Muslim civilian abducted in Puththa'lam

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 October 2008, 17:58 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen arriving in a vehicle abducted a Muslim civilian Sunday early morning from his house in a suburb called Viruthoodai in Mathurankuli village in Puththa'lam district. Armed men called H.H.K.Nainamarikaar, 38, out of his house and pushed him into the vehicle and drove off, according to complaints lodged with the Puththa'lam Police by his wife and relatives.
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Journalist among the dead in Anuradhapura blast

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 October 2008, 12:11 GMT]
Five media organisations (SLWJA, FMETU, SLTMA, SLMMF, FMM) Monday expressed deep sorrow over the death of TV journalist Rashmi Mohamed around at 8:40 a.m. in Anuradhapura. Rashmi, a provincial correspondent of Sirasa TV, was covering the opening ceremony of the new office of the United National Party (UNP) in Anuradhapura, close to the old bus stand, a press statement issued by the Free Media Movement (FMM) in Colombo said.
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Multiple air strikes target civilian infrastructure in Ki'linochchi

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 October 2008, 13:22 GMT]
A key sluice transporting water to thousands of acres of agricultural lands in Vanni sustained damage in Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) indiscriminate bombardment Friday morning around 9:30 a.m., at Paravippaagnchaan, near Ki'linochchi town where LTTE's Peace Secretariat is located. Meanwhile, SLAF bombers dropped bombs in the vicinity of the UNICEF office located at Kaneasapuram in Ki'linochchi three times between 3:35 and 4:00 p.m. Centre for Women's Development and Rehabilitation (CWDR) was heavily damaged in the air strike.
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Sri Lankan Police arrest 2 Saiva priests, 8 civilians in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 October 2008, 19:02 GMT]
Maanippaay police, during a search conducted Tuesday in Kalvayal Murukan temple and Cheera'ni Amman temple in Valikaamam West, arrested the resident priests of the two Saiva temples, and eight civilians including the two trustees of the temples and persons who came to worship, sources in Maanipay said.
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Sri Lankan artillery barrage hits Ki'linochchi town

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 October 2008, 14:37 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army has started firing artillery shells towards Ki'linochchi town Thursday evening around 7:00 p.m., causing panic among the remaining civilians in the town and its suburbs. At least four artillery shells crossed over the town as TamilNet correspondent was reporting that the building of the Ki'linochchi hospital was shaken due to the blasts, causing fear among the remaining patients and the staff. A 33-year-old civilian was rushed to Ki'linochchi hospital in the evening. One shell hit the ground near UNDP office and the other near Ki'linochchi Government Agent's hostel, according to latest reports.
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WFP food convoy enters Vanni

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 October 2008, 08:48 GMT]
51 lorries carrying food supplies containing 650 MT to civilians in Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam controlled territory in Vanni entered the region Thursday morning around 10:30, according to the officials of World Food Programme (WFP) in Colombo. 30 lorries were carrying WFP supplies and the remaining were supplies under Ki'linochchi and Mullaiththeevu Government Agents. Six UN officials and Ki'lnochci GA N. Vethanayagam were escorting the supplies under UN flag.
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SLAF attacks LTTE Peace Secretariat, Political Division HQ

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 October 2008, 08:25 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force on Thursday attacked the Head Office of the Political Section of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelalam and the LTTE Peace Secretariat, both located close to each other at the heart of the Ki'linochchi town. The attack, reported around 1:00 p.m., also caused damage to nearby houses and the roads. Two civilians were killed and five wounded in the air-strike, according to initial reports.
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Sri Lankan airstrike targets civil administration in Vanni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 October 2008, 18:41 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force fighter jets Wednesday evening attacked the Secretariat of Tamileelam Civil Administration, located in Paarathipuram south of Ki'linochchi. The officials atttached to the Tamileelam civil administration, which coordinates the administration in Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam controlled areas in almost all civil activities, ranging from ensuring the availability of drinking water to the maintanance civilian infrastructure, told TamilNet that noone was wounded in the attack as they had taken necessary precautions. The attack, which destroyed the building complex took place at 2:40 p.m.
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Norwegian politicians express concern on humanitarian access, media coverage

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 October 2008, 15:08 GMT]
Norwegian politicians and activists who addressed the participants of a Eelam Tamil diaspora organised rally and a fasting awareness campaign on Monday and Tuesday in front of the Norwegian Parliament in Oslo, criticized the expulsion of International NGOs from Vanni and urged the International Community, including the Norwegian Government, to do their maximum to enable the International humanitarian agencies to be present with civilians in need of humanitarian assistance, and to enable access to media to visit the affected areas.
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SLA shelling blocks A9

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 October 2008, 14:20 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army has been continually shelling the A9 road between Mu'rika'ndi and Kokkaavil during the recent days, shutting down the A9 road forcing the civilians to use alternative roads.
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2 civilians killed, 13 wounded in SLAF attack on Ki'linochchi suburb

