." Humanitarian corridors must now be set up and respected by both sides so that civilians have the opportunity to move away from the conflict area and humanitarian assistance can be safely delivered, he said.
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Pull back Indian military help to Lanka: Thirumavalavan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2009, 16:06 GMT]
Taking part in a students' demonstration of the Murpokku Maanavar Kazhagam (Progressive Students Organization) held opposite Memorial Hall in Chennai Thursday, VCK President Thol. Thirumavalavan demanded the Indian Government to immediately take back all military help extended to Sri Lanka and blamed New Delhi for supplying sophisticated weaponry to exterminate the Tamil people in Vanni.
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Artillery barrage kills 44 civilians, 178 wounded in 'safety zone'

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2009, 15:25 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) stepped up indiscriminate artillery barrage towards the heart of 'safety zone' since Thursday noon killing at least 44 civilians and causing injuries to 178, initial reports from Vanni said. The shelling has targeted Chuthanthirapuram 100-housing scheme, where at least 7 civilians were reported killed. 16 civilians were reportedly killed and scores wounded near St. Antony's Church in Chuthanthirapuram.
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UN Rights Chief expresses concern at rapidly deteriorating conditions in Vanni

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2009, 12:48 GMT]
Expressing concern at the "rapidly deteriorating conditions facing quarter of a million civilians" and of "alleged human rights abuses, significant number of casualties, as well as huge displacement," Ms Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a press release issued Thursday said that "[t]he lack of access for independent monitors, humanitarian workers and the media only adds to concerns that the situation may be even worse than we realize." She adds: "a strenuous effort needs to be made to tackle the core problems that have fuelled this conflict for a quarter of a century, in order to bring peace and prosperity and restore fundamental rights and freedoms for all Sri Lankans in all parts of the country."
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Stop killing Tamils in Vanni now - Jaffna Catholic community

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2009, 11:53 GMT]
“Sri Lanka government’s attacks on the innocent Tamils in Vanni continue to kill hundreds while injuring many more according to the reports of ICRC, the only International humanitarian agency allowed to be present in Vanni,” said the report issued by Commission for Justice and Peace of the Catholic Diocese of Jaffna (CJPCD) Thursday, the second day of the protest fast against the killing of Tamils in the Vanni observed in Jaffna, sources in Jaffna said.
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LTTE not opposed to individual right of a civilian to flee combat zone - Nadesan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2009, 11:32 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Political Head B. Nadesan said Thursday that the Tigers have been urging the UN, ICRC and other international actors through all available offices to facilitate transportation for the wounded civilians in need of medical treatment to the Vavuniyaa Hospital. Blaming that there were elements seeking to feed false reports to tarnish the image of the Tigers, Mr. Nadesan revealed that, a UN 'security officer' who accompanied the WFP humanitarian convoy, had attemptd to pressure the Tigers on "completely wrong moral grounds," to organise an "exodus of the family members of the local staff of the UN," leaving behind the remaining civilians in the 'safety zone' to be subjected to "genocidal attack" by the Sri Lankan military.
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Tamil youth abducted in Ampaa’rai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2009, 07:14 GMT]
Unidentified armed men abducted a Tamil youth 9 January around 8:30 p.m in Kalmunai police division as he was returning home with his mother in a three-wheeler, being just released by Kalmunai police who had arrested him in a cordon and search operation the same day in the Rest House area in Kalmunai police division in Ampaa‘rai district, according to the complaint lodged by his relatives with Kalmunai police.
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Tamil Nadu journalist burns himself to death condemning Indian inaction

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2009, 07:02 GMT]
A young Tamil activist burnt himself to death in front of the Shastri Bhavan, the Indian Central Government's Chennai Head office Thursday, reports from Chennai said. The activist, Mr. Muthukumar, from Thooththukkudi, who works for Pe'n'nea Nee feminist magazine as typist and also writes articles, doused himself with petrol and set himself afire, condemning the futile visit by Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who failed to stop the war in Sri Lanka and save Eezham Tamils.
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Tamil Nadu parties launch Eezham Tamils Protection Movement

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2009, 06:13 GMT]
Concerned by New Delhi's inaction and driven by the need to bring about change in the prevailing tragic scenario in Vanni, five leaders of prominent Tamil Nadu parties, Vaiko, Dr. S. Ramadoss, Nedumaran, Thirumavalavan and D. Pandian, jointly launched the Eezham Tamils Protection Movement (ETPM) following a consultative meeting in Chennai Wednesday. Top leaders of the Pattali Makkal Katchi, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Communist Party of India, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi and the Tamil Nationalist Movement held closeted discussions on how to save the Eelam Tamils.
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10,000 French Tamils demonstrate in Paris

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 2009, 03:48 GMT]
More than 10,000 French Tamils participated in a demonstration protesting against the killing of several hundred civilians by Sri Lanka military in the past week, and urging Pakistan to stop military and other assistance to the Sri Lanka Government to prosecute war against Tamils, sources in Paris said. The protest was organized by the World Tamil Coordnating Committee (WTCC), in the historic Etuval area of France in front of Embassy of Pakistan Wednesday between 2:00 p.m and 5:00 p.m. The demonstration follows a spontaneously organized protest by an activist segment of French Tamils in the La Chappelle area Tuesday.
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Police recover anti-aircraft gun bullets in Rajagiriya

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 20:31 GMT]
Colombo police Tuesday recovered live bullets for anti-aircraft guns and a parcel of live bullets for T15 rifles from a drainage in the Rajagiriya area in Colombo district on a tip-off from a civilian in the area, sources in Colombo said.
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15 Tamil youths arrested at Katunayake airport

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 20:30 GMT]
Fifteen Tamil youths were arrested by the police and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) during cordon and search operations conducted in the Katunayake international airport on Monday and Tuesday. They have been handed over to the Prevention of Terrorism Unit of the Police for further interrogation, police sources said.
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LTTE denies reports of preventing patients leaving combat zone

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 19:08 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE)'s Political Office on Wednesday categorically denied a news originated in Colombo government's media, the Daily News, and was highlighted in the International media that LTTE prevented UN convoy transporting injured patients from Mullaiththeevu district to Vavuniyaa hospital. Director of LTTE's Peace Secretariat S. Puleedevan described the news as mischievous.
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British duplicity of proscribing LTTE, inaction to Colombo’s war questioned

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 18:55 GMT]
When the British Foreign Minister, Lord Mark Malloch Brown told a room-packed audience of the British Tamil Forum on Tuesday that the British government cannot interfere in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka, a member of the audience asked him then why did they proscribe the LTTE, which did nothing to Britain. The Minister had no answer. The British Foreign Secretary Mr. Miliband who attended the gathering reiterated the British Prime Ministers assurance two weeks ago to work for an immediate ceasefire and said that he would speak to EU foreign ministers in the next few days. He also said that Britain would consider sending a Special Envoy to Sri Lanka.
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Students 'gherao' Indian Army headquarters at Chennai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 17:44 GMT]
Members of the Confederation of All Students were arrested by the Tamil Nadu State Police when they attempted to surround the South Zone Regiment Headquarters ATNKNK of the Indian Army at Chennai Wednesday morning to mark their protest against "Indian terrorism that supplies weaponry for the genocide of Tamils." Wearing black shirts to mark their anger and mourn their dying Tamil brethren, the students raised slogans condemning the Indian Government and Army for extending military help to Sri Lanka which had resulted in the ruthless killing of innocent civilians.
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SLA instructs Jaffna GA to open more detention camps

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 17:36 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and high government officials have instructed Jaffna Government Agent (GA), K. Ganesh, to open new detention camps in Jaffna peninsula for people brought from Vanni where an intensive war is being unleashed on the people in Vanni, Jaffna Secretariat sources said. Jaffna Teaching Hospital (JTH) had been held in a state of readiness Tuesday and Wednesday to treat the injured among the civilians brought to Jaffna peninsula by the SLA, the sources added.
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Death threats to Jaffna Asst. Election Commissioner

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 17:10 GMT]
Anonymous persons had issued death threats by phone to Jaffna district Assistant Election Commissioner (AEC), K. Kuganathan, according to complaints made by him to Jaffna magistrate court. Jaffna court instructed Jaffna police to investigate into the complaint using the phone numbers from which the death threat call had come, sources in Jaffna said.
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Fasting students arrested, forcibly hospitalized

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 16:54 GMT]
Students of the Chengalpattu Law College who were on a fast-unto-death seeking an immediate ceasefire in Sri Lanka were arrested by the Tamil Nadu police Wednesday morning even as their fast entered the seventh day. The students were hospitalized and their condition is being monitored. According to eyewitness accounts, the police forbade anybody from capturing photographs or video-footage of the arrest.
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200 Journalists stage protest demo in Tamil Nadu

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 16:25 GMT]
More than 200 journalists and media persons staged a protest demonstration at the Chennai Press Club premises Wednesday condemning the killing of journalists in Sri Lanka, particularly the assassination of Sunday Leader's editor Lasanta Wicremtunge. They condemned the fact that reporters who expose the killing of innocent Tamil civilians and children, or who document the human rights abuses in the island are being systematically eliminated by the government.
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Brutal attack on civilians, assurance to Mukherjee gone with the wind in no time

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 15:40 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army has launched another brutal attack on civilians inside the 'safety zone,' killing 23 civilians since Wednesday noon within not less than 12 hours after giving assurance to the visiting Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee. At least 121 civilians have been wounded in the artillery barrage, according to medical sources. The dead included a child residing in an orphanage in Paarathi puram and one of the wounded is the Chuthanthirapuram parish priest of the Church of South India (American Mission). The artillery barrage continues to the time of this reporting.
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French Tamils demonstrate against killings in Vanni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 14:08 GMT]
Several hundred French Tamils who gathered in front of the French Parliament Tuesday around 3:00 p.m to demonstrate in protest against the genocide of Tamils in Vanni in Sri Lanka were sent back by the French police even after obtaining official permission protest demonstration, sources in Paris said. The protestors, however, went ahead and started the demonstration in La Chapelle area where the crowd swelled to around 4000 persons, according to protesters.
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Jaffna Catholic community appeals to stop killing of Tamils in Vanni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 14:03 GMT]
“We are deeply grieved of the silence of the International Community and the world humanitarian agencies disregarding the great human tragedy that continues in Vanni in Sri Lanka. Will this silence be broken only after the total annihilation of the Tamils in Vanni?”, said the memorandum sent by the Commission for Justice and Peace of the Catholic Diocese of Jaffna (CJPCD) at the end of the first day of the protest fast launched Wednesday morning in front of St. Mary’s Church, Jaffna led by Rt. Rev. Thomas Saundaranayagam, Jaffna Bishop, sources in Jaffna said.
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46 more civilians killed Tuesday, few wounded survive

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 12:27 GMT]
Only a few of the wounded have survived injuries caused by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) artillery shelling on 'safety zone', according to the civilian volunteers in Udaiyaarkaddu, who have been helping people to bury their dead. Only a few dared to send the remains to hospital mortuary. Very few of the wounded have survived, TamilNet correspondent said Wednesday.
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Hospitals, ambulances hit by shelling, hundreds killed - ICRC

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 10:20 GMT]
"Hundreds of people have been killed and scores of wounded are overwhelming understaffed and ill-equipped medical facilities in Sri Lanka's northern Vanni region," said the ICRC. hospitals and ambulances have been hit by shelling and several aid workers have been injured while evacuating the wounded. "The violence is preventing the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from operating in the region," said Jacques de Maio, ICRC head of operations for South Asia in Geneva.
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Protest fast in Jaffna against Vanni killings, displacements

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 09:19 GMT]
More than 400 persons including Jaffna Bishop, Rt. Rev. Thomas Saundaranayagam, former Bishop of Church of South India, Catholic priests and nuns took part Wednesday morning in a protest fast, urging Sri Lanka government to stop the artillery barrage and aerial bombardment on Vanni civilians and to bring an end to their continuing displacements, sources in Jaffna said. The protest held in front of St. Mary’s Church in Jaffna began around 9:00 a.m. Meanwhile, a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) commander, who unexpectedly came and sat for about 15 minutes along with the protestors, told that Buddhist Sinhala Chauvinists are the primary cause of the current problem before leaving, the sources added.
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Tamil leaders label Pranab visit futile

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 07:32 GMT]
Frontline leaders in Tamil Nadu, including Dr.S.Ramadoss, Vaiko and Thirumavalavan have expressed their disappointment that Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee never pressed for an immediate ceasefire when he met Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa during his emergency visit to Colombo Tuesday night.
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3 Tamil youths arrested in Kandy

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 January 2009, 19:00 GMT]
Three Tamil youths from Mullativu and Visvamadu were arrested in a cordon and search operation conducted in Kandy town Monday evening, police sources said. The youths are being detained in the Kandy police station and are being further interrogated.
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2 Tamil civilians reported missing in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 January 2009, 18:42 GMT]
Two Tamil civilians residing in Colombo have been reported disappeared since January 11 with the van they were traveling, according to complaints lodged with the Kotahena and Borella police by their wives on Monday.
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Norwegian Tamils appeal for urgent action from Norway

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 January 2009, 17:47 GMT]
Nearly four hundred Norwegian Tamils gathered Tuesday between 7:30 a.m and 10.00 a.m in front of Norwegian Foreign Ministry in Oslo and appealed to Norway to condemn the Sri Lanka government's killing of innocent Tamil civilians in Vanni, sources in Oslo said.
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Detainee in Jaffna Prison released after two years

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 January 2009, 17:06 GMT]
Jaffna Additional Magistrate, A. Anandarajah, ordered the release of a detainee held in Jaffna Prison for two years when the police withdrew the accusation against him in Jaffna Court Tuesday for want of evidence, legal sources in Jaffna said. The police had arrested the person detained, for possession of dangerous weapons, a Walkie-talkie with accessorie,s and pistol cartridges. Legal action was delayed as the police was waiting for results of forensic tests of the objects claimed to have been found in the detainee’s residence.
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SLA soldiers attack fishermen in Poonakari sea

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 January 2009, 16:43 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers posted along the coast of Poonakari and Kalmunai attacked indiscriminately the fishermen who had gone to fish there from Kurnakar area on the opposite coast of Jaffna lagoon, Kurunakar Fisheries Society sources said. Meanwhile, SLA banned fishing in the seas of the areas mentioned above as a measure strengthening the coastal security as Poonakari has been made the SLA commanding base for the Vanni mainland, sources in Jaffna said.
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Abducted Muslim trader released in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 January 2009, 16:23 GMT]
The Muslim trader alleged to have been abducted by unknown Muslim armed men Sunday noon in Kaaththaankudi police division in Batticaloa district was released Monday night with his eyes bound and subjected to severe assault, Kaaththaankudi police said.
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300,000 civilians face hunger, Colombo, abettors re-enact African scene in South Asia

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 January 2009, 16:10 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has instructed UN and World Food Programme officials to keep away from 'safety zone,' which has been subjected to continuous inhuman artillery barrage, denying civilians any meaningful space of refuge, said the latest reports from the offices of the Regional Director of Health Services (RDHS) for Ki'linochchi and Mullaiththeevu. 300,000 Tamils are denied of even drinking water and are facing hunger, the reports say. "Completely given up by the International Community, the civilians are left to face the fate at the hands of their genocidal killers. Indications are that they would rather choose to die starving rather than getting caught by Colombo's army of predators," said a medical staff at Udaiyaarkaddu hospital.
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Jaffna Catholic priests protest against Vanni killings, displacements

