Students protest army killings in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 March 2005, 14:11 GMT]
Jaffna University Students Union (JUSU) Monday held a protest march from Nallur Kandasamy Temple to the office of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) condemning the killings of a student and an elderly person Friday by the Sri Lanka security forces. Students of Technical College, Higher Technical Education Institute, Jaffna University and schools participated in the protest march in large numbers, sources said.


Full story >>

Jaffna students register complaint with Rights Commission

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 March 2005, 03:25 GMT]
The International Students' Association of Tamil Eelam (ISATE) Saturday complained to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) about the attack by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Police on ISATE's headquarters Friday afternoon. ISATE headquarters is located along Parameswara Junction, Thirunelveli in Jaffna town. ISATE has requested the HRCSL to take immediate steps and to bring the culprits before court of law, sources said.
Full story >>

UNICEF has erred - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 March 2005, 18:47 GMT]
The question of child soldiers continues to vex strained relations between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers. That the matter has been raised against the Tigers by the UN and other rights organizations is considered by Colombo as a feather in its foreign policy cap. "The Government of Sri Lanka is more interested in cynically exploiting the child soldiers issue for its black propaganda war against us than in finding a political solution to the conflict", said Mr. S. P . Thamilchelvan in an interview with the TamilNet this week. He said there were serious errors in the UNICEF report on child recruitment by the LTTE.
Full story >>

Jaffna agitation to student's death, spontaneous- Ilamparithi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 March 2005, 18:31 GMT]
Refuting allegations by Sri Lanka military that "LTTE was behind the public protest after the death of a student by an army vehicle," Head of LTTE Political Wing for Jaffna district, Mr Ilamparithy said "not a single political cadre of the LTTE was involved in the public agitation" in a press release issued Saturday after an LTTE delegation met with Sri Lanka Army delegation, sources said. The meeting was arranged by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in an effort to bring the tensed climate in Jaffna under control after the death of Vembadi Girls School student Thulashika and a civilian who was shot dead allegedly by Sri Lanka Police Friday.
Full story >>

Army desecrates Muslim cemetery, Pulmoddai villagers protest

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 March 2005, 15:41 GMT]
Residents of traditional Muslim village of Pulmoddai closed their shops, set up road blocks, and burnt tyres Saturday protesting against the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) for forcibly digging their cemetery and removing human remains out of the burial sites, sources said. Pulmoddai village is located about 65 km, north of Trincomalee town on the border area close to Mullaitivu district.
Full story >>

Troops assault journalist, scores injured in Jaffna clashes

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 March 2005, 12:09 GMT]
Sri Lanka army troops Friday severely assaulted a journalist working for the state run Lake House Newspapers as restive crowds in the northern town set fire to six military points and smashed up President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) office. One person was injured when army opened fire on a crowd at Kottadi. Scores of students and civilians were asaulted by SLA troops and riot Police in several parts of the town. Four persons injured in army and Police assault and firing were admitted to Jaffna hospital Friday afternoon.
Full story >>

Lankan soldiers violate CFA by attempting to intrude into FDLs - LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 February 2005, 14:01 GMT]
The Political Division of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has said in a statement on Thursday that the attempt by the Sri Lankan military soldiers near Kilali lagoon in the Jaffna peninsula to intrude with fire-arms well into the Forward Defence Lines (FDLs) of the LTTE was a clear violation of the Ceasefire Agreement and the attack on them was only a defensive action. According to the LTTE statement, LTTE took defensive action against the Sri Lankan military personnel when they were seen moving with weapons and telescopes towards the LTTE FDLs.
Full story >>

SC quashes death sentence, Tamil youth released after 15 years

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 February 2005, 16:57 GMT]
Mr.Shanmugam Ragupathi, a Tamil youth of Jaffna was released Monday after fifteen years in Welikada jail when the Supreme Court quashed the death sentence imposed on him by the Colombo High Court in a case in which he was indicted by the Attorney General for causing deaths of several soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in an attack on the Karainagar army base in the year 1990, legal sources said.
Full story >>

SLA troopers shot in Kilali no go zone

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 February 2005, 15:26 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army (SLA) trooper was reported killed and another was injured when the Liberation Tigers fired on them in the no man's zone when the SLA soldiers had advanced to within 40 meters of the LTTE Forward Defence line in the lagoon between the SLA held Kilali, Jaffna and the LTTE controlled mainland around 5 p.m. Wednesday. LTTE women cadres in the forward defence line opened fire when they spotted SLA soldiers taking aim at them, sources in Kilinochchi said. A similar incident took place at the same location in February 2003.
Full story >>

Indian soldiers help reconstruct Arugam Bay bridge

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 February 2005, 12:03 GMT]
Soldiers of the Indian Army contingent that arrived in Sri Lanka in the aftermath of tsunami disaster have started construction of temporary spans over the partially but heavily damaged Arugam Bay bridge in Amparai district. Multiple spans of a total of 150 feet were destroyed of the 350 feet bridge when the wave struck, engineering sources in Amparai said.
Full story >>

