9 Tamil civilians arrested in Gampaha

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 November 2008, 15:00 GMT]
9 Tamil civilians, most of them permanent residents of North and East, who had been working in business establishments in Gampaha town in the Western Province, were taken into custody by the police and Sri Lanka Army in a dusk to dawn cordon and search operation that concluded Wednesday. Police alleged that the 9 persons had 'failed to prove satisfactory reason for their stay.'
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STF behind massacre of 5 Tamils in Ampaa'rai - Parliamentarian

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 November 2008, 18:41 GMT]
Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) commandos at Kalmunai in Ampaa'rai opened fire on five Tamil youths who were at a liquor shop and attempted to create a story through police that the victims were Karuna cadres, TNA MP K. Pathmanathan said, citing the relatives of the victims. Later, the STF attempted to place the blame on Muslims, but some Tamil Muslim youths who had witnessed the killings had helped to avert confrontation between the Tamil, Muslim communities, the MP said.
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Tamil civilian body recovered from abandoned well in Chilaapam

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 November 2008, 13:46 GMT]
The body of a Tamil civilian was recovered from an abandoned well located close to a petrol station in Munthal in Chilaapam (Chilaw) division Sunday evening. The body has been identified as V.Rajagopal, 39, of Karikkaddai area in Mathurangkuzhi, according to complaints lodged with the Munthal Police by his relatives.
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Tamil civilian shot dead in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 November 2008, 10:33 GMT]
Unidentified armed persons shot dead a Tamil family man In Thaaraapuram in Mannaar division Sunday night around 9:00 p.m. The dead has been identified as 53-year-old Raasu Raamasamy Yogarajah, a father of four children and a native of Chinnkkarisal in Peasaalai.
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India has not asked to stop the war - SL Foreign Minister

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 November 2008, 10:03 GMT]
India has not exerted any pressure on the Sri Lankan government to halt the war against the LTTE, said Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister, while responding to a demand made by Joseph Michael Perera, chief whip of the main opposition United National Party to table the secret understanding reached in New Delhi between President Mahinda Rajapaksa's special envoy Basil Rajapakse and Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjie on 26th October. 'As a step to strengthen the relationship of the two countries,' India has come forward to send 800 metric tones of food material to internally displaced people in Vanni region.
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90 Tamil civilians arrested in Chilaw

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 November 2008, 22:55 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy with the assistance of home guards arrested about ninety Tamil civilians in a large cordon and search operation conducted Sunday morning in Kalpiddi in Chilaapam (Chilaw) district. All the detainees were natives of northeast and had been temporarily residing in Kalpiddi for a considerable period.
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Only ceasefire is real relief to Eelam Tamils: Ramadoss

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 November 2008, 15:05 GMT]
Coming out publicly to voice his displeasure over the manner in which the Eelam Tamil issue was handled by the Tamil Nadu State and Union Governments, Pattali Makkal Katchi founder-leader Dr. S. Ramadoss alleged at a press meet in Chennai Saturday that not a single resolution of the All Party Meeting had met with success. He called upon Chief Minister Karunanidhi to explain as to why the ceasefire demand was not addressed. "There should be an immediate ceasfire in Sri Lanka, only that shall be the real relief to Eelam Tamils," he said.
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Tamil film fraternity fasts for Eelam cause

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 November 2008, 02:20 GMT]
Packed with performance and punch lines, the entire Tamil film fraternity staged a powerful show of strength at a one-day fast in Chennai Saturday to express solidarity with the Eezham Tamils. The actors demanded the Tamil Nadu state and the Indian Union Government to immediately find a peaceful and permanent solution to the Sri Lankan problem.
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LTTE condems attacks on civilians, says Colombo disregards Indian concerns

[TamilNet, Friday, 31 October 2008, 18:33 GMT]
Political Wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE), in a statement dated 30 October, condemned the Sri Lankan government for carrying out indiscriminate aerial bombardment and artillery barrage on civilians in Vanni. "Within few days of the Sri Lankan Government saying to the Indian Government that it will not carry out attacks on civilians, it has carried out attacks on Paranthan and Vallipunam civilian areas," the statement issued by the LTTE said.
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Civilian houses damaged in SLAF attack on Ki'linochchi suburb

[TamilNet, Friday, 31 October 2008, 18:12 GMT]
Two Kfir fighter jets of Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) attacked a locality at Jeyanthinakar, a suburb of Ki'linochchi, Friday around 2:30 p.m. Seven civilian houses sustained damage in the attack. No one was wounded in the air strike.
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Tamil civilian abducted in Peliyagoda

[TamilNet, Friday, 31 October 2008, 17:32 GMT]
A Tamil civilian was abducted by unidentified persons, who arrived in a white van in Peliyagoda of Colombo district Wednesday night, Police said.
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SLA arrests 16 Tamils in Vaazhaichcheanai