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 January 2009, 13:05 GMT]
Members and bishops from Jaffna Catholic diocese led by Jaffna Bishop, Rt. Rev. Thomas Saundaranayagam, will launch a protest fast from Wednesday in St. Mary’s Church also known as ‘Periya Koayil’ in Jaffna, urging Sri Lanka government to stop artillery and aerial bombardment on Vanni civilians, and to bring an end to their continuing displacements, according to an announcement issued from Bishop’s House. The protest fast will begin at 9:00 a.m Wednesday and end at 3:00 p.m, and will continue on a rotational basis.
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TNA calls for shut down in North, East of Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 January 2009, 12:31 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) called upon the people in the North and East of Sri Lanka to observe a general shut down on Friday, the 30th of January, to protest against the killing of Tamil civilians by Sri Lanka armed forces. Several hundreds of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) assembled within the Colombo designated "safety zone" have died in the last four days from artillery and air strikes by Sri Lanka military.
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No humanitarian supplies from UN, WFP, say TRO officials

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 January 2009, 11:34 GMT]
The World Food Programme (WFP) officials responsible for the food supply to civilians in Vanni and UN officials who were in the Chunthanthirapuram food station, the only station for delivering food supplies, are yet to resume humanitarian supplies to the thousands of civilians who are without any supplies, a Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) official told TamilNet from Chuthanthirapuram. The WFP and UN officials fled the 'safety zone' after the artillery barrage by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA). Now, they are staying in Puthukkudiyiruppu (PTK), according to the instructions by the SLA, the TRO officials further said.
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Norway breaks silence, condemns war

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 January 2009, 10:21 GMT]
The Norwegian Foreign Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, in a statement issued on Tuesday said his government condemned the ongoing war in Sri Lanka, which has caused "unacceptable sufferings to the civilians," in the country. Meanwhile, International Development Minister Erik Solheim has called on the parties stressing that all the people in conflict area should be able to move freely and that the civilians who flee the war must be assured a dignified and respectful treatment under the supervision and monitoring of UN and international observers. "The sick and the wounded must be given access for treatment and ambulances must be able to travel unhindered, in and out of the conflict area," Mr. Solheim has demanded.
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Dead bodies decomposed beyond identification - medical authorities

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 January 2009, 09:06 GMT]
Initial reports emerging from Udaiyaarkaddu hospital as the ICRC representatives came out of their bunkers and started helping the medical authorities said that many dead bodies of civilians that were not buried so far have become decomposed beyond identification. 3 shells exploded near the hospital as late as 1:40 p.m. Tuesday. There have been 2 fresh killings in artillery fire and at least 8 wounded were brought in Tuesday's shelling. There has been no sign of additional medical help coming into the region, the officials said.
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Students in Chennai protest against alleged Indian military aid to Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 January 2009, 07:00 GMT]
Tamil Nadu Police arrested a group of students in front of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Tuesday while they were attempting to protest against what they alleged as an attempt by the Indian Government to export battle-tanks to the Sri Lankan military, reacting to reports and photographs that have appeared in a largest selling Tamil daily (Erode edition of Dianthanthi). Meanwhle, Tamil political leaders in Tamil Nadu, when contacted by TamilNet said that they were investigating the veracity of the claim that tanks photographed at Erode were destined for the Colombo government.
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Artillery barrage continues on 'safety zone', no sign of external help

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 January 2009, 06:27 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) was continuing artillery barrage on civilian 'safety zone' despite the repeated calls to cease artillery fire by the medical authorities that are struggling to provide medical help, according to latest reports from Udaiyaarkaddu hospital on Tuesday. There is no sign of external medical teams or supplies coming in as requested by the hospital.
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9 Tamil youths arrested, security tightened in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 January 2009, 04:37 GMT]
Nine Tamil youths were taken into custody by the Sri Lanka Police in Trincomalee town on Friday on suspicion that they had been active cadres of LTTE. They youths are being detained in Trincomalee police station and are being subjected to severe interrogation by the Terrorist Intelligence Division (TID), sources said.
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Targeting civilians in safety zone, premeditated war crime of Colombo - Nadesan

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 January 2009, 20:12 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Political Head B. Nadesan, Monday night told TamilNet that Colombo has committed a grave war crime by asking civilians and their facilities, including the ICRC, to move inside a 'safety zone,' without any shelter or infrastructure support and then by subjecting them to inhumane artillery barrage, killing hundreds and causing injuries to more than one thousand.
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'Biased UN official misleads humanity, safely sitting in Colombo' - Vanni journalist

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 January 2009, 17:59 GMT]
The UN spokesman in Colombo, Gordon Weiss, reported by AFP put the number of dead civilians inside safety zone on Monday only at ten, adding that he could not say who was responsible for the civilian casualties. “ We don’t know where the firing came from”, AFP quoted him saying. The UN, which has a universal franchise to intervene on behalf of civilians trapped in war has not only forfeited all its rights, including the right to monitor what is happening, to the genocidal government of Colombo, but also comes out with blatant lies aimed at protecting the perpetrator of war crime, accused Mr. Ravi, a journalist in Vanni.
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More than 1,000 wounded, Mullai RDHS urges IC to send medical teams

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 January 2009, 16:27 GMT]
The Regional Director of Health Services (RDHS) for Mullaiththeeev district, Dr. T. Varatharajah in an urgent appeal to the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL), ICRC, the United Nations and the International Community has urged to send medical supplies and medical teams to the district to assist its medical staff.
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TNA seeks IC to stop carnage, urges medical help to victims

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 January 2009, 15:47 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in an urgent press statement has called upon the international community to use all its influence with the Sri Lankan State to bring an immediate end to the massacre of these Tamil civilians. The TNA further appeals that the international community intervenes to secure immediate medical supplies and medical personnel to be sent to treat the affected civilians.
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More than 300 civilians feared killed, people bleed to death on streets

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 January 2009, 15:30 GMT]
In a scene of carnage of untold proportion on civilian targets hit by hundreds of Sri Lanka Army fired artillery shells, more than 300 people have died and several hundreds are bleeding to death within the last 24 hours, amidst pouring rain inside the 'saftey zone' declared by the Colombo government. Houses and vehicles burn for a stretch of three km between Va’l’lipunam Kaa’li temple and Moongkilaa’ru towards Paranthan road, reports from Vanni said on Monday. Unattended bodies and injured people unable to move are lying around everywhere, while a remaining doctor fled and helpless ICRC officials virtually cried at the scene from their bunkers, TamilNet correspondent said.
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Sub-postmaster from Thenmaraadchi reported missing with HRC Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 January 2009, 15:24 GMT]
Family members of the sub-postmaster of Vidaththalpa’lai in Mirusuvil, Thenmaraadchi registered a complaint with Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna that Satkunathasan Kulathasan, 32, the sub-postmaster of Viddaththalpa’lai post-office, has gone missing after going to bed Monday around midnight. Vidaththalpa’lai is an area in Thenmaraadchi which is under complete control of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA).
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Tamil Nadu students' indefinite fast enters fifth day

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 January 2009, 12:31 GMT]
An indefinite fast-unto-death demanding immediate ceasefire in Sri Lankai by 12 students of the Chengalpattu Law College entered the fifth day on Monday. "We have two demands before the Indian Union Government: India should intervene and bring about an end to the ongoing genocide, India should stop all military aid to the Sinhalese," the protesting students said. Occurring in the backdrop of continuous student boycotts all over Tamil Nadu, this fast which commenced Thursday has gained enormous emotional significance.
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Ramadoss: Tamil Nadu Parties should pressurize Indian Government to recognize Eelam

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 January 2009, 11:54 GMT]
PMK founder-leader Dr. Ramadoss called upon the political parties in Tamil Nadu to exert pressure on the Union Government of India to recognize "Tamil Eelam for Eelam Tamils" while addressing mediapersons Sunday. Reacting to a remark by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi that he was unable to save the Eelam Tamils, Dr.Ramadoss said that Karunanidhi had to exert pressure on the Union Government in order to bring about a ceasefire. "The General Body Meeting of the DMK will take place on February 15. In the intervening three weeks, what will be the multi fold miseries that the Eelam Tamils will be made to face? Why this delay?" he wondered.
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Does IC know no human dignity of civilians, asks a doctor in Vanni

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 January 2009, 11:36 GMT]
"The world is silently witnessing one of the worst massacres of helpless civilians in contemporary times. These civilians know no crime other than not knowing where to go. While the genocidal military of the Colombo government is on the killing spree, India and the international community sadistically expect the civilians to come running out into the hands of their killers. Either way they expect them to perish," a doctor, while attending casualties at the Udaiyaarkaddu hospital, said on Monday.
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100 civilians feared killed, countless wounded, artillery barrage on 'saftey zone'

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 January 2009, 09:06 GMT]
More than one hundred civilians were killed and hundreds of wounded patients were helpless without medical attendance as Sri Lanka Army (SLA) was continuously engaged in one of the most inhumane artillery barrage on civilian populated 'safety zone' in Udaiyaarkaddu Monday morning. All the civilians were remaining under the bunkers for more than 5 hours, according to initial reports from the medical sources in Udaiyaarkaddu. The makeshift hospital at Udaiyaarkaddu was on total disarray as 10 patients were killed and four ambulances damaged. The doctors have called for the ICRC, which is also helpless under the bunkers, the reports said.
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Muslim trader abducted in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 January 2009, 09:02 GMT]
Unidentified persons abducted Sunday around 1:00 p.m a Muslim trader returning home on his motor cycle in Kaaththaankudi police division in Batticaloa district, according to a complaint lodged with Kaaththaankudi police. The abducted person is also a social worker and Kaaththaankudi Tranders’ Union has called for a shut down demanding the release of the Muslim trader.
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Jaffna students protest against SLA artillery barrage on Vanni IDPs

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 January 2009, 08:47 GMT]
All educational and administrative activities of the University of Jaffna came to a complete halt Monday as its students launched their boycott of lectures in protest against the indiscriminate and deadly attacks unleashed by the government of Sri Lanka on the Tamil people in Vanni, sources in Jaffna said. A larger number of policemen and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were deployed in and around the university premises.
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Massacre escapees at Vavuniyaa hospital under strict surveillance

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 January 2009, 04:18 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) opened fire and massacred 7 civilians, including two children of a group of refugees who ended in the hands of the SLA in Murasumoaddai village in Ki'linochchi district on January 10, three days before the mass exodus of civilians towards Puthukkudiyiruppu. On the same day, the SLA blamed the Tigers for the killing of the 7 civilians. However, civilians who have been isolated into various detention camps run by the military, have revealed that the SLA soldiers had opened fire on them.
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Samaraweera to raise Colombo's rights violations with U.S.

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 January 2009, 04:13 GMT]
Asserting that Mahinda Rajapakse regime is “the darkest, the most brutal and the most ruthless,” that has ruled Sri Lanka, Mangala Samaraweera, the convenor SLFP (M), in an interview published in this weekend Sunday Leader, said that he will “seek an appointment with the US State Department and the incoming Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton,” to offer evidence related to human rights violations committed by “Gotabaya [Rajapakse] and Basil Rajapakse as well as Sarath Fonseka…The US must deal with these people. They have an obligation to deal with them.”
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What prevents Akashi and his ilk reaching out to people in need, asks IDP activist

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 January 2009, 03:48 GMT]
"The Colombo government has claimed that its forces have captured the 'last LTTE town', Mullaiththeevu. Its Army commander has said that 95% of the war is over. Therefore the LTTE must now be powerless in controlling the movement of civilians. But the people every time demonstrate their shudder at the thought of getting into the hands of the invading army and pull themselves into pockets further and further. In such a situation it is nothing but mischief for the visiting Japanese Envoy Yasushi Akashi to talk about the LTTE using civilians as human shield and The Hindu to highlight it," said an IDP activist from Vanni.
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SLA shelling kills 22 civilians, wounds 60, targets humanitarian supply centre

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 January 2009, 19:13 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has continued artillery shelling on densely populated 'safety zone,' in Chuthanthirapuram, Udaiyaarkaddu and Thearaavil in Visuvamadu throughout Sunday, at least twice attacking the vicinity of the supply centre, located at Chuthanthirapuram playground, the only centre in Vanni where humanitarian supplies brought in by the UN World Food Programme are distributed. Two shells exploded in the premises, killing five members of a single family of Mr. Jegatheeswaran, owner of a saloon displaced from Visuvamadu. Five more civilians, including children and women, were also killed. Body parts were scattered across the locality and not all of them could be identified, according to medical sources. At least 13 civilians were wounded at the site.
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Jaffna campus employee shot, injured

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 January 2009, 14:09 GMT]
A 41-year old warden of a men's hostel belonging to the Jaffna Campus was shot and injured by unidentified gunmen riding in a motorbike along Potpathi Road, Kokkuvil in front of the Pillaiyaar Temple when he was returning from his mother's home in Koa'ndaavil after lunch at 1:00 p.m. Sunday, sources in Jaffna said. The injured warden was admitted to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital, but his injuries are said to be non life-threatening, hospital sources said.
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Former UN diplomat urges global attention on Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 January 2009, 04:57 GMT]
Jan Egeland, the former UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, in a commentary article published in a leading newspaper in Norway on Saturday has called for world attention on forgotten conflicts where situation has deteriorated while the focal point of the world was centered on Gaza. "With catastrophic consequences to an already exhausted civilian population, the army of Sri Lanka has taken upon the guerrilla controlled areas," he writes.
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12 civilians killed, 87 wounded, SLA continues artillery attack on 'safety zone'

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 January 2009, 14:00 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) continued artillery shelling on Udaiyaarkaddu on Saturday killing at least 7 civilians. At least 87 civilians have been wounded in the indiscriminate shelling up to 5:25 p.m. Shells exploded inside the hospital premises of Udaiyaarkaddu. At least 60 shells exploded behind the hospital premises (Udaiyaarkaddu school) around 3:45 p.m. Four civilians were killed on the spot.
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Delhi students on hunger strike to protest Colombo's war

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 January 2009, 13:33 GMT]
Students from different universities and colleges in New Delhi, joined by lawyers, teachers and human rights activists held a one day hunger strike Saturday expressing solidarity with Tamil people in Vanni, and protesting against the "onslaught on Tamil people in a unilateral war declared by the Sri Lanka military with a tacit understanding of the Indian Government," organizers of the event said.
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Fleeing civilian youths misused to fabricate SLA propaganda

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 January 2009, 13:07 GMT]
Six Tamil youths who recently moved from the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) controlled area to Vavuniyaa were arrested by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers, taken to a nearby army camp where they were given LTTE military uniforms and were forced to give video and voice cuts saying that they were LTTE cadres, who were fed up with the Tiger hierarchy and decided to hand over themselves to the SLA, legal sources in Vavuniya said. Vavuniyaa Magistrate has instructed the Police to approach the families of the youth through Government officials and to initiate family re-union.
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Intent of Genocide provable in Sri Lanka - Fein

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 January 2009, 11:54 GMT]
Bruce Fein, former U.S. Deputy Associate Attorney General and currently counsel for the US-based group Tamils Against Genocide, addressing a select gathering of media persons and intellectuals organized by the Max Foundation in Chennai Friday, told the audience that there is enough evidence to criminally convict U.S. citizen Gotabaya Rajapakse and U.S. Green card holder Lt.Gen. Sarath Fonseka in the U.S. Federal Courts for "intent to commit Genocide" in Sri Lanka, sources from Chennai said.
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‘Stop killing innocent Tamils in Vanni immediately’ - Jaffna University students

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 January 2009, 11:10 GMT]
“The indiscriminate killings of innocent Tamils in Vanni by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shelling and Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombings should be stopped at once and all members of Jaffna University Student Union (JUSU) will boycott lectures Monday to give weight to our demands. Our union seeks the support of the people of Jaffna peninsula in our struggle,” JUSU said in a media announcement Saturday. JUSU intends to expand the struggle by bringing the activities of Jaffna University administration to a halt to achieve the demands, the release further said.
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Human chain protest demonstration in Paris

