Tigers say random explosions cause rise in SLA casualties in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 March 2008, 16:59 GMT]
At least 23 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were wounded or killed in random explosions within the past week in parts of Mannaar battlefront, the Tigers said Sunday. The SLA has sustained casualties when its soldiers attempted to move around inside no-go zone and during retreats after skirmishes.
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Two pronged SLA operation thwarted in Ma'nalaa'ru - LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 March 2008, 16:41 GMT]
Six SLA soldiers were killed and 11 wounded when Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) confronted Sri Lanka Army (SLA) from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Sunday offering stiff resistance to the SLA that attempted to advance beyond no-go zone via two fronts at Ma'nki'ndimalai in Ma'nalaa'ru. LTTE Operations Command in Ma'nalaa'ru said that the Tigers also seized ammunitions from the SLA.
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SLA attempt to advance from Paalaikkuzhi thwarted - LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 March 2008, 15:49 GMT]
Heavy fighting erupted between the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Sunday from 5:00 a.m. till 11:20 a.m. when the SLA attempted to advance towards Iththikka'ndal from Paalaikkuzhi in Mannaar. The SLA withdrew to its positions in Paalaikkuzhi after sustaining heavy casualties. The Tigers have seized military hardware, according to the LTTE Operations Command in Mannaar.
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Jaffna's fishing industry in peril

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 March 2008, 10:55 GMT]
Fishing in Jaffna peninsula has suffered a near 95% plunge in the past twenty year period from 1983 due to ban and restrictions imposed on fishing by Sri Lanka Army (SLA), rendering most of the fishermen dependent on relief supplies to survive, Fishermen Society Federation sources in Jaffa said. SLA Commander Jaffna, Major General G. A. Chandrasiri, however, has ruled out lifting of fishing restrictions until security in seas surrounding the peninsula improves.
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Jaffna port workers complain of mismanagement

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 March 2008, 00:08 GMT]
The lack of interest by government officials in the North in paying wages in time to workers involved in unloading of goods in the sea ports of Jaffna in a timely manner has resulted in frequent disruption in unloading of loads from the cargo ships, civil sources in Jaffna said.
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Suspects in attempted murder case of SLA commander remanded

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 March 2008, 16:06 GMT]
Colombo Fort Magistrate, Mr. Namal Bandara Balalle, Thursday ordered further remand till March 12, for the two suspects in the attempted murder of Commander of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Sarath Fonseka, legal sources in Colombo said.
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Sarath Fonseka to visit India seeking military cooperation - report

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 March 2008, 12:46 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Army commander, Maj. Gen. Sarath Fonseka is scheduled to pay a six-day visit to India Sunday to "deepen military cooperation between the two countries," according to a news report by the Indo Asian News Agency (IANS), Saturday. "Fonseka is sure to discuss military cooperation with India, which has become a touchy issue in bilateral relations," the IANS report said.
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11 SLA killed in Mannaar - LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 February 2008, 17:41 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Operations Command in Mannaar said Friday that 11 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and many wounded when Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) recaptured a position at Pa'ndivirichchaan Friday morning between 5:00 and 6:30 a.m. Meanwhlie, an SLA Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) was confronted by the Tigers at Mu'l'likku'lam around 2:00 p.m. 2 Claymore mines were seized, the Tigers said.
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LTTE, SLA clash in 2 fronts in Mannaar district

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 February 2008, 15:07 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters fought against Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops and foiled an SLA attempt to enter LTTE territory Thursday around 11:00 a.m at Mui’l’likku’lam in Mannaar district, after 45 minutes of fierce fighting, Mannaar LTTE Operation Command said.
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8 civilians killed in SLA DPU attacks in Vanni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 February 2008, 18:01 GMT]
Eight innocent civilians riding in tractors were killed in two different Claymore attacks carried out by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Deep Penetration Unit teams that had infiltrated into Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) controlled areas on either sides of the A9 road, north of Vavuniyaa on Wednesday. The first attack, in which four civilians were killed, was reported at Panangkaamam in Moon'ru Mu'rippu GS area of Maanthai East division in Mullaiththeevu district at 1:50 p.m. The second attack was reported at 8:30 p.m. in which another four civilians were slain while they were riding in a tractor from Maruthoadai to Olumadu.
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3 SLA troops killed, 6 injured in Paalamoaddai - LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 February 2008, 16:45 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters killed three Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers and injured six in a confrontation at Paalamoaddai in Vavuniya district Wednesday from 11:00 a.m to 11.40 a.m, Vavuniyaa LTTE Operations Command said.
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UPFA, TMVP alliance implicates GoSL complicity, collusion with armed group - CPA