[TamilNet, Friday, 31 October 2008, 12:56 GMT]
Sixteen Tamil civilians including three women were taken into custody during a cordon and search operation conducted jointly by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police in Ka'n'nankiramam, Vinaayakapuram and Pa'ndimadu villages within Vaazhaichcheanai police division Thursday early morning.
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SLAF bombing kills IDP teenager, injures another in Puthukkudiyiruppu, Vanni

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 October 2008, 11:20 GMT]
A 16-year-old boy was killed with his arm blown off and 17-year-old girl seriously injured in the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombing the civilian settlement in Va'l'lipunam in Puthukkudiyiruupu division in Mullaiththeevu district, Thursday morning. SLAF kfir jet fighters dropped eight bombs in two sorties in the aerial strike that lasted from 9:15 a.m to 9:30 a.m, sources in Puthukkudiyiruppu said. Four houses of the residents of the area were destroyed in the bombing.
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Civilian killed, SLA steps up artillery barrage on Ki'linochchi suburbs

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 October 2008, 11:18 GMT]
A 29-year-old man was killed at Iraththinapuram, a suburb south of Ki'linochchi Wednesday evening when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched artillery barrage targeting the suburbs of the town. Since last Friday, the SLA has been continuously firing artillery shells towards the civilian properties of the suburbs Kanakapuram, Uruththirapuram and Thirunakar where civilians were still engaged in moving their properties.
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SLA blocks oxygen cylinders urgently needed by hospitals in Vanni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 October 2008, 15:37 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Vavuniyaa has held back for weeks the vehicle bringing 52 oxygen cylinders from Colombo to Ki'linochchi public hospital urgently needed to save the lives of the Internally Displaced Persons, increasingly subjected to indiscriminate shelling, air attacks and road accidents. Although two of the three lorries with medical supplies that were waiting for weeks were allowed to reach the hospital on Monday, the lorry with oxygen cylinders was not allowed to cross the Oamanthai entry point by the SLA. There is acute need for oxygen cylinders at Ki'linochchi hospital, according to Dr. P. Brighton, the assisting Deputy Provincial Director of Health (DPDH).
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Sending food is a farce: D. Pandian

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 October 2008, 10:28 GMT]
"Sending food to an area that is being bombed continuously is a major farce," said D. Pandian, State Secretary of the Communist Party of India. He also expressed discontent over the fact that no information has been released until now on whether India's External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee had addressed the issue of ceasefire during his discussions with Basil Rajapaksa, Special Adviser to the Sri Lankan President.
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Tigers launch airstrike in Mannaar, Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 October 2008, 18:55 GMT]
Sri Lankan military officials in Colombo said that the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) carried out an air attack on Tha'l'laadi military base, the main artillery and Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL) launchpad of the Sri Lanka Army in Mannaar Tuesday around 10:30 p.m., dropping three bombs on the base. The Tiger aircrafts then proceeded to Colombo and dropped two bombs on Kelanitissa power station, while Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) bombers were searching for LTTE aircrafts in skys over Ki'linochchi between 11:00 and 11:30 a.m. Latest reports from Vanni said the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) aircrafts were flying over the suburbs of Mullaiththeevu and Puthukkudiyiruppu with para lights focused on the ground from 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
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3 IDPs wounded in SLAF attack

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 October 2008, 15:51 GMT]
A 50-year-old mother of three, a 38-year-old father of one and a 41-year-old father of two, were wounded Tuesday morning around 11:00 when Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers attacked two civilian settlements in Ki'linochchi and Paranthan, medical sources at the Ki'linochchi hospital said. The victims were Internally Displaced Persons from Mannaar and Ki'linochchi districts. 750 school children and 17 teachers were attending classes at Paranthan Hindu College at the time of the SLAF air-strike. The college is located 750 meters from the attack site in Kumarapuram where three houses and three huts were fully destroyed, according to TamilNet correspondent who visited the attack site at Kumarapuram and the hospital.
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US, India, Israel plot against Sri Lanka, alleges JVP

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 October 2008, 20:45 GMT]
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), a Sinhala nationalist party, appealed to Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse to take stern action against the incumbent US ambassador in Sri Lanka for making a statement derogatory to the sovereignty of Sri Lanka. JVP has described the US ambassador's statement as a part of a plot hatched by the USA, India and Israel against Sri Lanka.
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TNA condemns forced participation of civilians in Batticaloa paramilitary meeting

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 October 2008, 23:47 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in a communiqué issued Sunday, condemned the actions of paramilitary factions led by Karuna and Pillaiyan for forcibly transporting Batticaloa residents, who did not extend their support to the meeting conducted by paramilitary groups expressing solidarity with the Government of Sri Lanka, to the venue of the meeting.
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