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 January 2009, 08:07 GMT]
More than 4000 Tamil men, women and students, braving cold weather, held hands forming a human chain, expressed their concern and support for the Tamils in Vanni being continuously attacked by Sri Lanka Armed Forces, Friday from 5:00 p.m to 6:30 p.m along the St. Antony, one of the main avenues in La Chapelle, Paris.
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Police arrest Eastern University Tamil student in Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 January 2009, 07:47 GMT]
Sri Lanka police arrested Friday a Tamil student of Eastern University at Kuruntuwathe, a suburb in Colombo, while he was visiting his friend, the police said.
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American Tamils urge India to intervene in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 January 2009, 02:37 GMT]
More than three hundred American Tamils demonstrated in front of the Indian Embassy in Washington D.C. Friday between 12:00 noon and 2:30 p.m. to express solidarity with Eelam Tamils, and called upon India to intervene in Sri Lanka on humanitarian grounds to initiate peace talks, halt military assistance to Sri Lanka, and to recognize the Tamils right to self-determination. The demonstrators later assembled near the U.S. State Department to show their support to the new Obama Administration, organizers of the event said.
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'Safety zone' shelled again, 5 civilians killed, 83 wounded

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 January 2009, 16:53 GMT]
Five civilians, including a10-year-old girl and a 56-year-old Saiva priest, were killed and 83 civilians wounded Friday when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired artillery shells targeted 'safe zone' areas such as Iruddumadu in Udaiyaarkaddu and Va'l'lipunam in Mullaiththeevu district at least four times, according to medical sources in the region. More than 20 of the wounded people were children. More than 20 of the wounded victims are children.
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SLN arrests 22 Tamil Nadu fishermen in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 January 2009, 16:49 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) based in Oorkaavattu’rai (Kayts) Wednesday night rounded up 22 fishermen from Tamil Nadu said to be fishing in the seas of the islets of Jaffna, sources in Jaffna said. The fishermen were produced in Oorkaavattu’rai court Friday where Oorkaavattu’rai magistrate Ms. Joy Mahatheva directed the police to place them in custody in Jaffna Prison.
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Obama declares end to "War on Terror" - Washington Post

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 January 2009, 16:47 GMT]
Effectively declaring an end to Bush's "War on Terror," the U.S. President Barack Obama, by signing an executive order in the Oval Office Thursday, signaled to the world that the "reach of the U.S. Government in battling its enemies will not be limitless," and halted the notion that "a president can circumvent long-standing U.S. laws simply by declaring war," Washington Post said Friday.
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India, Co-Chairs backing war: Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 January 2009, 16:29 GMT]
Sri Lanka said Friday its military offensive against the Tamil Tigers was supported by India and the Co-Chairs to the donor community – US, EU, Norway and Japan. Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said the Co-Chairs and Sri Lanka had a common objective of a speedy solution to the conflict. Meanwhile, Japan’s special envoy Yashushi Akashi, was quoted by the Defence Ministry as “expressing satisfaction at the efforts by the Sri Lanka Government to safeguard the civilian population in the north.” Almost a hundred civilians died this week in the military’s deliberate shelling of populated areas, including a ‘safe zone’ Colombo announced.
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Artillery barrage continues, 3 killed, 33 wounded

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 January 2009, 13:03 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired artillery and Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL) shells continued to target Tamil refugees in temporary settlements of Mullaiththeevu district Friday. Three civilians were killed around 10:00 a.m. and 33 were wounded.
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White van gunmen abduct young Tamil woman in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 January 2009, 13:03 GMT]
Four armed men who arrived in a white van abducted 22-year-old daughter of Kotahena Muththumariyamman temple assistant priest, from her residence Thursday morning around 5:30 a.m. when her parents were away in India, according to the relatives of the victims.
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Norwegian Tamils demonstrate in front of Japan Embassy in Oslo

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 January 2009, 12:18 GMT]
Nearly 200 Norwegian Tamils of Norwegian Tamil Federation (NTF) demonstrated Thursday between 2:00 p.m and 3:00 p.m in front of the Japanese Embassy, located on Wergekands veien, 15 in Oslo, urging Japan, one of the co-chair countries, to exert pressure on Sri Lanka to stop the genocidal war waged on the Tamils in Vanni, sources in Oslo said. An official of the Japan Embassy accepted the memorandum submitted by NTF.
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7 prominent journalists flee Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 January 2009, 07:30 GMT]
With the assassination of veteran editor of Sunday Leader Lasantha Wickrematunge seven Sri Lankan prominent journalists have left the country, a journalist stationed outside Sri Lanka told TamilNet Friday. Meanwhile, media reports said an editor of a pro-government Sinhala weekly 'Rivira', Upali Tennakoon, and his wife were severely assaulted by a group that arrived in motorbikes Friday morning while he was driving his car to work on Kandy Road, Imbulgoda in Gampaha district.
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Tamil Nadu gears up for more protests

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 January 2009, 05:27 GMT]
A state-wide common front of college and university students' organisations in Tamil Nadu launched protests against New Delhi and the state government demanding immediate action in stopping the war, which seeks to subjugate Tamil people who have refused to surrender into the hands of the Sri Lanka Army despite the physical and psychological war on them. 200,000 students took part in the 32 districts of the state on Wednesday, according to Dr. Vengadachalam, the organisor of the College Students' Coordinating Committee, a newly formed alliance of the students' organisations.
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Ambush kills 3 Sri Lankan soldiers in Batticaloa - LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 January 2009, 04:54 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) officials in East claimed Friday that 3 Sri Lankan military personnel were killed in a Claymore ambush Thursday night around 8:50 while the group of military personnel were on a road patrol along the railway track between Vanthaa'rumooalai and Maavadiveampu.
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LTTE releases Sri Lankan Prisoner of War

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 January 2009, 03:27 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) on Thursday handed over a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldier, who was captured by the Tigers in December in Ki'laali Forward Defence Line. The soldier was undergoing treatment at Puthukkudiyiruppu hospital at the time of his release.
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Germany calls for Ceasefire between GoSL, LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 January 2009, 01:51 GMT]
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called Thursday for an immediately negotiated ceasefire between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE), stating that the ceasefire should enable aid deliveries and medical care for the civilians in the disputed areas.
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Swiss Tamil youth demonstrate in front of UN

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 January 2009, 00:01 GMT]
Tamils living in Switzerland marched from the Geneva Main Railway station to the United Nations Wednesday evening urging the international community to stop the genocidal war on the Tamils in Vanni in the island of Sri Lanka and to apply pressure on the Government of Sri Lanka to bring about an immediate cease fire.
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LTTE recovers 13 SLA dead bodies in Kallaa'ru front

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 January 2009, 16:43 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) officials Thursday said their defensive formations put up stiff resistance against the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) that attempted to advance through Kallaa'ru in Northwestern front, killing 40 SLA soldiers and causing injuries to 70. The Tigers have claimed that the SLA attempt to advance was thwarted after heavy fighting.
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Paramilitary releases 15 young recruits in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 January 2009, 15:46 GMT]
Due to the pressure exerted by UNICEF on TMVP Pillayan faction (Tamil Makal Viduthalai Pulikal) to release the children abducted and given military training by it, 15 of them were released in the presence of UNICEF officials Thursday in Batticaloa. The released children were produced in Batticaloa magistrate court through Batticaloa police where the magistrate directed the police to place them in the protective care of the ‘Sarvodaya’ in Chaththurukko'ndaan until 29 January, Batticaloa police said.
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SLA arrests 3 Tamil civilians in Ki'n'niyaa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 January 2009, 14:07 GMT]
Three Tamil civilians were taken into custody in a cordon and search operation conducted by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police at Chinnath-thoaddam in Ki'n'niyaa division in Trincomalee district Wednesday evening.
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2 medical staff wounded in artillery barrage on hospital

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 January 2009, 14:03 GMT]
Fifteen civilians, including two female medical staff were injured in Sri Lankan army indiscriminate artillery and Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher attack on Va'l'lipunam (Mullaiththeevu) hospital around 12:20 p.m. Thursday, according to the latest information obtained from the medical authorities of the hospital.
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Ki'linochchi resident arrested in Bandarawela

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 January 2009, 13:55 GMT]
A 27-year old native of Ki'linochchi was arrested in Poonagala estate in Bandarawela district by the Sri Lankan police. Police said they arrested the youth on suspicion that he was working for the Liberation Tigers in 2003.
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Urgent medical transport facilitated after 14 days

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 January 2009, 13:36 GMT]
Nearly after 2 weeks, on Thursday ICRC escorted 44 civilians in 5 ambulances and buses to Vavuniyaa for medical treatments, initial reports from Vanni said. More than 50 civilians have been waiting for medical transport for the past two weeks and a child with head injuries died at Puthukkudiyiruppu hospital as the needed medical transport to Vavuniyaa hospital was not available.
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Military was provided with exact coordinates of hospital - Mullai RDHS

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 January 2009, 13:33 GMT]
The Government hospital of Mullaiththeevu was shifted to Va'l'lipunam 'Peace' Village and the Sri Lankan government as well as the military authorities were provided the Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates through the ICRC, Dr. T. Varatharajah told TamilNet, when asked to describe the status of security measures taken by the local medical authorities in the hospital. Three days ago, the ICRC Deputy Director was present at the hospital premises to assure it, he said. The ICRC was present Wednesday at the hospital to confirm the security.
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Jaffna Lorry owners on token strike protesting attacks

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 January 2009, 11:25 GMT]
More than 400 lorry owners carried out a token strike Thursday in protest against the attack by unidentified persons on several lorries Wednesday evening at Koa’ndaavil in Jaffna. The strike brought to standstill the transport of goods from Kaangkeasanthu’rai harbour to the government stores in Koa’ndaavil and Naavatkuzhi and the distribution services from these stores, sources in Jaffna said.
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Family man reported missing with Jaffna HRC

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 January 2009, 11:03 GMT]
A father of three children from Vadamaraadchi had gone missing from a private lodge in Kotahena, Colombo, according to the complaint lodged by his wife to Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna office. The man had obtained permission (pass) from Sri Lanka Army (SLA) authorities in Jaffna before leaving to Colombo, she said in the complaint.
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Hospital bombed, 5 killed, 15 wounded

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 January 2009, 08:56 GMT]
The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the surgical site of the Mullaiththeevu hospital, functioning as a makeshift hospital at Va'l'lipunam school, were damaged in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) artillery fire Wednesday night and Thursday around 12:20 p.m., after the Sri Lankan government declared that the area where the hospital is situated is a "secure zone", medical authorities at the hospital said Thursday. Five civilians were killed within the hospital premises Thursday, according to Dr. T. Varatharajah, the Regional Director of Health Services (RDHS). The RDHS confirmed that the ICRC had verified that the Sri Lankan military had received the GPS coordinates of the hospital and said he was in constant touch with the ICRC, located just 1 km away from the hospital.
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66 civilians killed within 3 days - Mullai RDHS

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 January 2009, 08:11 GMT]
The roads of Va'l'lipunam and Theavipuram are full of blood and dead bodies are spotted all over the places in the area that has come under attack by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) artillery and Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL) fire. The carnage worsened after the SLA declared the area as "safe haven". On Tuesday, 16 civilians were killed, 20 reported killed Wednesday and around 30 civilians within the past 12 hours of Thursday, according to Regional Director of Health Service (RDHS) for Mullaiththeevu district. Dr.T.Varatharajah.
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STF commando killed, 2 injured in Poththuvil

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 January 2009, 07:21 GMT]
A Special Task Force (STF) commando was killed and two seriously injured in a direct clash between Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) combatants and STF commandos Wednesday around 10:00 a.m in a jungle area in Poththuvil in Ampaa’rai district, LTTE sources in Ampaa’rai said.
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Muslim trader shot dead in Poththuvil

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 January 2009, 07:18 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) intelligence unit men took away a Muslim firewood trader Wednesday around 2:50 a.m from his house in Poththuvil, Ampaa’rai district and shot him killed, his relatives said.
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SLA attacks civilians in 'secure zone', several killed, dozens wounded

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 January 2009, 04:44 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) unilaterally announced a "secure zone" for civilians Wednesday, but turned its Multi Barrel Rocket Launchers and Artillery guns towards the so-called secure zones in the early hours of Thursday, continuing the carnage, killing and maiming innocent civilians. The inhumane attack on Thursday has targeted an institution for disabled children, the 'Sweet Life Home' (Iniya Vaazhvu illam), and the tightly populated settlement in front of the children home, which is located at Va'l'lipunam. More than 100 civilians have been rushed to hospitals within the last 24 hours.
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TNA urges IC to put an end to genocidal war

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 January 2009, 03:26 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in a press release issued on Wednesday urged the International Community to prevail upon the Sri Lankan state to bring the war to an immediate end stating that It is the considered view of the TNA that the Sri Lankan State is prosecuting the current war in pursuit of an ideology, namely the assertion of Sinhala Buddhist supremacist nationalism, and in order to achieve that objective a process of Genocide of the Tamil people is in progress. The inhuman conditions and the daily killings to which the Tamil civilians in LTTE controlled areas are being subjected to are only the more obvious elements of this process, the statement by the TNA said.
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British FO sabotaging Tamil national question condemned

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 January 2009, 03:13 GMT]
A statement released by the British Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs on Wednesday, totally ignoring the national basis of the decades old Tamil struggle and treating the humanitarian crisis of civilians as an outcome of terrorism is strongly condemned by Jaffna district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian S. Gajendran, who added: The preaching of the modern "corporate religion of greed" to Tamils seems to be "submit yourself to thy genocidal killers."
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Tamil farmer shot dead in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 January 2009, 16:55 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen shot dead a Tamil young farmer at Thangkanakar in Seruvila division in Trincomalee district on Monday early morning in his house. The assassins came in a motorbike and killed the farmer in point blank range.
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Sri Lankan fighter jet reported missing in Northern frontier

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 January 2009, 15:55 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) MIG fighter jet was shot in the skies over Vanni on Wednesday, according to initial reports from journalists outside Sri Lanka, who cited a highly placed source in Vanni Sri Lankan Forces Headquarters (Vanni SF-HQ). The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) officials were not available to comment on the reports.
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Elderly man recovered dead in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 January 2009, 13:05 GMT]
Unidentified armed men abducted Tuesday night an elderly man going from his home in Thaavadi in Jaffna to his brother’s house and dumped his body after having tortured him to death, on a road in Koa’ndaavil Arasadi area in Jaffna around 10:30 p.m. same night, during Sri Lanka Army (SLA) imposed curfew hours, sources in Jaffna said. Koappaay police recovered the victim’s body and handed it over to Jaffna Teaching Hospital mortuary.
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IC urged to act on humanitarian grounds to safeguard civilians

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 January 2009, 12:45 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has cornered civilians in overcrowded areas in the suburbs of Puthukkudiyiruppu (PTK) town, according to sources in Vanni. While artillery shells exploding in densely populated makeshift settlements have caused several civilian casualties, civilians are fleeing from indiscriminate bombardment from air and ground are forced to seek shelters throughout the day, civil sources from Vanni said. IDPs' representatives express fear that those who fall into the hands of SLA units are likely to be forcibly transported under close military supervision to detention centre style camps at locations isolated from mainstream communities, as evidenced in Mannaar and in areas north of the recently SLA-occupied Elephant Pass.
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2 policemen killed, 11 injured in bomb blast, in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 January 2009, 06:16 GMT]
A bomb attached to a bicycle parked in front of a shop near Batticaloa Police Head Office exploded Wednesday around 7:30 a.m killing two policemen and injuring eleven, Batticaloa police said.
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Electricity supply to Jaffna peninsula faces crisis