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 01 October 2008, 06:14 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) attacked a civilian settlement 1 km south of Ki'linochchi town, close to A9 Road, killing two civilians and wounding 13, Wednesday around 10:30 a.m. A 2-year-old girl, a 4-year-old boy, a 16-year-old and seven other females were among the wounded rushed to nearby Ki'lnochchi hospital. 19 houses were destroyed. Some of the windows of Ki'linochchi hospital shattered and sharpnels from the bombs reached the hospital premises, according to initial reports.
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SLA cordon, search Trincomalee Orr's Hill area

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 September 2008, 17:24 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA), and Police, with the assistance of home guards, conducted cordon and search operation in the Orr's Hill area, a suburb in Trincomalee town Monday and Tuesday. The headquarters of the Sri Lanka Army Brigade for Trincomalee district is located at Plantain Point in Orr's Hills area.
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Britain to aid displaced through functioning NGOs in Vanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 September 2008, 16:29 GMT]
Representatives of British Tamils Forum who met the British Minister for the Department for International Development (DFID) Shahid Malik, on Tuesday in London, quoted the Minister as saying that the British Government did not agree with the general assessment of the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) that all local Tamil NGOs, which are currently working within the Vanni area were all controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The British aid would be channelled through local and international NGOs to the displaced civilians in Vanni.
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Defining moment for IC's credibility - Norwegian Tamil Forum

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 September 2008, 13:19 GMT]
"The defining moment for the International Community is right now, if it really wishes to establish its commitment to a principled approach towards Tamil aspirations in the island of Sri Lanka," declared a Norwegian Tamil representative on Tuesday, while concluding a fasting awareness campaign, held for more than 30 hours in front of the Norwegian Parliament in Oslo, focusing on the plight of 230,000 internally displaced Tamil civilians in Vanni.
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15,000 newly displaced from Ki'linochchi swell Vanni IDPs to 230,000

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 September 2008, 13:03 GMT]
Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), a humanitarian organization helping the displaced population in Northeast, in a report released Tuesday said, with the food stock in private stores and co-operative stores reaching dangerously low levels, the humanitarian conditions of the more than 230,000 Internally displaced are rapidly deteriorating. Since the departure of foreign NGOs on 16th September under Colombo's directives, 15,217 new IDPs from Ki'linochchi and Poonakari has joined the refugee population, the report added.
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Posters warn dire consequences to curfew violators in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 September 2008, 07:01 GMT]
Anonymous wall posters announcing that persons found on streets during Sri Lanka Army (SLA) imposed curfew hours in Jaffna peninsula will be shot at sight without any warning, were found pasted on walls Sunday and Monday in areas including Vadamaraadchi, Thenmaraadchi and Jaffna town in the peninsulasources in Jaffna said.
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Grenade attack wounds 21 Muslims in Kaaththaankudi, 7 children among the victims

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 September 2008, 14:34 GMT]
Unknown attackers riding in a motorbike lobbed a grenade near Jain Maulana mosque in Kaaththaankudi town Monday around 6:25 p.m., wounding 21 Muslim civilians. Five of the victims are children, according to initial reports. The attack has targeted Muslims on their way to evening prayers. Tension prevails in the town as elements of factionalised TMVP paramilitary and armed elements among the Muslims have been inciting violence between the Tamil and Muslim communities, sources in Batticaloa said.
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Canadian Tamil youth campaign for IDPs in Vanni

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 September 2008, 13:55 GMT]
35 Canadian Tamil youths on Friday launched a fasting campaign named '30 Hour Famine' at the Richmond Hill Temple community hall in the province of Ontario in an effort to create awareness regarding the sufferings of the displaced civilians deprived of basic amenities in Vanni, whose plight has worsened after the Sri Lankan government ordered the International NGOs and UN agencies to withdraw aid workers from the region.
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5 civilians wounded in SLA shelling in Ki'linochchi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 September 2008, 11:13 GMT]
5 civilians were injured Sunday morning when Sri Lanka Army fired artillery shells targeted houses near A9 road between 155 Mile Post and Ira'naimadu junction, according to initial reports. A 19-year-old youth lost his two hands and another youth his leg.
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British statement fails to condemn Sri Lanka - BTF

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 September 2008, 10:43 GMT]
The Tamils in UK feel confused by a British statement that acknowledges the apparent recognition by the GoSL of its responsibility to provide humanitarian assistance to civilians affected by the conflict and its continued co-ordination with humanitarian agencies, at a time when foreign aid workers of the UN and International Non-Governmental Organisations have been expelled from Vanni by the government of Sri Lanka, said a statement issued by the British Tamils Forum (BTF) on Saturday.
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