Northern Front impregnable, say NTT panelists

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 May 2008, 10:49 GMT]
Colombo was forced into staging Mukamaalai offensive to ensure safety to troops in Jaffna which had fallen within the range of artillery, panelists said during a Political Analysis segment of National Television of Tamileelam (NTT), participated by LTTE military spokesperson, Irasiah Ilanthiraiyan, and Chief-Editor of Viduthalaip Pulika'l, LTTE's official organ, S. Ravi, in the programme moderated by K. Veera, this week. Panelists added that Colombo's assertion that LTTE is moving troops between different Northern fronts is a figment of their imagination, and refuted the claim that the Sri Lanka Air Force has caused detrimental impact to LTTE's war machinery.
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Amnesty: Rights abuses flourish in secrecy, denial in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 May 2008, 02:57 GMT]
Noting that in conflict situations "without reports, pictures and film of the fighting and the violence, no-one knows enough to put the pressure on the participants to ensure human rights are respected," Amnesty International, in a media release issued Friday, said the need for such environment is "strong in Sri Lanka, where fatalities on all sides are believed to be very high with large numbers of civilians caught in the crossfire."
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14 Tamil civilians arrested in Wellawatte, 10 in Moratuwa

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 May 2008, 18:26 GMT]
Ten Tamil civilians in Moratuwa and fourteen Tamil civilians in Wellawatte were taken into custody in two separate cordon and search operations conducted by the police. Majority of those arrested on Friday morning in Wellawatte are natives of north and east and are being detained at the police station, media sources said.
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US Country Report accuses GoSL, LTTE of terrorist activities

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 May 2008, 11:17 GMT]
Noting that in South and Central Asia, "[t]errorism remained a serious problem in the region, directly and indirectly threatening American interests and lives," the Country Reports on Terrorism 2007, released by the US Department of State Wednesday, blamed the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers for terrorist activities saying, "[t]he LTTE reverted to targeting civilians in bus bombings and claymore mine attacks, while the government used anti-LTTE paramilitaries to terrorize citizens suspected of having ties to the Tigers."
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Civilian killed in SLA artillery barrage

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 April 2008, 11:59 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Ma'nalaa'ru staged an artillery barrage targeting a civilian settlement in Nedungkea'ni in Vanni for two-hours from 9:50 a.m. Wednesday, killing a 52-year-old father of three and seriously wounding a 32-year-old mother of one, Tamileelam Police officials said.
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2 Tamil youths abducted in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 April 2008, 18:14 GMT]
Unknown men had abducted two Tamil youths at Muhathuvaaram in Colombo Monday evening in two separate incidents. They have been identified as Selvachchandran Nishanthan, 23, and Karunakaran, according to complaints lodged with the Muhathuvaaram Police and the Civil Monitoring Group by their relatives.
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Man released from protective custody of Jaffna Prison missing

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 April 2008, 00:33 GMT]
A 33-year-old man from Chaavakacheari in Thenmaraadchi, placed in the protective custody of Jaffna Prison due to death threats by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops and SLA-backed paramilitaries, has gone missing, according to a complaint filed at the Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna officials by relatives. The man, suffering from chickenpox, had been allowed by authorities a few days ago to stay with his relative for treatment, HRC sources said.
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15 civilians arrested in Mt.Lavinia, 3 in Hatton

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 April 2008, 10:57 GMT]
Fifteen civilians, majority of them said to be Tamils, were taken in for questioning in a cordon and search conducted Sunday evening in Mt.Lavinia. Some of the arrested are residents of Jaffna, Colombo, and Kaddaiparichchan in Moothoor east, reports from Colombo said.
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SLA occupation of Madu, triggers fears of renewed Sinhalicisation

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 April 2008, 17:42 GMT]
The Madu Road junction located on Mannaar-Madawachchi Road, which branches off the main route to Madu shrine, situated in the middle of traditional Tamil area, became the center of a Sinhala settlement in the 1970s. The Sri Lanka Government had the agenda of transforming the area into a full-fledged Sinhala colony, by using the lands of a cashew farm between the Madu Shrine and the junction. However, the settlement was later abandoned, fearing repercussions following large-scale massacre and arson committed by the Sri Lanka Army in December 1984 after a landmine blast. The spectre of a Sinhalicised Madu area has now become a dangerous new reality with SLA's occupation of Madu shrine.
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Search operation at Katunayake, 10 arrested

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 April 2008, 02:16 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Sunday early morning launched a cordon and search operation in areas surrounding the Katunayake airbase and arrested 10 civilians, majority of them Tamils. Police sources said they are being detained at police station and being interrogated as they failed to prove their identity and justify their stay in the location.
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15 Tamils arrested at Matale