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 January 2009, 05:56 GMT]
‘Agrico’, the private firm and the major electricity supplier to Jaffna peninsula Monday informed Colombo office of Sri Lanka Electricity Board (SLEB) that it will suspend operation as the contract signed with SLEB has not been renewed, sources in Jaffna said. The situation is further worsened by the inability of the Chinese firm, ‘Northern Power’ to supply electricity to the entire peninsula one year after the award of contract, sources added.
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Letter from the grave - NYT

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 January 2009, 21:06 GMT]
Noting that the last editorial late Lasantha Wickrematunge wrote was a "powerful indictment of the increasingly brutal Sri Lankan government, which runs one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist," New York Times, in an editorial that appeared Sunday, said that his farewell piece is also "a painful explanation of why another brave journalist would die while trying to publish truths that most people are afraid to whisper."
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Unidentified gunmen shoot 3 villagers dead in Buttala jungle

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 January 2009, 19:54 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen shot at a group of Sinhala villagers in the Sadatissagama jungle in Buttala Sunday night, killing three and injuring three others, police sources said. One villager is reported missing. A group of eighteen Sinhala villagers went to the jungle to graze their cattle came under the attack, according to police.
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2 youths shot dead, bodies burnt in Anuradhapura

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 January 2009, 19:49 GMT]
Two youths brought to Kudathenawela in Anuradhapura district from other areas in a vehicle were shot dead and their bodies were burnt by unidentified persons Sunday night around 9:00 p.m., police sources said. Kudathenawela is located between the villages, Kambirgaswewa and Aluthgama, about 30 km off northwest of Anuradhapura town.
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Unprecedented civilian carnage in Vanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 January 2009, 18:44 GMT]
Fifteen civilians including 5 children were killed and 29 seriously injured in the relentless artillery barrage that Sri Lanka Amy (SLA) kept pounding the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Visuvamadu, Udaiyaarkaddu, Chuthanthirapuram and Maa'nikkapuram areas in Mullaiththeevu district Tuesday, sources in Vanni said. SLA continued its artillery barrage on the IDP settlements Monday from 11:00 a.m till 12:30 p.m in Chuthanthirapuram and Theavipuram areas in Vanni killing two IDPs and seriously injuring nine including children.
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Student reported missing released by SLA in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 January 2009, 15:38 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) authorities in Oorezhu camp in Jaffna handed over Sunday a 16-year-old student of Aanaikkoaddai Mahaviththiyalayam gone missing on 18 December 2008 to his parents on condition that they should not disclose any information about their son being held by SLA for a month, sources in Jaffna said.
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Muslim family man shot injured in Ampaa’rai

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 January 2009, 15:11 GMT]
Unidentified armed men opened fire Tuesday around 9:30 a.m on a Muslim family man riding a bicycle along Hanifa Street in Kalmunaikkudi in Kalmunai police division in Ampaa’rai district, seriously injuring him, Kalmunai police said.
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4 STF commandos killed in landmine attack in Ampaa’rai

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 January 2009, 15:05 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) combatants triggered a landmine Monday around 4:40 p.m targeting a vehicle carrying Special Task Force (STF) commandos, killing four of them, in Kanchchikudichchaa’ru jungle in Ampaa’rai district, LTTE sources in Ampaa’rai district.
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Norwegian Tamils demonstrate in front of US Embassy in Oslo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 January 2009, 11:27 GMT]
Around 400 Norwegian Tamils gathered in front of United States Embassy in Oslo, Tuesday between 9:30 a.m and 10:30 a.m urging the U.S. Government to help stop the genocidal war on the Tamils in Vanni in Sri Lanka and to exert pressure on Sri Lanka Government to bring about an immediate cease fire. This is the fourth demonstration organized by Norwegian Tamils Federation within the last two weeks, sources in Oslo said. A representative of the American Embassy received the memorandum submitted by the demonstrators.
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Mannaar police detains 6 fishermen, 1 civilian

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 January 2009, 10:50 GMT]
Six fishermen from Mannar were arrested by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) on Naachchikkudaa seas and are being detained by Detention Order (DO). A seventh youth was arrested by Mannaar police in a search conducted in his house Wednesday when a sticker of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Forest Department was found in the house, the police claimed.The fishermen are from Mannaar Thoadave’li, Joseph Vaz Nakar.
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Armed men attack elderly fisherman in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 January 2009, 08:48 GMT]
Five unidentified gunmen arriving in vehicles during Sri Lanka Army (SLA) imposed curfew hours Saturday night at the house of an elderly fisherman on Kurunakar Beach Road in Jaffna attacked him indiscriminately for refusing to hand his son over to the gunmen, sources in Jaffna said. Local residents took the seriously injured fisherman to Jaffna Teaching Hospital where he is under treatment.
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Tamil prisoners stripped naked, beaten by Sinhala Guards

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 January 2009, 01:04 GMT]
Seven Tamil and Muslim suspects detained in Anuradhapura prison filed complaints at the Mannaar Court Monday that five Sinhala thugs brought from outside and about ten other prison guards stripped the seven men naked and beat them with batons inside Anuradhapura prison Saturday and Sunday, legal sources in Mannar said.
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Lions Club donates modern surgery unit, tsunami houses in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 January 2009, 22:34 GMT]
Immediate Past President of Lions Club International (LCI), Mahendra J C Amarasooriya ceremonially opened a new Emergency Surgery Unit to Jaffna Teaching Hospital (JTH) funded by LCI in a ceremony held Monday at 11:30 a.m. In the second major development program undertaken by the LIC, 136 houses newly built with funding from LIC for tsunami affected persons in Vadamaraadchi were also handed over to beneficiaries in an event presided by the Jaffna Government Agent, K. Ganesh, Monday around 2:00 p.m, sources in Jaffna said.
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Youth shot, burnt to death in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 January 2009, 22:26 GMT]
The burnt body of a 26-year youth was found lying on the bund of the Parasangawa Tank in Vaarikuttiyoor in Vavuniyaa police division Sunday morning. Initial inquiry revealed that the said youth had been shot dead on Saturday night and later burnt by some unidentified armed persons.
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Sea Tigers sink SLN Super Dvora attack craft in Mullaiththeevu seas

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 January 2009, 19:30 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Sea Tigers attacked a convoy of Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) off the coast of Mullaiththeevu, sinking a Super Dvora Fast Attack Craft Monday around 11:30 p.m., LTTE officials told media.
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35 SLA killed, 60 wounded in Northwestern frontier - LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 January 2009, 14:47 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) officials Monday said their defensive formations clashed with Sri Lanka Army (SLA) for 24 hours in the Northwestern frontier of LTTE held territory till the SLA was pushed back from Neththaliyaattup paalam Monday. The Tigers claimed 35 SLA soldiers were killed and at least 60 wounded. Heavy fighting is reported also in southeastern frontier of the LTTE held territory.
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Only 1,000 Tigers left, war almost over – Fonseka

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 January 2009, 13:30 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka said Sunday that as there were only a thousand Tamil Tigers left and they were “boxed” into a small jungle area in Mullaitivu, the war would soon be won. The Tigers could not resist the 50,000 SLA soldiers surrounding them, he said. Lt. Gen. Fonseka, who spoke at an annual dinner he hosts for defence correspondents at his residence, joked that he expected most of them "to be out of work by this time next year." He wore a black shirt, adorned with a dragon strangling a tiger, Reuters reported.
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Thirumavalavan drops fast, signals 'change of strategy'

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 January 2009, 18:02 GMT]
VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan, in his fourth day of the fast-unto-death said that he was forced to reconsider his decision to continue the fast because of the emotional pleading by his frenzied cadres, particularly women cadres who threatened self-immolation, and the shoot at sight orders that had been given by the state police department. "At this stage, I have to ensure that those who lay their love and trust in me should not lose their lives," Mr. Thirumavalavan said. He added that henceforth the VCK had snapped all ties with the Congress party.
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Third Tamil youth shot dead in Moneragala

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 January 2009, 16:51 GMT]
Unidentified armed persons shot dead a Tamil youth in Moneragala district on Friday night bringing the total of Tamil youths killed in the district to three within a four day period. The victim was identified as Rasiah Selvarajah, 23, of Moopanawela Estate in Moneragala district. The killing has created tension and fear amid Tamil people in Moneragala, civil sources said.
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9000 British Tamils gather in protest against war on Tamils in Vanni

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 January 2009, 14:45 GMT]
More than 9000 British Tamils gathered Saturday in front of No. 10 Downing Street in London participating in a mass vigil from 3:00 p.m till 7:00 p.m, urging British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to exert pressure on the governments of Sri Lanka and India to call for an immediate ceasefire in Sri Lanka. This event marks the third of the ‘Awareness Campaign’ organized by the Tamil Youth Organization (TYO) in United Kingdom.
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Artillery barrage kills several civilians, dozens wounded within 24 hours

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 January 2009, 14:27 GMT]
At least 18 civilians have been confirmed killed within the last 24 hours till 3:00 p.m. Sunday in several villages of Mullaiththeevu district and the outer suburbs of Ki'linochchi district to the east of A9 highway. Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has stepped up artillery barrage continuously throughout the period, causing deaths and injuries to several. Dead bodies have been spotted in many places and transportation of wounded has been completely blocked due to the relentless artillery barrage. At least 42 civilians were wounded Sunday alone, according to available data. Medical authorities in Puthukkudiyiruppu express fear that the casualty figure could be much higher than what has been reported.
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SLAF deploys cluster-bombs in Mullaiththeevu

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 January 2009, 12:36 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers have deployed several cluster bombs in the air attacks last week. After being exposed by TamilNet reports in November and December, 2008, the Russian alphabets on the containers of the cluster munitions, have been masked by paint before deployment by the SLAF.
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Gotabhaya: TV station attack was self-inflicted

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 January 2009, 12:28 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, claimed this week that the independent television station stormed on January 6 by over a dozen masked gunmen who threw grenades and shot up equipment with assault rifles, had in fact staged the attack to win public sympathy, because the Tamil Tigers, which he said the Sirasa station was supporting, were losing the war. He said government investigations had conclusively established this. Mr. Gotabhaya, who is also the brother of President Mahinda Rajapakse, made his comments to a state media station, The BBC Sinhala service reported Friday.
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LTTE ambush on checkpost in Trincomalee kills 3 home guards

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 January 2009, 10:39 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Sunday claimed that 3 Sri Lankan home guards were killed and one wounded in an ambush carried out on a check post of the home guards in Mallaikaiththeevu in Moothoor division of Trincomalee district.
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Eastern Province Chief Minister’s staffer shot injured

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 January 2009, 10:34 GMT]
Unidentified armed men shot and seriously injured Saturday around 9:30 p.m the driver of the Personal Assistant of Eastern Province Chief Minister, at his house in Kalladi Uppoadai in Batticaloa police division, sources in Batticalao said.
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Sri Lankan shelling kills 4 civilians, children among 11 wounded

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 January 2009, 02:41 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired artillery shells claimed the lives of four civilians in Puthukkudiyiruppu and Visuvamadu on Saturday, according to medical sources. Four children were among the wounded.
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Tamil Nadu CPI, BJP leaders slam Delhi’s inaction

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 January 2009, 22:13 GMT]
The Tamil Nadu State Secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI), D Pandian charged Saturday that it was not enough to merely condemn the genocide in Sri Lanka, but instead one should be prepared to embrace a martyr's death. He was speaking about VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan’s fast-unto-death over the humanitarian crisis imposed on Tamil civilians by Sri Lanka’s war. The senior CPI leader added that if India was capable of sending the Chandrayaan to the moon, it could at least do some lip-service to save the lives of Tamils by telling to the Government of Sri Lanka that it will not hesitate to interfere."
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Ramdoss exhorts Karunanidhi to urgent action in stopping Sri Lanka war

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 January 2009, 21:08 GMT]
Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) leader Dr S Ramadoss, who visited VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan, now in his fourth day of a fast-unto-death over the humanitarian crisis imposed on Tamil civilians by Sri Lanka’s punitive bombardments, exhorted Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi to act urgently to invoke Indian intervention to stop the war. Emphatically refuting Mr. Karunanidhi's statement that the VCK leader had “unilaterally decided” to stage a protest fast without consulting the rest of the Tamil Nadu polity, Dr. Ramadoss said Thol Thirumavalavan, whose health is detoriarating, had consulted other leaders several times in the recent weeks.
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Norwegian Tamils urge Norway to stop Sri Lanka's genocidal war in Vanni

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 January 2009, 16:52 GMT]
Nearly three hundred Norwegian Tamils, along with Norwegian Members of Parliament and political leaders, gathered in the premises of Norway Parliament Friday between 11:00 a.m till 1:30 p.m, and appealed to the Government of Norway to save the Tamils in Vanni in from the genocidal war waged on them by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL), This is the third such demonstration by Norwegian Tamils in this week.
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Menon restated India’s support for war – Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 January 2009, 16:46 GMT]
Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, who met with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse Friday “reaffirmed India’s cooperation with Sri Lanka in the attempts to eliminate terrorism from Sri Lanka and the region, and observed that at present the relations between India and Sri Lanka have never been so close, so warm and so deep,” the Colombo government said in a statement. President Rajapakse met Mr. Menon in Kandy, the ancient seat of Sinhala power, rather than in Colombo.
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Karuna group men abduct washerman in Kalmunai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 January 2009, 14:21 GMT]
Karuna group armed men arriving on a motor cycle and a three-wheeler abducted Thursday around 3:30 p.m a washerman from his house at Cheaniakkudiyiruppu Kiddangki area in Kalmunai in Ampaa’rai district, according to a complaint lodged with Kalmunai police.
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Muslim businessman shot dead in Ea’raavoor

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 January 2009, 14:07 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen lying in ambush near the house of a Muslim businessman at 3rd Cross A. K. Street, Ea’raavoor in Batticaloa district, shot and killed him as he was returning home in a three-wheeler, Ea’raavoor police said. The victim is a director of a telecommunication centre in Ea’raavoor as well as an agent involved in sending persons abroad for employment, sources Ea’raavoor said.
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India should stop war, instruct Colombo to talk to Tigers - BJP Tamil Nadu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 January 2009, 12:37 GMT]
A senior leader of BJP, a major national political party of India, visited Friday Thol. Thirumavalavan, the VCK President who is on a fast-unto-death demanding the Central government of India to stop the war being waged by Colombo against Eezham Tamils. The BJP politician, Vaithiyalingam, a member of the party's national general council, declared that India, which is a powerful country in the region, cannot sit back and watch without doing anything to stop the genocidal war in Sri Lanka and added India should be specific in demanding ceasefire between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam.
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SLN restricts fishing to limited areas in Jaffna lagoon

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 January 2009, 08:31 GMT]
Sri Lanka military command Saturday imposed restrictions from on fishing in Jaffna lagoon allowing fishermen only to stay within demarcated areas, fisheries sources in Jaffna said. The SLA had earlier removed restrictions from the middle part of December when Pooneryn was brought under Sri Lanka Government control, and the reintroduction of restrictions will force the more than four thousand fisher families in Kurunakar, Paashaiyoor, Columbuththu'rai and Ariyaalai into severe economic difficulties, fisheries representatives said.
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Catholic priests appeal to UN to intervene in Vanni

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 January 2009, 06:55 GMT]
Catholic priests and other religious leaders in Vanni, in an urgent letter appealed to the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, to "take immediate steps to stop the senseless war and put an end to the untold sufferings of the innocent civilians," and said that the "root of the on going war is the Structural Injustice, a vehement denial of equality and dignity of the Sri Lanka Tamils..."
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2 Tamil youths shot dead in Moneragala

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 January 2009, 03:24 GMT]
Unidentified armed persons wearing masks shot dead two Tamil youths in Moneragala division in two separate incidents. One youth Ramachchandran Ravichandran, 22, a three-wheel driver was shot dead on Tuesday, and the other, Kulanthaivel Krishnaraj, was shot dead Thursday, police sources said.
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UK turns away from ‘War on Terror’ doctrine

