Colombo first to use anti-terrorism laws to punish journalists, say media watchdogs

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 November 2008, 18:53 GMT]
The International Press Freedom Mission, a group of five international media watchdogs, which visited Sri Lanka between 25th to 29th October, said in a statement released Thursday that the mission is “alarmed at the use of an anti-terrorism law for the first time in the democratic world, to punish journalists purely for what they have written,” and added that the mission “found a deterioration in the press freedom situation since its last visit in June 2007, marked by a continuation in murders, attacks, abductions, intimidation and harassment of the media.”
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LTTE Claymore mine targets STF patrol in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 November 2008, 12:08 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) detonated a Claymore mine targeting a road patrol of the Sri Lankan Special Task Force from the 6th Mile Post camp, 200 meters away from the camp, Saturday around 8:30 a.m., the Tigers said.
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SLN Dvora, hovercraft sunk in major naval clash - Sea Tigers

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 November 2008, 02:53 GMT]
Naval flotillas of the Sea Tigers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) engaged in a major clash with the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) gunships in the seas off Naakarkoayil in Vadamaraadchi East Saturday morning from 5:15 a.m. to 7:00 a.m., sinking an SLN Dvora Fast Attack Craft (FAC) and a hovercraft. Sea Tiger officials told TamilNet that SLN engaged 20 vessels in the clash, but it was forced to withdraw after suffering casualties. Seven Black Sea Tigers laid down their lives in the operation, the Tigers said.
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LTTE leader decorates Tiger airmen, heroes of Vavuniyaa mission

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 November 2008, 02:30 GMT]
Velupillai Pirapaharan, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE), on Friday conferred Awards of Valour for Tiger commandos who excelled in their performance in the LTTE operation against the Sri Lankan Forces Vanni Headquarters (Vanni SF HQ) and the Tamileelam Air Force pilots and operators who took part in consecutive and successful flight operations of attack against the targets in the South and the bases of the Sri Lankan armed forces.
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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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India, US working with hidden agenda against Sri Lanka, says JVP

[TamilNet, Friday, 31 October 2008, 14:51 GMT]
"Indian and United States of America have been working with a hidden agenda for their own political benefit political in Sri Lanka and also to safeguard the Liberation Tigers. The speech made US envoy William O'Blake in Mathurai in South India is part of that agenda," said Mr. Somawanse Amarasinghe, leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Sinhala nationalist party at a press briefing held Thursday.
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MI-24, Bell damaged in Tiger air strike on Mannaar garrison

[TamilNet, Friday, 31 October 2008, 13:09 GMT]
An MI-24 attack helicopter gunship of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF), deployed in Vanni offensive, and a Bell helicopter used to transport the wounded soldiers from the battlefield, sustained damage Tuesday night when Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) air wing, Tamileelam Air Force, carried out a bombing raid on the Sri Lankan garrison at Tha'l'laadi in Mannaar, according to a reliable military source.
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Tehelka on what the grass roots feel in Tamil Nadu

[TamilNet, Friday, 31 October 2008, 12:19 GMT]
"In these villages, it hardly matters that Pirabhakaran is an accused in the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, or that the LTTE is banned un India. Many have named their children after Pirabhakaran. Housing colonies have been given the names of LTTE martyrs", reports Tehelka Magazine in a feature article on Kolathur (Ku'laththoor), a Panchayat of 10 villages and 75,000 people, bordering Karnataka, in the Selam (Chealam) district of northwestern Tamil Nadu.
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Muslim trader arrested in Badulla

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 October 2008, 23:58 GMT]
Badulla Police Monday evening arrested a Muslim trader for allegedly supplying food materials to LTTE cadres in the area, media sources said. The trader has been identified as Aboobucker Ismail.
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SLN bans fishing in Trincomalee seas