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 February 2008, 13:37 GMT]
Centre for Policy Alternatives, a Colombo based think-tank that undertook a fact finding mission to Batticaloa district between February 8 and 11, said Sri Lanka's ruling United Peoples Freedom Allilance (UPFA) government, by opting for the alliance with the armed TMVP group in Batticaloa municipal council election, finds itself in a position where it is increasingly difficult for the GoSL to deny the charges of "complicity and collusion with the TMVP." The CPA's statement has warned that there was a clear sense of inevitability that the elections will result in a TMVP "victory" as it is the only "political actor" allowed to move around in recently resettled areas.
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Extortion by SLA suspected in release of Jaffna youths- MP

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 February 2008, 00:27 GMT]
Family members of 44 youths who were recently allowed to leave Jaffna prison have complained to a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian that they had paid sums of up to Rs.70,000 to brokers acting as intermediaries between the relatives and the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) personnel in Jaffna, to obtain the youths' release. Meanwhile, Major. Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri, claimed that the youths had confessed to being members of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and had accepted to undergo rehabilitation at the Reformation and Rehabilitation Centre in Thellippa’lai, under SLA supervision.
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STF shoots dead 2 fishmongers in Akkaraipattu

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 February 2008, 11:45 GMT]
Masked Special Task Force (STF) commandos shot and killed two fishmongers at Akkaraipattu in Ampaa’rai district Monday around 4:30 p.m as the two were returning on a motorbike after selling fish in Akkaraipattu town, sources in Akkaraipattu said. STF handed the victims’ bodies to Akkaraipattu Base Hospital claiming that the two killed were Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) members, the sources added.
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LTTE, SLA clash in Jaffna lagoon

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 February 2008, 05:29 GMT]
A clash between Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) erupted Tuesday around 7:45 a.m. in Jaffna lagoon near Kozhumpuththu'rai when SLA troops in their Forward Defence Line positions along the lagoon shore attacked Sea Tiger patrol boats, sources in Jaffna said. LTTE retaliated from their vessels and the fighting lasted for nearly fifteen minutes, the sources said.
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Ex-LTTE cadres forced to join TMVP

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 February 2008, 11:24 GMT]
Pillaiyan group Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) members are alleged to be forcing former members of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Batticaloa district who had opted to leave the LTTE and lead a normal life after Sri Lanka Army (SLA) took LTTE area in Paduvaankarai last year, to join the TMVP, sources in Batticaloa said.
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Sri Lanka sliding into humanitarian nightmare- Geneva Group

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 February 2008, 04:37 GMT]
Pointing out that the number of civilian deaths has jumped sharply after the election of Rajapakse Government and that "the present government displays little appetite for peace," Director of Small Arms Survey in Geneva, Robert Muggah, in an article appearing in Canada's The Star, recommends that if Sri Lanka rebuffs pressure to abandon military solution "U.S. and the EU could consider withdrawing the country from the General System of Preferences," U.N. should appoint a special envoy to start documenting under-reported armed violence, and U.N. should use article-99 to take up the issue in U.N. security council.
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11 SLA killed in Paalaikkuzhi, Mannaar - LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 February 2008, 17:45 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Operations Command in Mannaar said Sunday that 11 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and 23 SLA soldiers wounded in a five-hour fighting erupted in Paalaikkuzhi Sunday. The SLA withdrew its forces at 10:00 a.m., the Tigers said.
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Tampoe: Sri Lanka is a virtual Police, Military dictatorship

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 February 2008, 16:42 GMT]
Prominent Trade Union leader, Bala Tampoe, says Rajapakse Government falsely states that their military objective is to defeat terrorism. The main objective is to wrest control from the LTTE the areas of North and east. "...[Colombo] can never achieve a proper political settlement till and until they recognise the right of self-determination, which is a democratic right, of the Tamil people and the Muslim people in the North and East, Tampoe says in an interview to Vikalpa, a citizen journalism initiative in Sri Lanka built on the effort pioneered by the Centre for Policy Alternatives, a Colombo-based think-tank.
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Jaffna peninsula Demining activities stall

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 February 2008, 02:34 GMT]
Increased frequency in clashes between Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the Forward Defence lines (FDL) has resulted in humanitarian demining activities in the peninsula slowing down with the possibility of all related activities coming to a complete halt in the near future, representatives of various Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Jaffna said Saturday.
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