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 January 2009, 19:30 GMT]
Britain’s Foreign Secretary this week slammed the US-led ‘War on Terror’ as a “misleading and mistaken” doctrine that had effacing the nuances of various conflicts while uniting extremists opposed to the West. Speaking in Mumbai, David Miliband said Thursday the concept had invited “invidious comparisons” between organisations as diverse as the Tamil Tigers, fighting for independence of the Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka, and Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based faction that Indian and British officials believe was behind the Mumbai atrocities. “Terrorism is a deadly tactic, not an institution or an ideology,” he was quoted by The Times as saying.
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Heavy fighting erupts in Tharmapuram, Tigers say 51 SLA killed

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 January 2009, 17:12 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) media reported Friday that the advance by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) from Tharmapuram on three fronts were repulsed at 14:00 p.m. 51 SLA soldiers were killed and 150 troops sustained injuries in the confrontation that lasted for 14 hours from the early hours of Friday. The Tigers have claimed that they seized weapons in the clearing mission that followed. The Tigers deployed at least one BMP-1 armoured fighting vehicle, according to pictures released to media. It is not clear if the vehicle was captured from the SLA, and when.
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5 civilians killed, 7 injured in Sri Lankan artillery attack

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 January 2009, 15:39 GMT]
Sri Lankan artillery attack on overcrowded Kaiveali and Koampaavil, and also on Visuvamadu, from where civilians were fleeing Friday, killed five civilians, including a 14-year-old girl, and caused injuries to a 8-year-old boy and six others, according to the reports from Puthukkudiyiruppu hospital.
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Jaffna District Secretariat urges help from NGOs to assist uprooted civilians

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 January 2009, 14:36 GMT]
Jaffna Government Agent (GA) and Thenmaraadchi Divisional Secretary have requested the help of International and local Non Government Organizations (NGOs) and humanitarian organizations in Jaffna to supply urgent requisites other than food to the civilians who have been brought to Thenmaraadchi by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) from areas earlier held by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Pa’lai, Pachchilaippa’li, Iyakkachchi and Vadamaraadchi East. 1796 persons belonging to 627 families have been brought by Sri Lanka Army to Kodikaamam till Thursday evening, according to the figures from the District Secretariat. More families have been brought Thursday night and on Friday.
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Jaffna Bishop urges SL President to stop bombardment

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 January 2009, 14:35 GMT]
Jaffna Bishop Rt. Rev. Thomas Saundaranayagam has urged the Sri Lankan President and Commander-in-Chief of the Lankan armed forces to stop all shelling and aerial bombings at civilian places in Vanni, in an urgent letter sent to President Mahinda Rajapakse Monday, before the latest mass exodus towards Puthukkudiyiruppu. "It is the duty of the Government to open a safe corridor for the safety of the civilians. Please stop all shelling and aerial bombings at civilian places," the Bishop said in his letter titled "Humble but urgent request to stop shelling on civilian places in Vanni."
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Humanitarian tragedy in Vanni enters deadlier phase

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 January 2009, 12:33 GMT]
Indiscriminate artillery, multi-barrel and mortar fire by the Sri Lanka Army from all the corners of shrinking territory centering Puthukkudiyiruppu town, its suburbs and adjoining jungles in the Mullaiththeevu district, which is overcrowded with civilians, has worsened the humanitarian tragedy that has been unfolding in Vanni during the last 4 days. There are deaths and injuries caused to the civilians fleeing the onslaught of the SLA. Medical authorities said the situation was beyond control Friday noon and the hospitals have come under attack and ambulances were not operating. Access route from Vadamaraadchi East has been cut off by the SLA that has entered Chu'ndikku'lam area.
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CPI pledges support to Thirumavalavan's fast

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 January 2009, 05:13 GMT]
Veteran leader of the Communist Party of India (CPI) Tamil Nadu, R. Nallakannu Thursday pledged his party's support to Thirumavalavan's fast-unto-death campaign demanding immediate ceasefire in Sri Lanka. Mr. Thirumavalavan blamed the Indian establishment for not asking Sri Lanka to stop war or sending Pranab Mukherjee, the Indian External Affairs Minister to Colombo, as promised. The VCK leader decried the Indian Government's inaction and said that by insulting the demands of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi, New Delhi had in effect insulted the whole Tamil population.
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TamilNet invites opinion

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 January 2009, 03:30 GMT]
Many readers of the Eezham Tamil diaspora and India, anxiously communicate with TamilNet on the future course of the Eezham Tamil struggle. In this regard, TamilNet invites positive written opinion from its readers. The views will be compiled and presented shortly. TamilNet also considers this as a healthy democratic exercise in inspiring the future course of the struggle.
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Land mine blast injures civilian in Vadamaraadchi north

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 January 2009, 17:50 GMT]
A family man on his way to E’luthumadduvaa’l from Chu’ndikku’lam in Vadamaraadchi north sustained serious injury stepping on a land mine sown along the foot track he was walking along, sources in Jaffna said. The injured family man was rushed to Chaavakachcheari hospital first and then transferred to Jaffna Teaching Hospital for further treatment.
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Family man seeks protection, another reported missing, with Jaffna HRC

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 January 2009, 15:53 GMT]
A father of four children and a carpenter by profession from Aanaikkoaddai in Valikaamam sought protection to his life with Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna office as unidentified gunmen had tried to abduct him on 13 January from his residence during Sri Lanka Army (SLA) imposed curfew hours, according to the complaint lodged with HRC Thursday. Meanwhile, the wife of a three-wheeler driver registered a complaint with HRC Jaffna that her husband had gone missing since 30th October 2008 after leaving to Jaffna from Vavuniyaa.
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Youth shot dead in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 January 2009, 13:36 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen shot and killed Wednesday night a youth in Kaa’liku’lam in Vavuniyaa police division. On receipt of information from Poovarasanku’lam Village Officer (Grama Sevaka) Vavuniyaa police recovered the body of the youth Thursday morning and handed it over to Vavuniyaa general hospital. The victim is estimated to be around 25 years of age, the police said.
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Norwegian Tamils urge Indian PM to stop war in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 January 2009, 11:22 GMT]
Around three hundred Norwegian Tamils gathered in front of the Indian Embassy in Oslo Wednesday between 2:00 p.m and 3:00 p.m in an attempt to draw the attention of the Indian state to stop the genocidal war waged on the Tamils in Vanni by the Government of Sri Lanka. Norwegian Tamil Federation (NTF) which had arranged the demonstration presented a memorandum of its requests to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by handing it over to the representative of the Indian Embassy in Oslo.
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Thirumavalavan launches fast-unto-death, demands India to stop war

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 January 2009, 06:54 GMT]
"Mahatma Gandhi, who fought against British colonialists didn't think of taking the side of genocidal Hitler during World War II. He was not seeking personal vengeance against the British. Likewise, the present leaders in New Delhi should also take a bold decision that they will not support the genocidal war being waged by the Sri Lankan state on Eezham Tamils," said Kasi Anandan, a well-known Eezham poet living in Tamil Nadu, inaugurating the fast-unto-death campaign launched Thursday by VCK (Liberation Panthers Party) President Thol. Thirumavalavan.
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SLA forcibly uproots civilians from occupied Vadamaraadchi East

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 January 2009, 03:23 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has been engaged in vacating civilians from the coastal villages earlier held by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Vadamaraadchi East, to Kodikaamam in Thenmaraadchi and brought around 300 civilians in vehicles along the A9 road Wednesday making a total of 985 civilians along with those brought in during the last four days, according to Divisional Secretariat sources in Chaavakachcheari. Meanwhile, there have also been alleged reports of disappearances in the custody of the SLA. The latest move, to keep the civilians within military High Security Zone in Mirusuvil, has set off fears of military 'detention centres' like the ones reported in Mannaar and Vavuniyaa in recent times.
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SLA blocks kites on Vadamaraadchi skies

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 January 2009, 02:07 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers in several villages of Vadamaraadchi have been confiscating kites flown by recreation enthusiasts in recent days.
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Fate of 200 fleeing civilians arrested by SLN not known

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 January 2009, 21:15 GMT]
Sri Lankan Police in Jaffna, which had alerted the judicial system and the civil authorities on Monday that around 200 civilians arrested by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) while fleeing in boats from the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) occupied Vadamaraadchi East to Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) held areas in Mullaiththeevu district, were to be handed over to the authorities, on Wednesday said that they had no further updates from the SLN or the SLA on the whereabouts of the refugees.
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British premier wants ceasefire in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 January 2009, 20:24 GMT]
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, while responding to a question by Keith Vaz MP about the plight of Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka and the killing of Sunday Leader editor, said Britain’s Parliament Wednesday that there is a need for a ceasefire in Sri Lanka and that he would be raising the matter with French President Nikolas Sakorzy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Mr. Brown was speaking during the first Prime Minister’s Questions of 2009.
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Colombo censures diplomat over Lasantha eulogy

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 January 2009, 13:33 GMT]
Government of Sri Lanka censured German Ambassador Jurgen Weerth after the Ambassador spoke at the funeral of slain editor of Sunday Leader, diplomatic sources in Colombo said. "Ambassador Weerth was summoned to the foreign ministry on Tuesday and the Foreign Secretary [Palitha Kohona] expressed Sri Lanka's displeasure and concern over his remarks," an AFT report said quoting a source at the ministry.
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13 civilians wounded in SLA shelling on Pongkal day

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 January 2009, 09:02 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired artillery shells targeting civilians who have been moving from other areas of Vanni towards Puthukkudiyiruppu, causing injuries to 13 civilians, initial reports from Puthukkudiyiruppu said. The indiscriminate shelling has targeted Kaiveali settlement in Puthukkudiyiruppu division of Mullaiththeevu district. The bombardment comes on civilian settlement comes on Pongkal Day, a common festival of Tamil identity. The Tamil diaspora has called off Pongkal celebrations.
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World oblivious to Sri Lanka's genocide of Tamils, says music phenom M.I.A

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 January 2009, 04:06 GMT]
Maya Arulpragasam, better known by her stage name M.I.A, a British born Tamil and recent U.S. Grammy nominee, reveals that her music was shaped by her experience as a Tamil refugee from Sri Lanka, and accuses the International Community for standing idle as Colombo perpetrates acts of genocide against Tamils in Sri Lanka's NorthEast. In her interview to an Indian website, Maya adds: "[P]eople need to learn that you cannot wipe out a whole [Tamil] race."
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SLA engaged in vacating civilians from Vadamaraadchi East

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 January 2009, 21:11 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers advancing from Ezhuthumadduvaa’l in Thenmaraadchi into areas earlier held by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Vadamaraadchi are forcibly vacating permanent residents from their villages, sources in Chaavakachcheari said. 208 persons belonging to nearly 50 families brought to Kodikaamam by the SLA soldiers were handed over to Kodikaamam police who produced them before Chaavakachcheari magistrate Tuesday. Directed by the magistrate the vacated civilians have been placed in Jaffna Government Agent’s (GA) special hostel in Koappaay.
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Students reported missing with Jaffna HRC

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 January 2009, 19:28 GMT]
Parents of a 16-year-old student from Kachchaai Veethi in Thenmaraadchi lodged a complaint with Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna office that their son had gone missing since Sunday after leaving home. Meanwhile, the father of a Jaffna student studying in Colombo complained to Jaffna HRC that his son had gone missing since he went to register his name with Galikisse police on 4 January.
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Norwegian Tamils urge Norway to stop war on Vanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 January 2009, 18:24 GMT]
More than five hundred members of Norwegian Tamils' Federation (NTF) protested in front of Norway Foreign Ministry, Tuesday from 2:00 p.m til 3:00 p.m, demanding Norway to immediate intervene to stop the war waged on the people of Vanni by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL). "Norway has the moral responsibility to stop the war on the Tamil people in Vanni," the protestors shouted during the demonstration.
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Heavy fighting in Mullaiththeevu frontier, Tigers recover 6 SLA bodies

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 January 2009, 17:24 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched an offensive push in Chilaavaththai in Mullaiththeevu district Tuesday. The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) have seized ammunitions and recovered at least 6 dead bodies of the SLA, according to the reports from Mullaiththeevu.
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Pressure Colombo to stop attacking civilian targets, TRO appeals to India, UN, US

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 January 2009, 13:55 GMT]
In an urgent press released issued Monday, Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), appealed to the Government of India, President-Elect Obama, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and the international community, to pressure "the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) to cease attacks on civilian targets; allow unfettered humanitarian access to the Vanni by the UN and international NGOs; and to allow all necessary essential humanitarian assistance into the area."
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SLA shelling hits nursery in Puthukkudiyiruppu

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 January 2009, 13:13 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired artillery shells hit a nursery killing a 28-year-old civilian Tuesday around 1:30 p.m., reports from Puthukkudiyiruppu town said.
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Humanitarian tragedy unfolds in Vanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 January 2009, 12:32 GMT]
If Tamil Nadu fails to exert pressure on New Delhi to stop the Sri Lankan offensive in Vanni within a few hours, there will be no hope left for civilians who fear being subjugated by the Sri Lankan military, say displaced peoples representatives in Vanni as thousands of civilians were fleeing towards Puthukkudiyiruppu from Tharmapuram and the adjoining areas as Sri Lanka Artillery (SLA) shelling intensified Tuesday. Hospital at Tharmapuram has been displaced and the streets were full of vehicles with Internally displaced civilians.
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Security of Diyatalawa town tightened

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 January 2009, 12:19 GMT]
The security of Diyatalawa, a town in Nuwara Eliya district where the Sri Lanka Army Academy, main training camp of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) and Sri Lanka Surveying Institute are located, has been tightened, media sources in Colombo reported. More security points and road blocks have been established to monitor the movement of vehicles and civilians.
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Ki'llinochchi woman arrested, in Uva Paranagama

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 January 2009, 10:41 GMT]
Uva Paranagama Police in Uva Province Monday early morning arrested a Tamil woman who is a resident of Ki'llinochchi. Police said she was taken into custody on receipt of information that she had been involved in Wattala suicide bomb blast that took place recently.
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Tamil civilian reported missing, in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 January 2009, 10:35 GMT]
A Jaffna born Tamil civilian residing in Wattala in Colombo district has been reported missing since Thursday, according to complaints lodged with Wattala Police Station by his relatives.
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U.S. Pacific Command embarked upon development in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 January 2009, 10:14 GMT]
The U.S. Embassy in Colombo, in a media advisory issued on Tuesday, invited media to cover 'groundbreaking' ceremonies of renovating five schools in 'former LTTE-controlled areas of Trincomalee district' by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAIA) and U.S. Pacific Command, this week. Major General Thomas L. Conant of the U.S. Pacific Command and USAID Mission Director Rebecca Cohn will participate in the the inauguration ceremonies, scheduled to be held on Thursday and Friday.
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SLA intensifies artillery attacks on civilian targets, hospital targeted

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 January 2009, 06:34 GMT]
Many civilians were wounded Tuesday morning when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) artillery guns targeted civilian settlements on all fronts of Vanni. A 38-year-old woman was killed and six wounded around 10:00 a.m., when Puthukkudiyiruppu hospital premises and its environs came under artillery fire. Meanwhile, four civilians, including 2 children of the same family, were killed in Visuvamadu. 2 more civilians were reported killed on Monday in Vaddakkachchi. More than 20 civilians have been wounded so far on Tuesday in the indiscriminate bombardment.
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LTTE booby trap kills STF commando, injures 2, in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 January 2009, 20:17 GMT]
A Special Task Force (STF) commando was killed Monday around 9:30 a.m and two more injured in a booby trap explosion set by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Vavu’natheevu police division in Batticaloa district, LTTE sources in Batticaloa said.
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Thirumavalavan to fast to death, demands New Delhi to stop war in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 January 2009, 20:16 GMT]
Thol. Thirumavalavan, President of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), announced Monday that he would undertake a fast-unto-death to pressurize the Indian Government to put an immediate end to the genocide of Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka, according to media sources in Chennai.
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Police arrest 3 upcountry Tamil youths in Kandy

