Air-Tigers attack Katunayake military airbase

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 March 2007, 20:06 GMT]
Two attack air-crafts belonging to Liberation Tigers carried out bombing raids at the Sri Lanka Air Force airbase at Katunayake at 12:45 a.m. early morning Monday and returned safely to Vanni, military spokesperson of the LTTE, Irasaiah Ilanthiraiyan told TamilNet. The targets for the air attack were the SLAF's Kfir and MiG-27 hangars at the military base located adjoining the Katunayake International Airport (KIA), Ilanthiraiyan said. Meanwhile, military officials in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo said 3 Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) personnel were killed and 15 wounded in the attack.
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Engineered Catastrophe

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 March 2007, 11:52 GMT]
Batticaloa has turned into an area of humanitarian disaster, and a battle ground for refugee figures, as more than 100,000 residents of Paduvankarai districts were forced to flee to GoSL controlled regions by the shelling of Sri Lankan Armed Forces inside LTTE controlled areas during the first two weeks of March. The changing IDP numbers have swelled to 165,485. While UN appealed for "vital funds to boost its operations in eastern Sri Lanka" and leftist parties accused the Government of engineering "demographic change," Sri Lanka Government spokesperson K. Rambukwella dismissed the severity saying only 52,000 are displaced, contradicting his own administration's official figures.
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175 schoolchildren, 9 staff narrowly escape air strike on school

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 March 2007, 08:36 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir bombers Monday morning bombed a school in Chundikulam, wounding a female teacher and two schoolboys, attending 7th grade and 9th grade at the school, Chundikulam Vidyalayam, located 21 km northeast of Kilinochchi, in the southern part of Vadamaradchi East region in Jaffna district. Three bombs were dropped 25 meters from a class room. A bomb that hit a tree exploded in the air, wounding two children and a teacher. Around 175 schoolchildren, 8 teachers and the principal of the school narrowly escaped from the aerial attack. TamilNet correspondent who visited the site of the attack witnessed a second air strike at 11:45 a.m.
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SLA trooper killed in Nelliady attack

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 March 2007, 12:28 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army (SLA) trooper was killed and two soldiers were injured in an attack against a SLA road patrol along Nelliady-Vathiry area in Vadamaradchy Friday 3:00 p.m, sources in Point Pedro said. Jaffna SLA command has not officially confirmed whether the casualty is from a hand-grenade explosion or from a claymore attack.
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SL Government's respect for Human Rights declines in 2006- US

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 March 2007, 05:14 GMT]
US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2006, released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, reported human rights problems in Sri Lanka including "unlawful killings by government agents, high profile killings by unknown perpetrators, politically motivated killings by paramilitary forces associated with the government and the LTTE, and disappearances."
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SLA readies for Manalaru offensive, Tigers warn of bloodbath

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 March 2007, 12:07 GMT]
"We are aware that the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has amassed military hardware close to Manalaru in preparation for a major offensive towards Mullaitivu area. Consequence of this offensive will be a catastrophic bloodbath across Sri Lanka," said Mr. Thamilchelvan, Head of LTTE Political Wing, speaking to TamilNet after meeting the Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Hans Brattskar and Norwegian Embassy official Erik Nuremberg, in Kilinochchi Monday.


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Young woman shot dead, husband injured in Valvettithurai

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 March 2007, 08:26 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen shot and seriously injured a young woman and her husband living at Urani Housing Scheme in Valvettithurai (VVT) in Jaffna peninsula, around 9:30 p.m., Saturday. The woman succumbed to her injuries at Manthikai hospital.
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Appeal to MPs, ICRC, GA to bring murdered student’s body home

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 March 2007, 10:51 GMT]
Eight Tamil parliamentarians have written to Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary, Gothebaya Rajapakse, on behalf the family of a murdered Jaffna University student, who are pleading for permission for his body to be taken to their home in Viswamadu in Tamil-Tiger controlled Vanni. The family has also requested the University authorities and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) office in Kilinochchi to also help, relatives said.
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International Community's flawed approach assists Colombo- Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 January 2007, 15:07 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Political Head S. P. Thamilchelvan, in an Interview to TamilNet Sunday, said the passive stance adopted by the International Community, which he characterized as “unconstructive engagement,” is encouraging Colombo to pursue its power-centric politics and aggressive military agenda. The International Community, while making statements that a military solution is not possible, is either unable to, or unwilling to, exert its formidable muscle to force Colombo out of the current military path, despite the patience shown by the Tigers, he said.