17 SLA recruits hospitalized, force fed plastic explosives

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 February 2005, 03:20 GMT]
Seventeen Sri Lanka Army (SLA) new recruits were transported to the Anuradhapura General Hospital by special helicopter after being admitted to the Vavuniya Hospital emergency ward with suspected food positioning, medical sources said. The soldiers are from the Kokkoveli army camp in Vavuniya district.
Full story >>

Youths burn SLA post, Police retaliate in Thenmaradchy

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 February 2005, 14:14 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army (SLA) post at Meesalai-Puttur junction in Thenmaradchchi was set alight by protesting youth provoked by SLA soldiers who attempted to remove roadblocks protesters setup as part of hartal. Police retaliated by ransacking a community center. Tension spread to Kodikamam when a Police vehicle injured a civilian while the vehilce was negotiating a roadblock during Saturday's hartal and protest, civil sources in Jaffna said.
Full story >>

Jaffna, Vavuniya shut down in hartal, protesters clash with SLA

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 February 2005, 10:05 GMT]
The entire districts of Jaffna and Vavuniya Saturday came to a standstill following a general shut down, condemning the killings of Mr.Kousalyan, LTTE political head for Batticaloa Amparai district, his colleagues and Mr.Chandra Nehru, former Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian for Amparai district. In several areas civilians blocked roads and burnt tyres. Clashes took place at the junctions of Puttur and Kaithady in Thenmaradchchi division in Jaffna district Saturday afternoon between groups of civilians and soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army when the latter attempted to remove the roadblocks. Soldiers fled from their sentry points when the angered civilians threw stones at them.
Full story >>

STF bars mourners, assault LTTE activist

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 February 2005, 10:45 GMT]
Commandos of the Special Task Force (STF) Wednesday assaulted an LTTE political worker who was putting up black flags in Komari to mourn Mr. Kousalyan, slain by gunmen suspected to be working with the Sri Lankan military. Komari is Tsunami devastated Tamil village on Sri Lanka’s remote southeast coast. STF, the elite counter insurgency arm of the Sri Lankan armed forces, prohibited black flags in the village. In Mandaanai, north of Komari, Tsunami refugees protested against the STF Wednesday for preventing them from mourning the slain LTTE political leader.
Full story >>

Black flags flown in Northeast on Sri Lanka's Independence Day

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 February 2005, 06:10 GMT]
Black flags were hoisted in many parts of the Sri Lanka's northeast in protest against the country's independence day. Jaffna University students flew black flags and decorated University's main entrance with curry plantain trees which are used by Tamils at funerals. Sri Lanka army soldiers were deployed in the area, as the military beefed up security in many parts of the northern peninsula. Sri Lankan Army and the Police were seen removing black flags in Vavuniya town.
Full story >>

SLN stops school building construction in HSZ

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 February 2005, 16:23 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) refused permission to transport building material for the construction of a new building in Ponnalai Varathajaperumal Vidiyalayam effectively halting the construction work, civil society sources in Jaffna said. The school is located in the high security zone.


Full story >>

Lack of tents, military meddling trouble Mankerni refugees

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 February 2005, 09:51 GMT]
“There are thousand seven hundred persons belonging to four hundred and eighty one families in this refugee camp. But we have only hundred and ninety eight tents to house them. Hundred and forty five tents were given by UNHCR and ICRC. The government gave us only forty eight tents. It is very difficult for the refugees. But we have asked them to cope”, Mr. Kandasamy Mahtikaran, village officer for Mankerni told TamilNet, describing the travails of this Tsunami devastated coastal settlement about 48 kilometres north of Batticaloa.
Full story >>

EPDP's relief effort draws protest in Vadamaradchy

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 February 2005, 03:57 GMT]
Large number of people Tuesday morning held a demonstration in front of Vadamaradchchi office of the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) located in Manthikai against distributing relief materials to Tsunami victims for political gain. Protesters collected relief materials distributed to several people and burnt them in public, sources said. Manthikai is a residential town located 3 km South of Point Pedro.
Full story >>

No sunny times for east coast idyll

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 February 2005, 10:50 GMT]
Pasikudah was a tourist’s paradise. Clear blue waters and white sands of the bay attracted thousands. War completely ruined the booming tourist industry here in the mid eighties. The beautiful beach, dotted with the bombed out shells of star class hotels, became a no go zone. Today the beach has vanished, ripped by the giant Boxing Day waves. The hamlet that gave its name to the area is a heap of rubble and debris. There is no warning about mines from destroyed defenses of the Sri Lanka army garrison bordering Pasikudah village.
Full story >>

Catamaran fishing to recommence in northern sea Monday

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 January 2005, 17:42 GMT]
Fishing using traditional craft "catamaran" is to start again in Jaffna northern sea Monday after a month since Tsunami hit the coastal areas. Most of traditional fishing crafts had been damaged in the natural disaster but the balance would be put in use this week, fisheries sources said. The word catamaran is of Tamil origin. The Tamil word 'Kattumaram' means logs bound together which, pronounced in English, transforms into Catamaran.
Full story >>