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 January 2009, 16:53 GMT]
Kandy Police Sunday in two separate cordon and search operations conducted Sunday evening arrested three upcountry Tamil youths. Police said they were taken into custody as their movements caused suspicion.
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SLN arrests 200 civilians fleeing from Jaffna to Mullaiththeevu

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 January 2009, 16:00 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) soldiers arrested Monday around 200 civilians fleeing war from Vadamaraadchi East areas earlier held by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to LTTE held Mullaiththeevu district in Vanni, in their fishing boats by sea route, sources in Jaffna said. The arrested civilians have been brought to areas in Jaffna peninsula under control of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and the government officials are facing a critical situation as no prior arrangement has been made to shelter these refugees, sources close to Jaffna Secretariat said. Meanwhile, the Deputy Ambassador for Britain in Colombo made a sudden visit to Jaffna Monday where he met Jaffna Government Agent, K. Ganesh and key SLA officials, the sources added.
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Pillayan group men abduct Tamil civilian, in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 January 2009, 15:52 GMT]
Pillayan group TMVP men, led by its main operative Jenthan, arriving in a white pickup vehicle abducted a Tamil civilian Friday around 2:00 p.m in Karuvappangkea’ni in Batticaloa police division, according to complaints lodged with Batticaloa Human Rights Commission (HRC) office. The abducted civilian is being held and tortured in Thaamaraikea’ni TMVP office and his wife who went to see him was assaulted by the men in the office, according to complaint made to Batticaloa police.
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Tamil diaspora calls off Pongkal, Vanni situation 'precarious'

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 January 2009, 08:45 GMT]
The representatives of Eezham Tamil diaspora organisations in Europe, Canada, Australia and the United States on Sunday said they were suspending all Pongkal celebrations as the situation of civilians in Vanni has reached intolerable limits. The announcement came as the Sri Lankan military was preparing for an all out war on densely populated territory in the northeast of Vanni. The diaspora representatives in a joint electronic message said it was "only the pressure from Tamil Nadu that could halt the genocidal onslaught on Tamils by the Sri Lankan armed forces on Tamils in Vanni."
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Civilian casualties increases 8 fold in Ki'linochchi district

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 January 2009, 00:54 GMT]
Ki'linochchi hospital, which was functioning in the town earlier has been moved closer to civilian centers, and is now functioning from Tharmapuram and two schools in Visuvamadu - at Visuvamadu Maha viththiyaalayam and Punnaineeraavi school - and in Kallaa'ru in Chu'ndikku'lam. The hospitals are functioning in difficult conditions and are overwhelmed with civilian casualties from the air strikes and artillery attacks. Only during the first week of January 2009 the hospitals belonging to Ki'linochchi district had to attend a number of casualties equaling that of 8 weeks during the months of November and December in 2008.
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12 wounded, SLA shells Puthukkudiyiruppu, Ka'ndaava'lai

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 January 2009, 19:44 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched artillery fire on several fronts of densely populated Vanni throughout Sunday. Artillery shells exploded near Puthukkudyiruppu hospital, and the outskirts of Visuvamadu in Puthukkudiyiruppu division, Pu'liyampokka'nai in Ka'ndaava'lai and Vaddakkachchi in Karaichchi divisions of Ki'linochchi district. Several roads of Ki'linochchi and Mullaiththeevu districts were fully busy with vehicles and bicycles carrying the displacing civilians, despite the roads were being targeted by the artillery.
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SLA shells hit Health Secretariat of Ki'linochchi district

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 January 2009, 18:09 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired artillery shells have hit the Deputy Provincial Director of Health Services (DPDHS) Secretariat for Ki'inochchi district, located at Pu'liyampokka'nai in Ka'ndaava'lai division Sunday noon. The attack on the DPDHS secretariat has come despite the government forces were given the coordinates of the secretariat, health officials said.
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2500 SLA deserters jailed, 4000 to face trial- Prison Commissioner

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 January 2009, 16:17 GMT]
About two thousand deserted soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) are currently serving jail sentence from three months to one year rigorous imprisonment in several prisons in the south of Sri Lanka, sentenced by Military Tribunal after trial. A further four thousand deserted soldiers are in custody, and soon they would be facing inquiry before military tribunal, media reports said quoting Commissioner General of Prisons Major General Vajira Gunawardene.
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6 Tamils arrested in Katunayake

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 January 2009, 16:16 GMT]
Six Tamils were arrested in the Katunayake high security zone in a cordon and search operation conducted by the police Saturday evening. Police took them into custody as they were seen loitering close to the Katunayake airbase, sources in Colombo said.
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Scores wounded in Sri Lankan bombardment on displacing civilians

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 January 2009, 14:37 GMT]
The three armed forces of Sri Lanka have carried out a joint indiscriminate bombardment from air, land and sea targeting the civilians who were displacing from Vadamaraadchi East villages to Vanni mainland, causing injuries to at least 40 civilians, initial reports from the area said. The attack has targeted civilians who have come to Chu'ndikku'lam lagoon to cross over to Vanni mainland as the land route has been occupied by the Sri Lanka Army following the occupation of Elephant Pass. Medical authorities at Kallaa'ru said they were struggling to transport the wounded. Ambulances at Tharmapuram hospital were sent to Kallaa'ru in Chu'ndikku'lam.
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Seventh body washed ashore in Delft

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 January 2009, 13:15 GMT]
A decomposed body believed to be of a male was recovered by Neduntheevu (Delft) and Oorkavaththu'rai (Kayts) Police Saturday, and was transferred to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital, sources in Jaffna said. The recovery brings the total to seven unidentified bodies, four in Kaangkeasanthu'rai, and two in Point Pedro (Paruththith-thu'rai) recently recovered in the shores of Jaffna peninsula and islets.
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Visitors complain of harassment at Batticaloa Hospital

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 January 2009, 10:17 GMT]
The restrictions imposed and increased checking by police on persons visiting patients in Batticaloa District Hospital following the killing of a Sinhalese doctor by unknown gunmen at Naavatkaadu Hospital are causing inconvenience and harassmentto relatives of the patients, civil society sources in Batticaloa said.
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TMVP person killed, another injured, in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 January 2009, 09:52 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launched an attack Saturday around 8:45 p.m on the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) office in Ea’raavoor police division killing a TMVP person and seriously injuring another.
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35th anniversary of Tamil Conference victims held in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 January 2009, 09:31 GMT]
The 35th anniversary memorial of the eleven Tamils shot and killed by Sri Lanka policemen during the Fourth International Tamil Conference on 10 January 1974 was held Saturday in Jaffna esplanade in front of Veerasingam Hall where the memorial monuments for the civilians who had been killed stand erected, sources in Jaffna said.
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SLA soldiers arrest 33 civilians in Pa’lai

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 January 2009, 04:18 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers arrested 9 women, 20 men, and 4 children in a search conducted Friday, in a house in Choaranpattu, Pa’lai area, earlier held by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), sources in Jaffna said. SLA handed over the arrestees to Kodikaamam police.
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4 killed, SLA artillery targets civilian settlement in Puthukkudiyiruppu

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 January 2009, 03:11 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired artillery shells killed four displaced civilians, including the parents and the daughter of a family, residing in the settlement located behind the hospital of Puthukkudiyiruppu in Mullaiththeevu district Saturday night, according to medical sources. Two of the killed victims were 17-year-old students. Four civilians, including a 5-year-old child were wounded in the indiscriminate artillery attack. Meanwhile, artillery barrage on Vaddakkachchi and Pu'liyampokka'nai in Ki'linochchi district continued, disrupting the access roads for civilians to move away from the areas that have come under artillery barrage.
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Student reported missing with Jaffna HRC

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 January 2009, 18:04 GMT]
The mother of a 16-year-old student of Aanaikkoaddai Baalasupramaniya Mahaaviththiyaalayam registered a complaint Friday with Jaffna Human Rights Commission (HRC) office that her son has been missing since 18 December.
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Tamil farmer shot dead in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 January 2009, 17:43 GMT]
The body of a Tamil farmer with gun shot injuries to head was recovered Friday morning by residents of Katpahapuram in Vavuniyaa division. The victim had gone to the near by tank Thursday evening to take a bath but failed to return home, according to complaints lodged with the police by his relatives.
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Bandarawela Police arrest Tamil youth

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 January 2009, 16:16 GMT]
Bandarawela Police arrested a Tamil youth Wednesday in a cordon and search operation conducted in Poonagala estate in Bandarawela district. Police said the suspect had been hiding in the estate and suspected to have been with the Liberation Tigers in 2003.
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SLA attempt to advance from Ira'naimadu repulsed: Tigers

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 January 2009, 15:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched an offensive push from Ira'naimadu targeting to enter Vaddakkachchi in Ki'linochchi district Saturday. The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) officials told reporters in Vanni that their defensive forces repulsed the move. 18 SLA soldiers were killed, 40 wounded and the Tigers seized arms and ammunitions in the clearing mission that followed the 8 hours long fighting.
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Tamil youth arrested in Badulla with rifle

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 January 2009, 14:49 GMT]
Badulla Magistrate Saman Kaariyawasam Friday ordered remand for a Tamil youth on a report by the police that the suspect had been in possession of a rifle at that time of arrest. The suspect was a resident of Thelpatha-Morogolla estate in Badulla district.
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Lasantha killing, a savage assault on media independence - TNA

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 January 2009, 13:56 GMT]
Condemning the assassination of Editor of The Sunday Leader Lasantha Wickrematunga, and extending deepest condolence to his family, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), in a press release issued today said, "Mr. Wickrematunga has been an ardent critic of the incumbent government," and "the manner of the assassination of Mr. Wickrematunga bears the same hallmarks as the manner of the assassination of the much respected late TNA parliamentarian Hon. N. Raviraj. The TNA has little doubt that Mr. Wickrematunga was targeted by those who were embarrassed by his exposure of the truth and their excesses of high office."
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Tamil hotel employee arrested in Mt.Lavinia

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 January 2009, 13:46 GMT]
A Tamil employee working in a hotel was taken into custody by the Mt.Lavinia Police Wednesday on receipt of information that he was in possession of several national identity cards and an identity card issued by the Sri Lanka Army, police sources said.
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Civilians trapped in SLA artillery barrage

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 January 2009, 11:43 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired artillery shells hit civilian settlements in Vaddakkachchi, killing a 56-year-old father and caused injuries to his 16-year-old son. Meanwhile, a 76-year-old elderly man residing in an elderly home sustained injuries Friday night after he returned home unable to reach Tharmapuram as Kaddaikkaadu Road (Vaddakkachchi - Tharmapuram Road) was continuously targeted by the shelling. In the meantime another male was killed in SLA shelling at Chu'ndikku'lam on Friday.
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Tamil civilian shot dead in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 January 2009, 09:53 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen shot and killed a Tamil owner of a fuel station and robbed the cash he had with him, in Kaaththaankudi police division in Batticaloa district Saturday around 5:30 a.m., sources in Batticaloa said.
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Ex-Liberian leader's son sentenced to 97-years for torture

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 January 2009, 03:39 GMT]
Florida federal court Judge, Cecilia M. Altonaga, sentenced son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor Sr. Friday to 97 years in prison for charges including torture and conspiracy, said Matthew Friedrich, acting assistant attorney general of the criminal division. The case was the first brought under a 1994 U.S. law saying those accused of committing torturous acts overseas can be tried in a U.S. federal court.
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Media activists protest against Lasantha assassination

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 2009, 21:41 GMT]
Hundreds of media activists took to the streets in Colombo Friday protesting against the assassination of one of the prominent journalists in Colombo and Chief Editor of Sunday Leader, Lasantha Wickramatunga, who was shot dead Thursday. The protesters accused Rajapaksa regime for the prevailing impunity as heavily armed military personnel ringed the area of protest at Regal Junction, the metropolitan heart of the city. Meanwhile, opposition parties have blamed the government for using the military achievements in its war against the LTTE as a propaganda ploy to suppress and eliminate the opposition.
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SLA arrests 4 Tamil civilians in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 2009, 20:46 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers took four Tamil civilians into custody Wednesday morning while they were resting in a hut located in a paddy field in Puthukku'lam in Vavuniyaa division on their return home after hunting. These youths are residents of Sasthrikoo'langku'lam and Puthukku'lam.
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Police hand over 4 corpses to Jaffna Teaching Hospital

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 2009, 18:13 GMT]
Kaangkeasanthu’rai (KKS) police, directed by Mallaakam court, Friday evening handed over four corpses to Jaffna Teaching Hospital (JTH) mortuary. The bodies were handed over in plastic bags because of their highly decomposed state. Their gender and identification were not disclosed by the police, JTH sources said.
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SLA takes control of A9 - Rajapaksa

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 2009, 14:59 GMT]
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday announced that the Sri Lanka Army regained the control of A9 Jaffna Kandy highway linking the south and the north after 23 years. Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry said that 53 Division commanded by Brigadier Kamal Gunaratne and 55 Division commanded by Brigadier Prasanna Silva based in the Mukamaalai area have advanced nearly 22 km south and occupied the Elephant Pass (EPS) and hoisted the Sri Lankan flag. The EPS was held by the LTTE for over eight years.
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Civilian shot, wounded in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 2009, 12:59 GMT]
Unidentified armed men riding a motorbike shot a 37-year old family man along Kottadi Seenivasa Road, Jaffna Friday at 4:30 p.m. while the victim was on his way to the Jaffna Town, sources said.
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SLAF suffers casualties in Tiger ambush in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 2009, 12:04 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) from Trincomalee district claimed that 12 Sri Lankan armed personnel were killed and 6 sustained injuries in a Claymore and gunfire ambush on a tractor carrying armed personnel from Panku'lam to Muthalikku'lam (Morawewa) at 8:55 a.m. Friday. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan military sources in Colombo said three Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) personnel and four civilians and seven SLAF personnel sustained injuries in the ambush. A main camp of the SLAF is currently situated in Morawewa, which was earlier a traditional Tamil village called Muthalikku'lam.
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Tamil civilian shot dead in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 2009, 11:09 GMT]
Armed men who arrived in a three-wheeler shot and killed a 30-year-old Tamil civilian Thursday night in his resident at Periyaku'lam in Vavuniyaa division, police sources said.
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Armed robberies escalate in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 2009, 11:08 GMT]
Masked armed men robbed three houses, threatening the owners at gunpoint, at Puthukkudiyiruppu in Vaazhaichcheanai police division Thursday night, according to complaints lodged with the police. One of the houses robbed is located 200 m from the office of TMVP Pillayan paramilitary group, on Vaazhaicheanai Maadi Veethi.
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Tamil youth arrested in Kandy

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 2009, 03:30 GMT]
Katugastota Police Wednesday morning arrested a Tamil youth identified as Subramaniam Joseph in Katugastota town in Kandy district. Police said he was taken into custody as his movement in the town had created suspicion.
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Moneragala police arrest 5 Tamil youths

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 2009, 01:25 GMT]
Moneragala Police took five Tamils youths into custody during a cordon and search operation Monday. The operation was conducted on receipt of information that some LTTE cadres had stealthily entered the Moneragala estate, police said.
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SLN arrests 12 youths fleeing war in Vadamaraadchi East

