SLN arrests 29 civilians fleeing war, in Jaffna lagoon

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 December 2008, 17:23 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) arrested Sunday morning 29 civilians, fleeing Sri Lanka Army continuing artillery barrage, bombings and economic sanction, from Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held Vadamaraadchi East, Iyakkachchi and Pa’lai, across Ki’laali lagoon, sources in Vadamaraadchi said. The boat, with a 6-month-infant children and pregnant women dared to cross the lagoon, was about to sink when the SLN arrested them, according to government sources.
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100 SLA killed, 250 wounded, heavy fighting in Ki'linochchi - LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 December 2008, 14:28 GMT]
More than 100 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and at least 250 SLA soldiers wounded Monday when the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) repulsed a fresh offensive push, said S. Puleedevan, the director of LTTE's Peace Secretariat, quoting LTTE's field commanders. Heavy fighting raged from 5:30 to 12:45 when the SLA attempted to advance from Uruththirapuram towards Ki'linochchi and Ira'naimadu. Several corpses of the SLA soldiers were seen in the battlefield and the Tigers were engaged in seizing arms and ammunitions after routing the offensive on two fronts, Mr. Puleedevan further said. The fighting was continuing on three fronts.
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Fresh SLA recruit becomes Prisoner of War

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 December 2008, 21:12 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldier, taken captive by the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) in Ki'laali on 09 December, has revealed that he was attached to Sinha Regiment and sent to the forefront of the offensive immediately after completing his military training at Diyathalawa Army Training Centre on 25 November. The Prisoner of War (PoW), who was allowed to talk to media on Saturday while he was admitted at Ki'linochchi hospital, said he had studied up to 7th standard and joined the SLA considering the economic benefits, but did not expect that he would be sent to the battle front immediately.
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EPDP stages ’protest march’ in Vadamaraadchi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 December 2008, 17:13 GMT]
Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), the paramilitary-cum-political party led by Douglas Devanda, a cabinet minister in Rajapaksa regime, organized a ‘protest march’ in Vadamaraadchi Sunday around 3:15 p.m along Point Pedro-Jaffna road in which hundreds of persons, mostly women, were forced to take part with the armed escort by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers. The marching protestors were instructed to shout slogans calling the SLA to "liberate" the North and to "free" people from LTTE controlled territory in Vanni.
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Tigers recover 12 SLA bodies after preemptive strike, 60 killed, 150 wounded

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 December 2008, 16:03 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) counter-offensive units carried out a preemptive strike on Sri Lanka Army (SLA) offensive formation in Mu'rika'ndi - Ira'naimadu area Saturday, killing at least 60 SLA soldiers, LTTE officials told TamilNet. The SLA was pushed back 2 km, and the Tigers said they have recovered 12 dead bodies of SLA soldiers so far in the clearing mission, according to latest update from the LTTE officials in Ki'linochchi. More than 150 SLA soldiers were wounded in the counter operation, Tiger officials told TamilNet.
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Colombo steps up bombardment on Vanni, 3 wounded

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 December 2008, 05:49 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers attacked Saturday a coastal area in Mullaiththeevu where thousands of civilians, recently displaced, had established temporary shelters. The bombers dropped eight bombs on fishing huts and boats, lighting up the stretch using para lights, causing panic among the refugees and the fishermen engaged in fishing at 4:55 a.m. The bombers arrived again at 5:35 to bomb the area with 8 eight more bombs, targeting the temporary shelters of refugees. The SLAF bombers attacked Mullaiththeevu and Ki'linochchi five times within four hours in the morning. Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched an artillery barrage from all the frontiers of Vanni from 4:20 a.m. till 5:50 a.m.
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Colombo's military campaign will not resolve conflict - British Minister

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 December 2008, 11:53 GMT]
The current approach by the Government of Sri Lanka, to defeat the LTTE militarily before developing a political solution, does nothing to win the hearts and minds of conflict-affected civilians in the north and it will not resolve the underlying conflict, said Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office Bill Rammell, while responding to the concerns raised Thursday evening by British Parliamentarians at an adjournment debate on Sri Lanka at the UK Parliament. However, another response by the minister exposed the fact that the British Government still has faith in the APRC myth created by the Rajapaksa regime.
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Rajapaksa in war with judiciary - AHRC

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 December 2008, 08:11 GMT]
If the Sri Lankan Executive President wins his war against the judiciary the people will soon be heading in the direction of the type of life that prevails in places like Burma and Cambodia, said the Hong Kong based regional rights group Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) in a statement issued Friday. Stating that reports indicated that the government had already ordered the use of all propaganda at its command to support itself in this new war against the judiciary, the AHRC warned: "It will be the people themselves who will have to resolve the issue of either living under a political system which is completely under the control of the executive or to maintain the separation of powers."
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Claymore attack injures 2 SLA soldiers in Ea’raavoor

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 December 2008, 06:34 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launched a Claymore attack Thursday around 8:00 p.m, seriously injuring two Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers engaged in road patrol at Murakkoddaancheanai in Ea’raavoor police division in Batticaloa district, LTTE officials in Batticaloa said.
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Visit of 'strategic partners'