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 April 2008, 00:24 GMT]
Fifteen Tamil civilians were arrested at Matale town Sunday morning in a cordon and search operation conducted by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police. The arrested are being detained at Matale police station and interrogated as they failed to prove their identity and justify the presence in the location, media sources said.
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One million people in Sri Lanka may face starvation - WFP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 April 2008, 15:28 GMT]
“Scarcity of food items and the subsequent escalation in the cost of essential items may result in more than one million in the country facing starvation," Mohamed Saleheen, the resident representative of United Nations (UN) World Food program (WFP) in Colombo told the media Friday. As a result of the situation, the WFP country office in Sri Lanka is facing major crisis, he said, and urged donor countries to respond immediately to overcome the crisis.
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Sinhala goons terrorize Tamils in Negombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 April 2008, 13:11 GMT]
Unidentified Sinhala gangs are allegedly engaged in terrorizing Tamil civilians residing along Assarappawatte Lane in Negombo town and robbing their valuables including jewellery, cash, cellphone and other items, reports in Colombo said.
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Tamil student arrested for aiding Fernandopulle killer, misses exams

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 April 2008, 11:04 GMT]
A Colombo undergraduate Tamil student has been detained in Dehiwala police station on suspicion that he had provided shelter in his room for the suspected suicide bomber who is alleged to have killed Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle on April 6. The student was one of 37 civilians arrested on Thursday in a cordon and search operation conducted by the police in Dehiwala. 11 other civilians are also being detained in the police station.
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SLA enters Madu shrine

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 April 2008, 11:55 GMT]
Government of Sri Lanka on Friday officially admitted that the Sri Lanka Army had entered the Madu Shrine. Analysts in Colombo observed that the move, which comes in the wake of the SLA debacle in the Northern Front, was timed to divert increasing focus on recent SLA casualties prior to the provincial elections in the east. Meanwhile, Informed sources in Vanni told TamilNet that the SLA had been stationed 1.5 km away from the Shrine for weeks and it could have entered the Shrine at any time as LTTE defensive units were strictly kept away from the peace zone.
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Tamil civilian reported missing in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 April 2008, 02:53 GMT]
A middle aged Tamil civilian resident of Weluvana road, Fatima Thoaddam in Dematogoda, has been missing since last week Thursday, the victim’s mother and sister stated in a complaint lodged at Dematagoda police station. They have also reported this incident to Upcountry People's Front (UPF) parliamentarian and Sri Lankan Deputy Minister for Vocational Training and Industrial Education, P. Rathakrishnan.
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47 Tamil civilians arrested at Dehiwela, Chilaw

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 April 2008, 00:29 GMT]
42 Tamils including 4 women were arrested in Dehiwala, and five Tamils including 2 women wre arrested at Chilaw in two separate cordon and search operations conducted by the police and Sri Lanka Army (SLA), and are being detained in police stations in Colombo and Chilaw, reports from Colombo said.
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Army bars Gen. Janaka Perera for criticizing war

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 April 2008, 18:56 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government this week ordered the Army to bar a celebrated former general from henceforth setting foot into its camps. The move comes after Maj. Gen. Janaka Perera criticized the Rajapaksa government’s conduct of the war against the Tamil Tigers. Saying that the government’s self-imposed deadlines “were not realistic”, Gen. Perera last month questioned the wisdom of waging protracted war against the LTTE and warned that battle fatigue would set in and sap the military’s will to fight.
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New monitoring group warns east electioneering undemocratic

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 April 2008, 10:40 GMT]
The newly formed monitoring group Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CAFFE) in its first press briefing held at the auditorium of the National Library Services Board in Colombo on Tuesday warned that the electioneering in eastern province is already turning out be an undemocratic one. CAFFE comprises several civil groups such as Women's Organization for Democracy and Peace (WODP) Organization for Democratic Rights and International Organization for Defense.
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3 civilians wounded in DPU Claymore attack on MPCS lorry

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 11:08 GMT]
Three civilians including the driver of a lorry loaded with supplies to the Cooperative Society in Poonakari (Pooneryn) from Vavuniyaa, was attacked by a Deep Penetration Unit of the Sri Lanka Army in the early hours of Tuesday at 1:30 a.m. at Aanaivizhunthaan on Akkaraayan - Vanneari Road. The lorry, carrying essential supplies worth 2.3 million Sri Lankan Rupees to the Poonakari Multi Purpose Cooperative Society (MPCS), which serves to the Internally Displaced People from Poonakari and Mannaar, was destroyed in the attack, according to the General Manager of the Poonakari MPCS, T. Ratnakumar, told TamilNet.
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