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 2009, 01:07 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) arrested Friday twelve youths fleeing war in Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held Vadamaraadchi East in a boat which was washed ashore on Point Pedro coast in Vadamaraadchi, sources in Point Pedro said. SLN handed over the arrestees to Point Pedro police who produced them in Point Pedro court Monday.
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Memorial event held for Thangamma Appakkuddi in Thellippalai

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 2009, 00:09 GMT]
The children of Thurkkaapuram Children Home founded by Sivaththamizh Chelvi Thangamma Appaakuddi and hundreds of people attended the 84th birthday memorial event for Sivaththamizh Chelvi Thangamma Appaakuddi Thursday at Thurkkaapuram in Theillippalai where the statue of Thangamma Appaakkuddi was unveiled. A memorial hall and a flower garden bearing her name were also opened, sources in Jaffna said. Jaffna Government Agent, K. Ganesh and the Vice-chancellor of Jaffna University, Prof. S. Shanmugaligam, delivered memorial speeches.
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6 Tamils arrested in Chilaw, one in Kuchchave'li

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 January 2009, 22:03 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police arrested six Tamil civilians Tuesday night in Chilaw town on receipt of information that some strangers were seen moving in the area. The Chilaw police said that the arrested failed to justify their presence in the location during the preliminary inquiry.
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Grenade attack on SLA soldiers, in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 January 2009, 18:49 GMT]
Unidentified persons launched a grenade attack Thursday around 6:30 p.m on Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers in Kokkuvil area in Jaffna, sources in Jaffna said. SLA soldiers conducted a search in the area throughout the night immediately after the attack, the sources added.
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IFT calls for redoubling of effort to support Eelam Tamils

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 January 2009, 12:47 GMT]
Accusing the International Community of attempting to "wean Tamil people, both in the Tamil homeland and the Diaspora, away from the LTTE," by advocating the need for a political solution while Kilinochchi is under occupation, International Federation of Tamils (IFT), a Geneva-based umbrella group of expatriate Tamil organizations, in a press release issued today "called upon over 70 million strong world Tamil community to redouble it support to the Eelam Tamils for their struggle to create the State of Tamil Eelam," and interated "that the future State of Tamil Eelam will negotiate with the Sinhala State of Sri Lanka to create a mutually acceptable relationship whereby both Peoples pool their sovereignties to associate with each other for purposes of mutual benefit."
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RSF: Mahinda Rajapakse "directly to blame" for Wickrematunge murder

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 January 2009, 12:27 GMT]
Expressing outrage over the murder of Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunge, Reporters sans frontières (RSF), a Paris-based media watchdog, in a press release issued today, said: "President Mahinda Rajapaksa, his associates and the government media are directly to blame because they incited hatred against him and allowed an outrageous level of impunity to develop as regards violence against the press. Sri Lanka's image is badly sullied by this murder, which is an absolute scandal and must not go unpunished."
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AHRC fears more killing following Senior Editor's assassination

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 January 2009, 12:19 GMT]
Calling on the "local and international community to take note of the escalation of violence in Sri Lanka and to do all [they] can to intervene for the purpose of saving lives," Asian Hurman Rights Commission (AHRC), a Hong Kong based rights watchdog, in press release issued today, warned that the situation points to "establishment of a dictatorship with the help of some sections of the military," and that "[i]f the local and the international community ignore this situation it may once more have to regret yet another situation of carnage."
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Sri Lanka steps up aerial bombardment on Vanni

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 January 2009, 11:51 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers dropped at least 20 bombs in four sorties on Chu'ndikku'lam and the coastal areas on Thursday. Two SLAF bombers dropped 10 bombs at 7:10 a.m., and the bombers returned again two hours later at 9:00 a.m. targeting the same area. Kallaa'ru in the same region was attacked at 11:00 a.m. The bombers returned for the fourth time around 3:00 p.m. to target the same area.
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7 killed, Sri Lankan artillery attack targets civilian centre of Vanni

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 January 2009, 07:52 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army fired artillery shells targeting Tharmapuram Junction, the remaining centre of displaced civilians in Vanni killing at least four and causing injuries to many around 1:20 p.m. on Thursday, after artillery shelling killed three, including a child in Vaddakkachchi. Two of the slain victims were children. The attack has targeted Tharmapuram Junction, which is located 75 meters from the hospital. Tension and chaos prevailed in the hospital, which was full of the wounded civilians, as they were forced to seek shelter from the artillery barrage.
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3 civilians, including child, killed in SLA shelling in Vanni

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 January 2009, 06:26 GMT]
Three civilians, including a child, were killed Thursday morning when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) artillery guns stepped up shelling on densely populated Vaddakkachchi in Vanni, according to initial reports from Tharmapuram hospital. There were three children among the 9 wounded who have been rushed to the hospital.
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Sunday Leader Editor assassinated

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 January 2009, 05:59 GMT]
Lasantha Wikramatunga, the chief editor of the English Weekly Sunday Leader, who was shot by unknown gunmen Thursday morning, has succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. Mr. Lasantha Wikramatuga was shot while he was on his way to work around 9:30 a.m. The newspaper and its editor as well as the editor of Morning Leader have been harassed and threatened continuously during the last three years. All Leader publications are very critical towards the government and exponents of opposition political views. The killing has shocked the journalists who are critical of Rajapaksa government.
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White van gunmen abduct Tamil youth in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 January 2009, 21:12 GMT]
Unidentified armed men arriving in a white van Friday around 5:00 p.m abducted a Tamil youth serving in Maamaankam Maariamman Koayil in Batticaloa, according to a complaint lodged with Batticaloa police.
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SLAF bombs Chu'ndikku'lam, SLA steps up shelling

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 January 2009, 18:53 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) stepped up shelling targeting Vadamaraadchi East around 11:50 p.m. and the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers flew over the area and dropped bombs at Chu'ndikku'lam Wednesday midnight.
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Jaffna volunteer teachers stage protest demonstration

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 January 2009, 18:11 GMT]
More than 400 volunteer teachers suddenly gathered in front of Jaffna Education Office at Nalloor Wednesday morning staging a silent protest, bearing placards with slogans condemning Sri Lanka government's delay in appointing them as permanent teachers and its irregularities and corruption in the appointment of teachers. Though key Sri Lanka Army (SLA) officers along with the Education Officials compelled the protesters to call off the demonstration the protesters refused to comply. SLA officials did not permit journalist to cover the demonstration or allow anyone to photograph the protesters.
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Sri Lanka bans LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 January 2009, 17:01 GMT]
The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has proscribed the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE), one year after it unilaterally withdrew from the February 2002 Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) with the Tigers. The LTTE was banned in 1998, for the first time before Colombo embarked on the futile military exercise of 'Operation Jayasikurui' (Victory Assured) on Vanni mainland. Colombo had to lift the ban in 2002 before entering into the CFA agreement with the Tigers.
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Ban South Indian movies, say posters in Kandy

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 January 2009, 16:49 GMT]
Sinhala ultra-nationalists have launched a campaign against screening South Indian movies in the theatres of Kandy, the capital of Central Province in Sri Lanka. Posters requesting the public not to allow screening South Indian films in theatre have appeared in several parts of the town, including the busy central bus stand and Good Shed area close to the railway station, sources in the town said.
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Explosion disrupts coastal train service in Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 January 2009, 16:46 GMT]
Coastal train services from Colombo to Matara were suspended immediately following an explosion that took place Wednesday night around 7:00 p.m., military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara told media.
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2 Tamils reported missing in Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 January 2009, 16:22 GMT]
Two Tamil civilians, one a 57-year old former manager of Mullaitivu branch of Peoples Bank, and the other a 29-year old owner of a Dehiwela eatery, are reported missing in Colombo since Monday, sources in Colombo said.
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SLA blocks gateway to Vanni civilians for 5th day

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 January 2009, 16:22 GMT]
A woman, wounded in Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombardment on 01 January succumbed to her wounds Monday night and other patients in need of urgent medical transport from Puthukkudiyiruppu to Vavuniyaa with ICRC escort remain blocked for days despite repeated attempts to access the road, which remained under Sri Lanka Army (SLA) artillery fire, as reported earlier. In the meantime, officials at the Government Agent's office in Vavuniyaa told media that the SLA has turned away humanitarian convoys despite their repeated attempts. Civilians in Vanni are refused essential supplies and refused critical medical transport, in violation to Geneva Conventions.
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106 civilians detained in Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 January 2009, 15:16 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police detained 106 civilians when they went to police stations in the western province last Sunday to register their presence, civil sources in Colombo said. The civilians, 68 Tamils, 2 Muslims and 36 Sinhalese were detained for interrogation by the Terrorist Intelligence Division as they failed to prove their identity with required legal documents, police spokesman Ranjit Gunasekara said.
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SLA shelling injures 3 civilians in Vaddakkachchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 January 2009, 14:43 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired artillery shells exploded in densely populated Ramanathapuram in Vaddakkachchi, causing injuries to 3 civilians Wednesday around 11:45 a.m., according to medical sources at Tharmapuram hospital.
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U.S. statement: 'we don't advocate talks with LTTE'

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 January 2009, 14:25 GMT]
The United States, a member of the Co-Chairs for the Sri Lankan peace process following the February 2002 Ceasefire Agreement brokered by Norway, in a statement issued after the Sri Lanka Army occupation of Ki'inochchi town in Vanni, said it does not advocate the Government of Sri Lanka to negotiate with the LTTE. "The fall of Kilinochchi represents an important point in the 25-year war that has divided Sri Lanka," the U.S. statement said.
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Indian espionage aircraft on recce mission over Sri Lanka - Paper

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 January 2009, 09:01 GMT]
A day after Sri Lanka Army occupied the town of Ki'linochchi, India's foreign intelligence agency and crucial adviser to the Government on foreign policy-making, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), was engaged in a "secret aerial surveillance mission across the Palk Straits" on Saturday according to a report in the Indian media. The report quoted sources who claimed that an aircraft "with high-tech espionage equipment" belonging to the RAW's top-secret wing Air Research Centre (ARC) had taken off from the Chennai airport around 3:00 a.m., on Saturday. The report filed by India's largest selling English daily has buttressed the claims of Tamil Nadu politicians who have accused New Delhi of providing several kinds of strategic military help to the Government of Sri Lanka.
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Britain says Ki'linochchi's fall calls for progress on political solution

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 January 2009, 08:06 GMT]
The capture of the former administrative capital of the LTTE by Sri Lankan armed forces makes it even more urgent that all parties achieve progress on setting out a political solution that addresses the "legitimate concerns of all communities," said a statement issued by the British High Commission on January 06. Tamil political observers note that the statement has come after two noteworthy observations in December: the British Defence Attache in Colombo taking part in a trip to Sri Lankan military command in Vanni on 15 December, and the British Minister of State at the Foreign Commonwealth Office, at an adjournment debate in British Parliament, exposing the fact that his government still had faith in the APRC myth created by the Rajapaksa regime.
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RSF condemns attack on Tamil-owned TV station

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 January 2009, 20:37 GMT]
Reporters sans frontiers (RSF), a Paris-based media watchdog, in a press release issued today, condemned the attack on Maharajah Televsions Network (MTV) near Colombo by heavily armed men early morning Tuesday. "Violence and threats against such privately-owned media outlets and journalists trying to impartially report on the conflict must stop," the RSF release said, adding , "[t]he network is one of the country's few, and very popular, independent news sources." Several Sri Lanka Government Ministers and Government owned media have previously charged the network for being not "patriotic" enough in reporting the war between Sri Lanka military and the Liberation Tigers.
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GA to discuss resumption of demining in Jaffna district

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 January 2009, 19:21 GMT]
Jaffna Government Agent (GA) is expected to hold a meeting next week with Jaffna District Demining Integration Committee (DDIC) attached to Jaffna Secretariat and the demining organizations, Halo Trust and Danish Demining Organization, to consider recommencing demining work in Jaffna District, Jaffna Secretariat sources said. The decision follows the permission issued by Defence Ministry to begin demining in eleven areas in the peninsula after a long delay due to the SLA refusal to continue demining, the sources added.
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SLA, LTTE clashes continue in Mukamaalai FDL

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 January 2009, 19:07 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) suffered setbacks Tuesday in an attempt to enter Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Front Defence Line (DFL) areas in Mukamaalai while Jaffna-Kandy road was blocked for public transport for more than three and a half hours enabling ambulances to transport injured soldiers from Mukkamaalai FDL positions, sources in Thenmaraadchi said. Defence Ministry in Colombo, however, claimed that the SLA had advanced in Mukamaalai.
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Civilian wounded in shelling, air strike victim succumbs to injuries

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 January 2009, 13:10 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired artillery shell caused injuries to a 34-year-old female at Ramanathapuram in Vaddakkachchi Tuesday at 12:45 p.m., while she was fleeing from the area, initial reports from Vanni said. Meanwhle, a female wounded in the air strike on January 01 at Murasumoaddai succumbed to her injuries at Tharmapuram hospital Monday night.
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Tamil family man shot dead in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 January 2009, 11:16 GMT]
Unidentified armed men shot dead 48-year-old family man Sunday evening at Checkadipulavu junction in Vavuniyaa division, 150 meters away from his residence when he was leaving home to Vavuniyaa town, sources in Vavuniyaa said.
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White van armed men abduct two Tamil youths in Ampaa’rai

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 January 2009, 09:53 GMT]
Unidentified armed men arriving in white vans abducted Sunday two Tamil youths in two separate incidents in Thirukkoayil and Kalmunai in Ampaa’rai.
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STF commandos abduct 2 youths in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 January 2009, 09:32 GMT]
Special Task Force (STF) commandos abducted Saturday around 7:00 a.m two granite workers in Karadiyanaa’ru police division in Batticaloa district, according to persons who had witnessed the two youths being forcibly taken away by STF commandos. When the relatives of the youths had asked for the whereabouts of the two youths at the STF camp, the commandos had told that they had not brought in anyone.
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Peoples support will help surmount challenges: LTTE Political Head

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 January 2009, 08:23 GMT]
Pointing out that Ki'linochchi was where Sri Lanka military has suffered previous historic debacles, LTTE Political Head B. Nadesan, in an interview with TamilNet on Monday dismissed the occupation of the town as an insignificant setback in the context of a liberation struggle, and said, Tamil people’s support has always been LTTE’s strength, and with the moral backing of the global Tamil community the movement will surmount current and future challenges. "We have taken forward our struggle for more than 30 years, solely relying on the support of our people," and reiterated that the Tigers were spearheading the Tamil struggle, which was based on legitimate political aspirations as defined by the democratic mandate in the elections of 1977.
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Grenade attack on SLA sentry post in Thirunelveali, Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 January 2009, 01:42 GMT]
Unknown armed men hurled hand grenades and fired at the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) sentry point located in Mudamaavadi junction along the Aadiyapaatham Road that links Kalviyangkaadu and Thirunelveali in the municipal limits of Jaffna town at 7:00 p.m. Monday, sources in Jaffna said. Although SLA casualties and injuries are feared, Palaali Military command has not officially acknowledged the attack.
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Indian Naval Personnel to Mullaiththeevu: Thirumavalavan lambasts New Delhi

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 January 2009, 18:08 GMT]
Thirumavalavan, a Tamil nationalist leader and the president of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) in Tamil Nadu, on Monday condemned the Indian Government for "betraying the entire Tamil people" by sending civil clothed Indian naval personnel to Mullaiththeevu through the Chennai international airport. Addressing the media in Chennai, he said that New Delhi was "totally responsible" for the "ruthless genocide" of Tamils in Sri Lanka. "Even the future generations of Tamils will never forgive the Indian Government for disrespecting the sentiments of 100 million Tamil people," he warned.
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SLA imposes new restriction on fishing in Jaffna peninsula