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 December 2008, 12:19 GMT]
The Defense Advisers/Attaches of seven countries, USA, UK, Japan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Maldives were taken on a one day tour to Vanni by the Colombo government on Monday. Suffering from heavy military debacles and facing serious economic crisis, the Colombo government is badly in need of parading strategic partners and abettors to attract means and justification for its genocidal war before time runs out, note political observers. The visitors represented three of the Co-Chair countries, USA, UK and Japan and four South Asian countries having maritime boundaries.
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2 SLA soldiers killed, 2 injured in Vaakarai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 December 2008, 13:17 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launched a grenade attack Wednesday around 7:30 p.m on a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) sentry post in Vaakarai police division in Batticaloa district killing two soldiers and seriously injuring two, LTTE officials in Batticaloa said. The four soldiers were in the sentry post in Thaddumunai in Vaakarai when the attack took place.
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SLA, LTTE clashes continue in Northern Front

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 December 2008, 07:51 GMT]
Clashes between Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) erupted again Wednesday around 4:00 a.m. along Ki'laali and Mukamaalai Front Defence Lines (FDL) and lasted till 10:00 a.m. Artillery duels raged while LTTE launched shells fell and exploded in SLA High Security Zone in Mirusuvil and Usan in Thenmaraadchi where many SLA bases and camps are located. Details of casualties or injuries are not available.
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India, US, UK, Pakistan officers visit Vanni command HQ

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 December 2008, 16:16 GMT]
Military representatives from seven countries – India, the United States, Britain, Pakistan, Japan, Bangladesh and Maldives – Wednesday visited the Sri Lankan military command centre coordinating Colombo’s offensive into the Vanni. Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence said the foreign defence attaches/advisors visited the Vann Security Forces HQ as well as the HQs of the SLA’s 57 and 59 Divisions.
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SLA death toll hits 170 in Vanni, hundreds wounded, 36 bodies recovered - LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 December 2008, 02:08 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) officials on Wednesday said that 130 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed in the multi-front offensive push by the SLA in Ki'linochchi on Tuesday. More than 300 soldiers were wounded in the heavy battle that raged throughout the day till 4:00 p.m. on five main localities and along a wide stretch of the frontiers in Ki'linochchi. Meanwhile, in Ki'laali, 40 SLA soldiers were killed and more than 120 sustained injuries. 36 dead bodies of the SLA soldiers have been recovered so far, 28 in Ki'linochchi and 8 in Ki'liaali, in the clearing missions following Tuesday's fighting. There are young recruits of the SLA, including child soldiers, engaged in the front by the SLA in Ki'linochchi.
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SLA suffers third debacle in Ki'linochchi, 100 killed, 250 wounded - Puleedevan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 December 2008, 16:51 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) on Tuesday repulsed a major push by the Sri Lanka Army, killing at least 100 SLA soldiers and causing injuries to more than 250, said S. Puleedevan, the director of LTTE's Peace Secretariat, quoting Tiger commanders who were in charge of the Tiger defensive fronts in Ki'linochchi district. "According to the emerging details, a multi-front push towards Ki'linochchi from Malayaa'lapuram, Kugnchupparanthan, Mu'rika'ndi and Pulikku'lam, was repulsed by the LTTE defensive formations that have seized weapons and recovered at least 10 corpses of the Sri Lanka Army," Mr. Puleedevan told TamilNet citing the military officials of the LTTE.
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Tigers recover 8 SLA bodies, seize 18 weapons in Ki'laali fighting

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 December 2008, 15:36 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) said Tuesday that they seized two Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) launchers, one AK-LMG, fourteen T-56 assault rifles and a 40 mm Grenade Launcher after repulsing an SLA-initiated offensive push that lasted for 9 hours from 1:20 a.m. Tuesday. The Tigers have earlier claimed that at least 40 SLA soldiers were killed and more than 120 sustained injuries. Information from Jaffna also indicates heavy casualties on SLA-side. The latest debacle of the SLA in Jaffna comes after a recent by the SLA commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka and the Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.
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Artillery duel in Northern Front, SLA closes roads to transport casualties in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 December 2008, 15:07 GMT]
Clashes between Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which began with an SLA offensive advance through Ki’aali Tuesday around 1:20 a.m continued through the day with artillery duels and gunfire exchanges, sources in Jaffna said. Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) helicopters were seen engaged in transporting casualties and injured soldiers while Kandy road and Palaali road were blocked several times during the day enabling ambulances to carry the dead and injured to Palaali SLA hospital. The SLA has suffered considerable loss of lives and injuries to many, sources close to SLA said.
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Themaraadchi residents flee shelling

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 December 2008, 14:20 GMT]
Residents of Mirusuvil and Usan areas in Thenmaraadchi fled from their houses when shells fired by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) targeting the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) bases in the said areas fell and exploded, Tuesday around 5:00 a.m, according to civil sources in the area. The shelling began following the Tuesday clashes between the SLA and the LTTE.
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Fein responds: Professorial Nonsense on Stilts

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 December 2008, 12:35 GMT]
Responding to the note on Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP) website by the Secretary General Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha on the model genocide indictment against Sri Lanka officials, the former U.S. Deputy Associate Attorney General Bruce Fein, says, the "Professor never denies the Rajapaksa-Fonseka genocides," but, "delivers an indictment against the LTTE as a purported defense to the Rajapaksa-Fonseka genocides." Fein adds: "The genocide prosecution sought against Sudanese President Omar Bashir has rejected such a defense theory to a charge of genocide."
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SLA push thwarted in Ki'laali, 40 killed - LTTE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 December 2008, 10:30 GMT]
More than 40 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and at least 120 soldiers wounded Tuesday morning when the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) repulsed an offensive push by the SLA along the Forward Defence Line in Ki'laali, Tiger officials in Vanni told TamilNet. The LTTE has claimed to have seized weapons and recovered dead bodies of the SLA.
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