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 October 2008, 23:56 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) Wednesday refused permission to hundreds of fishermen who went to the shore along Trincomalee to Kuchchaveli Wednesday early morning to fish in Trincomalee seas, fisheries sources said. The fishermen were told the directive was to ensure security SLN personnel manning checkpoints along the coastal area.
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Turbines damaged in TAF airstrike on power plant, one killed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 October 2008, 05:45 GMT]
A turbine operator of the Kelanitissa power plant was killed due to the impact of the explosion and two turbines and air coolers sustained damage when Tamileealm Air Force (TAF), the air wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) attacked the powerplant Tuesday night, according to the sources in Colombo. The air-strike was carried out on the target in Colombo, after attacking the Tha'l'laadi garrison of the Sri Lankan forces in Mannaar, inflicting heavy damage to the Tha'l'laadi base, which functions as the rear station for the Sri Lankan military operation on Vanni from the Mannaar front.
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Ceasefire should be primary concern: Thirumavalavan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 October 2008, 19:59 GMT]
Quick on the heels of the news-report that hundreds of Tamil schoolchildren had a hair-breadth escape from death due to airstrike by the Sri Lanka Air Force Tuesday, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) President Thol.Thirumavalavan said in a press meet in Chennai that "an immediate ceasefire in the island nation should be the primary concern of the Tamilnadu and Indian Governments." Thirumavalavan lauded Chief Minister Karunanidhi for his efforts to ensure peace in the island nation and requested him not to drop the resignation ultimatum, but to instead postpone it until a later date.
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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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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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4 killed, 6 captured, Tigers raid TMVP camp

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 October 2008, 20:38 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) in Batticaloa district attacked a key paramilitary camp of the paramilitary group TMVP in the early hours of Tuesday, killing four operatives and capturing six gunmen from the camp, located at Chengka'ladi, 13 km northwest of Batticaloa city, according to the Batticaloa Command of the LTTE. Despite the LTTE claim of their attack on the TMVP within a few hours of the raid, the Pillayan faction of the TMVP blamed Karuna operatives for the attack. The Sri Lankan Police said that the Tigers were behind the raid that killed four operatives, Pushpan, Rajan, Mani Master and Ravi.
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Committee appointed to investigate Minister Chandrasekaran

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 October 2008, 19:01 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse has appointed a three-member special committee chaired by the Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake to investigate the conduct of Minister Periyasamy Chandrasekaran over his support to Tamilnadu political leaders in support of the LTTE and Sri Lankan Tamils while holding a cabinet minister post in the Sri Lanka government. The other members of the Committee are Nimal Sripala de Silva, Leader of the House and Minister of Health and Nutrition, and Dinesh Gunawardene, Chief Whip of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and Minister of Urban Development.
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STF Commando killed, 2 wounded in Ampaa'rai - LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 October 2008, 14:20 GMT]
A Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) commando was killed and two wounded when a guerrilla unit of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) in Ampaa'rai ambushed the STF commandos in Kagnchikudichchaa'ru Monday around 12:50 a.m., according to LTTE officials in the East.
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LTTE Jayanthan brigade commandos raid paramilitary camp, 2 killed

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 October 2008, 23:36 GMT]
A commando unit of the elite Jayanthan Brigade of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) in Batticaloa raided a paramilitary mini-camp in Vavu'natheevu Saturday night killing two and causing injuries to several others, the Tigers said in a note issued to media from Batticaloa on Sunday. The Tigers claimed they seized four assault rifles and ammunitions from the camp.
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TMVP, Karuna groups organize demonstration in East

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 October 2008, 14:02 GMT]
Paramilitary-cum-political parties, the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) and the Karuna faction, which operate along with Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in the Eastern Province, have announced that a demonstration will be held 26 October, and have issued notices to the public in Eastern Province including NGO staff, school children and other public and private institutions to participate. The groups have warned the public of severe consequences if they fail to join in the demonstration.
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SLA turns away 26 lorries with humanitarian supplies at Omanthai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 October 2008, 13:06 GMT]
Though the officials in Colombo claimed that 54 lorries were sent to the Wanni on Friday, only 28 WFP supply lorries entered the LTTE controlled Vanni. Other lorries were turned away at Oamanthai. These include two lorry loads of medical supplies and eight carrying kerosene.
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