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 January 2009, 16:43 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Jaffna has imposed new restrictions since 1st of January 2009 on fishing in Jaffna lagoon and in the seas of the islets of Jaffna citing security reasons, sources in Jaffna said. Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) has become increasingly concerned of the of the infiltration for the LTTE, sources added. Meanwhile, Jaffna Government Agent (GA) has made arrangements for canned-fish to be used in the free meals given to students of the schools in the peninsula, due to shortage of fish, the sources added.
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80-year-old woman reported missing with Jaffna HRC

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 January 2009, 15:49 GMT]
An eighty year old woman has been reported missing since 30th December 2008 from Martin Road, Jaffna to Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna office by her relatives. Meanwhile, Douglas Devananda, the Sri Lankan Minister said that he had taken steps to help the families of persons arrested and gone missing due to political reasons in Jaffna peninsula, in a report issued to local media.
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TNA accuses Colombo of war crimes

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 January 2009, 21:06 GMT]
Describing several recent escalation in incidents where Sri Lanka Armed Forces have targetted Tamil civilian during festive days between Christmas and Thaipongal, Tamil National Alliance (TNA), in a press release issued today, said that the "stringent economic, food and medical embargos on the war affected areas," ..."are not only War Crimes in contravention of the Geneva Conventions but are also a part of a policy of Genocide that the Sri Lankan State has been carrying out against the Tamil people." The release also noted with disappointment of the silence of the international community "whilst the Genocide of the Tamil people is taking place," and continuing military assistance of the international states to the Sri Lankan State "using various pretexts."
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Lift ban on the LTTE: Tamil Nadu BJP

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 January 2009, 19:11 GMT]
The Tamil Nadu unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the principal opposition party in India, has given clear indications of the necessity for lifting the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam according to news reports in the Indian media. Vaithiyalingam, a senior BJP leader and member of the party's national general council, proposed this idea. In an exclusive interview to a Tamil biweekly, he said that although his party did not believe in violent measures, it was unfair to impose the ideas of a Gandhian struggle on the people of Tamil Eelam.
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SL Police arrests 13 Tamil civilians in Uddappu

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 January 2009, 15:21 GMT]
Thirteen Tamil civilians, including a woman, were taken into custody in a cordon and search operation in Uddappu, a Tamil village in Munthal police division in Chilaw district, civil sources in Chilaw said. The operation was conducted Saturday morning from 4:00 a.m. for six hours.
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13 civilians wounded in SLA artillery barrage

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 January 2009, 14:13 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) stepped up artillery shelling towards Murasumoaddai, Pu'liyampokka'nai, Vaddakkachchi and Tharmapuram, east of Paranthan and Ki'ilnochchi Sunday after 3:00 p.m., causing injuries to at least 13 civilians, according to medical sources at Tharmapuram hospital.
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53 SLA killed, 80 wounded, arms seized in Paranthan - LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 January 2009, 14:09 GMT]
At least 53 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed, more than 80 sustained injuries and the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) recovered 2 dead bodies of the SLA soldiers in heavy fighting that erupted Sunday when the SLA launched an offensive push through 2nd Mile Post on Paranthan Mullaiththeevu Road on two fronts. LTTE officials further said they seized arms including AK-LMGs, PK-LMGs, Rocket Propelled Grenade Launchers (RPGs) and at least ten T-56 assault rifles.
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SLA celebrates "Ki'linochchi victory" in Vadamaraadchi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 January 2009, 13:29 GMT]
As part of the elaborate arrangements Sri Lanka Army (SLA) command is organizing in Jaffna district to celebrate the SLA occupation of Ki'linochchi, residents of Vadamaraadchi towns and villages were transported to Nelliadi junction Saturday in private vans, to participate in the victory celebrations, sources in Jaffna said.
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SL Police arrests 10 Tamils in Colombo, 8 in Kandy

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 January 2009, 12:51 GMT]
Sri Lanka police took ten Tamils into custody Sunday morning in cordon and search operations conducted around Fort, Aattupattitheru, and Valaithoddam in Colombo city, sources in Colombo said. The operation was conducted on information received by the police after the explosion at Bankshall Street Saturday afternoon that injured three persons.
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STF commando shot dead in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 January 2009, 09:06 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Batticaloa shot and killed Saturday around 10:30 p.m a Special Task Force (STF) commando in Munaikkaadu in Kokkaddichchoali police division in Batticaloa district, LTTE sources in Batticaloa said. STF commandos opened fire in retaliation in which a civilian was seriously injured.
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White van armed men abduct Tamil woman in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 January 2009, 18:16 GMT]
A Tamil young woman was abducted by unidentified armed persons who arrived in white van Thursday afternoon around 12:30 p.m. when she was staying in her relative's house at Barathipuram in Vavuniyaa police division, according to complaints lodged by her mother with the police Friday.
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SLAF drops cluster bombs in Mullaiththeevu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 January 2009, 17:52 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers dropped cluster bombs at Mu'l'livaaykkaal in Mullaiththevu Saturday afternoon around 1:30 p.m., according to the reports from Mullaiththeevu.
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Artillery shelling continues in Vanni, civilian wounded, hospital full of wounded

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 January 2009, 17:35 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shelling continued to target densely populated civilian area in Pu'liaympokka'nai in Vanni on Saturday. A 61-year-old civilian was wounded at Karaveddiththidal in Pu'liyampokka'nai around 5:30 p.m. when at least 6 shells hit the settlement. Meanwhile hospital in Tharmapuram was full of injured civilians. Transport of seriously wounded patients for further treatment at Vavuniyaa hospital was blocked for the third day due to artillery shelling by the SLA, according to medical authorities.
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SL parliament to debate emergency extension motion Tuesday

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 January 2009, 16:18 GMT]
The United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government led by Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse is to table a motion seeking the extension of the State of Emergency for another month when the Sri Lanka's parliament meets on January 6 Tuesday. Since August 12, 2005 the country is being governed under the State of Emergency extended every month by the parliament, sources said.
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Tamil Nadu signals protests against New Delhi's inaction

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 January 2009, 15:58 GMT]
Condemning the inaction by the Indian Central Government, even after the unanimous declaration by the State Assembly of Tamil Nadu to demand immediate ceasefire in Sri Lanka, the Communist Party of India Tamil Nadu branch on Saturday announced it would launch a protest on January 06 in Tamil Nadu's capital city Chennai. Meanwhile, Pazha. Nedumaran, the leader of the Tamil National Movement has called for black flag protest against the Indian Prime Minister who is scheduled to visit the annual congregation of Non Resident Indians (NRI) on January 08. Meanwhile, the leader of VCK, Tholmavazhavan has said New Delhi's ignorance stands exposed as it failed to satisfy even the simplest demand to send its foreign minister to Colombo to stop the war.
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Bomb explodes in Colombo's top security area, 2 wounded

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 January 2009, 12:28 GMT]
Two persons were wounded and several vehicles damaged in a van bomb on Bankshall street in Pettah, Colombo 11 at 4.50 p.m. Saturday, Police said.
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Mano Ganesan: Political solution after 'military victory' not acceptable to Tamils

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 January 2009, 10:02 GMT]
Responding to the mood of "celebration" in South over the Sri Lankan military occupation of Ki'linochchi, Mano Ganesan, parliamentarian and the leader of Democratic Peoples Front (former WPPF), in a statement issued on Saturday said political solution after "total military victory" of the Sri Lankan state was not acceptable to the Tamils. He added: "If the north today is a military battle field, the government has a political battle field in the east. You have your own provincial council. It is not the solution. But it is part of the constitutional law. You are not even implementing what is law."
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Demonstration held demanding release of journalist Tissanayagam

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 January 2009, 02:11 GMT]
A demonstration was held in front of the Colombo Fort railway station demanding the release of senior journalist Mr.J.S. Tissanayagam and two others, Jashiaran and his wife Valarmathi who have been in custody of the police since March 8 last year. The demonstration was organized by the Justice and Equality Movement in Sri Lanka, sources said.
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4 civilians killed, SLAF bombs petrol station, bus depot in Mullaiththeevu

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 January 2009, 14:53 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers attacked a petrol station and a bus depot killing four civilians and causing injuries to 8 close to Mullaiththevu hospital, 1 km away from the town. 8 buses were destroyed, the depot building damaged and the petrol station completely destroyed, initial reports from Mullaiththeevu said. The indiscriminate bombardment by the SLAF has taken place at 5:00 a.m. Friday.
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SLA shelling kills civilian, 10 wounded in Vanni

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 January 2009, 12:34 GMT]
Artillery shelling by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) killed a civilian and at least 10 wounded at 3rd Mile Post in Murasumoaddai Friday around 12:45 p.m., initial reports from Vanni said. Another civilian was wounded at Pannangka'ndi in SLA shelling.
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Bomb blast in front of SLAF HQ in Colombo, airman, civilian killed

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 January 2009, 12:06 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) airman and a civilian were killed and 36 persons, including 16 airmen were wounded in a bomb explosion in front of the SLAF head office in the high security zone in Slave Island, Colombo 2, Friday at 5:15 p.m., while the city was lighting firecrackers celebrating the occupation of Ki'inochchi town by the Sri Lanka Army. The explosion took place 15 minutes after Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa announced, in a televised address, that the SLA had captured the town of Ki'linochchi, 320 kilometres north of Colombo.
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SLA occupies Ki'linochchi town

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 January 2009, 11:20 GMT]
The Sri Lankan military authorities Friday said their forces have occupied the strategic town of Ki'linochchi in Vanni, situated 320 km north of Colombo. The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has entered a virtual ghost town as the whole civilian infrastructure as well as the centre of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) had shifted further northeast. It is the first time after a decade the Sri Lankan forces have been able to take control of the town after several months of fierce fighting that has claimed hundreds of combatants on both sides of the war.
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SLA shelling blocks ambulances, 2 injured in convoy

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 January 2009, 09:56 GMT]
Two persons who accompanied with the convoy of ambulances from Puthukkudiruppu to Vavuniyaa were wounded when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired artillery shells at Mannaaka'ndal Friday morning, shortly after two ambulances left Puthukkudiyiruppu, medical authorities said. Two ambulances with 13 civilians with serious injuries, being transferred from Tharmapuram and Puthukkudiyiruppu hospitals to Vavuniyaa hospital, after getting clearance through the ICRC, were forced to turn back as the SLA stepped up artillery fire on the road.
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Child injured in SLA gunfire in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 January 2009, 08:55 GMT]
A one and a half year old child was seriously injured Wednesday around 2:30 a.m in the indiscriminate gunfire by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers from their camp located in Makilloor Ka’n’nakipuram in Ka’luvaangchchikudi police division in Batticaloa district.
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Colombo Tamils ordered to register with Sri Lanka Police

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 January 2009, 05:18 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Police headquarters Thursday has ordered all Tamil civilians who came after 2003 from NorthEast and residing in Colombo and other parts of the western provinces to register at the nearest police stations on the 4th January, Sunday. Those registered with the police in 2008 have also been asked to register again, media reports said.
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Saiva temple administrator shot dead in Moothoor

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 January 2009, 05:13 GMT]
Unidentified armed persons shot dead a 30-year old treasurer of Menkamam Murugan Temple society Wednesday night around 10:00 p.m. at Menkamam in Moothoor division in Trincomalee district, police sources said.
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Tharmapuram hospital struggles to cope with victims of air strikes

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 January 2009, 00:32 GMT]
The hospital located at Tharmapuram, the new administrative centre of Vanni, struggles to cope with a high number of patients as Sri Lankan air strikes and artillery barrage on Wednesday and Thursday killed 10 and caused injuries to more than 50 civilians. The hospital, originally a village level hospital, has to cope with the inpatients of Ki'linochchi hospital, with its short space and lack of medical equipment, was forced to dispatch its vehicles on Thursday seeking blood donors to come forward to donate blood as all blood types in were at critical level.
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SLAF bombs Ka'ndaava'lai, Ki'linochchi suburb

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 January 2009, 23:59 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers that attacked Murasumoaddai on Paranthan Mullaiththeevu Road thrice, returned to bomb the next junction, Ka'ndaava'lai, while hundreds of civilians were fleeing the carnage at Murasumoaddai in the evening around 4:30 p.m., on Thursday. Two civilians, a 60-year-old mother and a 20-year-old male were injured in the attack on the densely populated junction. Three shops were fully destroyed and six shops damaged.
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SLA claims occupation of Paranthan junction

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 January 2009, 16:38 GMT]
Sri Lankan Defence Ministry on Thursday claimed that its troops reached Paranthan Junction, which is situated north of Ki'linochchi town on A9 Road. Informed military sources said the SLA suffered high casualties as the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) put up heavy resistance. The occupation of Paranthan junction comes after SLA suffering three major debacles in which several soldiers, including child soldiers and young recruits have been killed.
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28 Tamils arrested in Gampaha town

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 January 2009, 16:29 GMT]
Twenty eight civilians, majority of them Tamils working in business establishments and other institutions, were arrested in a cordon and search operation conducted in Gampaha town Thursday morning. The arrested are detained in police stations and being interrogated as they failed to prove their identity, police sources said.
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Rajapaksa brings media ministry under him

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 January 2009, 15:19 GMT]
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is also the minister of defence and minister of finance as well as a number of other ministries, on Thursday brought the ministry of media under him, transferring the Sri Lankan Minister of Mass Media, Anura Priyadharsana Yapa to take over as Minister of Investment Promotion and Enterprise Development.
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Civil society decries internment of Vanni families in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 January 2009, 13:53 GMT]
Sri Lanka military and Police in Kopaay are keeping more than 155 members of 60 families who arrived in Jaffna as refugees from Vanni in a newly established camp in Kopaay Teachers Training College without basic facilities and without any freedom of movement, civil society sources in Jaffna said.
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Claymore attack kills policeman, home guard in Ampaa'rai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 January 2009, 11:47 GMT]
A Sri Lankan Police Constable and a home guard were killed in a Claymore ambush at Veerachchoalai in Chammanthu'rai in Ampaa'rai Thursday morning around 8:30, Police said.
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5 killed, 28 wounded in SLAF attacks on Murasumoaddai for second day

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 January 2009, 09:41 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers hit civilian settlements three times in Murasumoaddai in Vanni killing civilians and causing injuries to many on Thursday. At least 5 civilians have been reported dead so far by the medical staff at Tharmpuram hospital. 28 civilians, including five children, were admitted at the hospital after the attacks. Civilians were still trapped in the site as Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched artillery barrage on the settlement after the indiscriminate air strike. 10 civilians have been killed and more than 50 wounded within 30 hours on Wednesday and Thursday in Murasumoaddai.
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Eastern University students protest against arrests

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 January 2009, 01:30 GMT]
Eastern University students staged a protest demonstration Wednesday against the University administration for not taking steps obtain the release of two fellow students arrested and detained by the police for four months ago, sources in Batticaloa said. An earlier demonstration by the students failed to initiate any action from the campus administration, student leaders said.
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Sinhala thugs attack Muslim shops in Gampaha

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 January 2009, 01:01 GMT]
Sinhalese hoodlums attacked Muslim shops in Poogoda in Gampaha district in the western province Sunday evening after a Muslim hotel owner had a Sinhalese customer arrested by local Gampaha police for violating hotel rules by bringing liquor inside hotel premises and serving to others, sources in Gampaha said.
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Jaffna Bishop appeals to leaders, foreign diplomats to bring in peace

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 January 2009, 00:01 GMT]
“The Holy See Benedict XVI had urged President Mahinda Rajapaksa to stop the war and strive for peace when the president met the Holy Pope at Vatican but the war atrocities have only escalated since then,” Rt. Rev. Thomas Saundaranayagam, Bishop of Jaffna said in his New Year message for the year 2009. “The appeal made by the Bishops in Sri Lanka to stop the war too remains rejected, “ the message said.
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