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Confusion amidst harbour attack black out

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 January 2007, 20:29 GMT]
Conflicting details are emerging about the attack off the seas of Colombo harbour, Saturday morning. An informed source told TamilNet Saturday evening that four vessels were destroyed by the attackers, while the SLN authorities said they have destroyed 3 “suspicious boats”. SLN sources said Saturday evening that they have captured 9 "suspects" who were "fleeing" from the Harbour area.
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Protest against curbs on media to be held Tuesday

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 January 2007, 12:57 GMT]
Several Media associations are jointly to hold a public protest in front of the Fort Railway station on Tuesday from 12:30 p.m as part of a campaign for media freedom and safety of journalists in Sri Lanka, a leaflet issued by the joint group said Friday.
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Tiger ambush kills 11 STF personnel in Amparai

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 January 2007, 12:53 GMT]
An elite guerilla unit of the Liberation Tigers in Amparai district carried out an ambush on Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) convoy Friday morning, killing at least 11 Sri Lankan commandos and wounding more than 11 at Bakmitiyawa, 30 km southwest of Amparai town, LTTE Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan told TamilNet.
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Sivaram murder trial before Sinhala speaking Jury

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 January 2007, 16:38 GMT]
The Colombo High Court Tuesday fixed the inquiry into the murder of political analyst and a senior editor of TamilNet, Sivaram Dharmeratnam, before a Sinhalese speaking Jury. Judge W.A.D.Ratnayake allowed the application made by the sole suspect, an alleged member of an ex-militant turned paramilitary, that he should be tried before a Sinhala speaking jury, legal sources said.
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Media watchdog condemns paramilitary ban on papers

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 January 2007, 11:52 GMT]
Free Media Movement, a Colombo based media watchdog, Friday said it noted with deep concern the alleged ban imposed by the Karuna paramilitary group on the sale of Colombo Tamil dailies Virakesari, Thinakkural and Sudar Oli in the East. The paramilitary group, operated by the Sri Lanka Army, had banned the sale of the Tamil papers, except the EPDP paramilitary owned Thinamurasu and the Sri Lanka Government owned Thinakaran in Sri Lanka Army controlled areas of Batticaloa district. The group has issued death threats to news agents in Trincomalee in an attempt to block the distribution of independent Tamil papers in the district.
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MP urges UN to persuade Colombo on safe-haven

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 January 2007, 06:57 GMT]
Batticaloa district Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian, S. Jeyanandamoorthy, has urged Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, to prevail upon the Sri Lankan Government to declare a safe-haven in the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) besieged Vaharai region, for the protection of the civilians from artillery, multi-barrel rocket attacks, and aerial bombardment from the Sri Lankan forces. Government of Sri Lanka has earlier rejected the call to declare a humanitarian zone encompassing the Vaharai hospital and the surrounding areas for the protection of the civilians in Vaharai.
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Aerial attack on Padahuthurai, a crime against humanity - Bishop

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 January 2007, 10:22 GMT]
The Bishop of Mannar Diocese, Rt Rev Rayappu Joseph, who visited Padahuthurai hamlet, which was completely destroyed by indiscriminate aerial bombardment by the Sri Lanka Air Force Tuesday morning, has condemned the bombardment and said the attack had destroyed the settlement of the Internally Displaced persons. There was no military installation of the LTTE in the area, the Bishop told media. The Bishop, calling the bombardment "a crime against humanity," urged the International Community to send independent observers to NorthEast. Death toll has risen to 15, including 7 children below age nine , a pregnant woman, her child and husband.
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Tamileelam National Registry of Persons established

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 January 2007, 13:59 GMT]
The Civil Administration in Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) administered regions in NorthEast has launched Tamileelam National Registry of Persons on Monday, January 01. The programme was inaugurated by the Commissioner of Tamil Eelam Department of Registration of Persons, S Jeyenthiran, by issuing the first national identity card to LTTE leader Velupillai Pirapaharan. The card will function similar to the Social Security Number (SSN) used in many western democracies, where the number uniquely identifies an individual.
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Battle for Vaharai

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 January 2007, 11:35 GMT]
Vaharai, a large backwater on Sri Lanka’s east coast, is an area with large fertile fields, lagoons and virgin forests in the northern part of the Batticaloa district. More than 15,000 residents and IDPs are now trapped in Vaharai as the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) conducts its brutal campaign to evict Tamils from the region, closing A-15 the main access road to the town, and imposing economic embargo, while Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) kfirs fly bombing raids terrorizing the civilians to flee. "They [LTTE] won't be able to keep the civilians for long. Food and medicine is in short supply," Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe, the top military spokesman, told Reuters in a interview Friday.
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Drifted ship's Captain talks to Jordanian Ambassador in India

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 December 2006, 10:49 GMT]
Iraqi Captain of the Jordanian owned cargo ship M.V. FARAH III that drifted and struck the ground in LTTE territorial waters off Mullaithivu Saturday, Ramaz S. Abdul Jabbar, has contacted the Jordanian Ambassador in India Sunday evening, from the Peace Secretariat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Kilinochchi, conveying the message of safety of his crew members. Asked to comment whether there has been any military standoff between the Sri Lanka Navy and the Sea Tigers, the Captain of the ship told TamilNet: "this, I guess is all political. We are all safe and we have good cooperation here."
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Cargo ship caught up in rough seas at LTTE waters

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 December 2006, 07:36 GMT]
Captain of the Cargo ship, drifting towards Mullaithivu shore, with fellow crewmen, is engaged in bringing the ship to operation Saturday afternoon, Sea Tiger officials said. 15 crew members have reached the shore. Earlier, Liberation Tigers Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan told media that the cargo ship, caught up in the rough seas, had drifted into LTTE territorial waters off Mullaithivu and that the Sea Tigers were engaged in saving the crew members.
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