Food convoy to Vanni 13 December

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 December 1999, 21:40 GMT]
Food and other essential items are to be sent to the Vanni from Monday 13 December, said government sources in Vavuniya. A decision to this effect was taken in the top-level meeting held at the Vanni Security Forces Head Quarters today.
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Supply convoy crosses into Vanni

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 December 1999, 16:22 GMT]
A convoy of trucks carrying medicine, question papers, mail bags and non-food relief for the displaced people in Madhu, crossed into the Vanni areas held by the Liberation Tigers today, through the Pramanalankulam, Periya Thampanai and Periya Pandivirichchan route, said officials in Vavuniya.
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Jaffna Rights officer transferred

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 December 1999, 19:18 GMT]
Mr.S.Sritharan, the Co-ordinating Officer of the Sri Lanka government funded Human Rights Commission (HRC) in Jaffna has been transferred out of the northern peninsula with immediate effect, sources said.
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Two men shot dead

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 December 1999, 19:17 GMT]
The bodies of two people alleged by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to have been members of the Liberation Tigers were handed over to Vavuniya hospital on December 2 hospital sources said. The pair had been shot through the head, the sources said.
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AG files indictment against Vavuniya Red Cross official

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 December 1999, 15:03 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Attorney General filed an indictment against the Vavuniya Red Cross Society (SLRC) Co-ordinating Secretary Sivananthan Kishore Under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, State Counsel S.Hardy told Supreme Court today.
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Civil Affairs Officers appointed for Tamil areas

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 December 1999, 11:21 GMT]
Three Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Brigadiers, a Naval Commodore and a Senior Superintendent of Police have been appointed as Civil Affairs Officers to five administrative districts in the Tamil-dominated north-east province, government sources said.
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LTTE releases two POWs

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 December 1999, 14:40 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers said today they two Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers, who were in their custody, were relased at Puthukkudiyiruppe in the Mullaithivu district at 9 a.m. this morning.
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O' Level papers and patients taken to Vanni

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 December 1999, 12:35 GMT]
GCE Ordinary Level Examination question papers were sent from Vavuniya to the Vanni areas held by the LTTE today, with the escort of the ICRC along with 13 patients who were treated in Vavuniya hospital, said Harsha Gunawardene, spokesman for the ICRC in Colombo.
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Soldiers' release tomorrow

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 November 1999, 18:59 GMT]
Delegates of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited the 7 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers in the custody of the Liberation Tigers this evening in the Vanni, the spokesman of the ICRC Harasha Gunawardene said.
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Mannar civilians move to safe areas

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 November 1999, 19:58 GMT]
Thousands of residents of Vankalai have moved to Mannar town and Pesalai throughout today said sources. Sri Lankan government officials in Mannar said 7000 people have moved there from Vankalai on the mainland and around 2500 of these have sought refuge at the St. Sebastian church on the island.
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Tigers say Thallady forward defence overrun

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 November 1999, 07:04 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers said this afternoon they captured a key forward defence locality of the strategic Thallady base on the island's northwestern coast. The defences of the Sri Lankan army (SLA) in Seththukkulam were overrun by the fighting units of the Tigers which have been advancing towards the Thallady base and the Mannar- Vavuniya highway in the latest phase of Operation Unceasing Waves III, according to a special news update by the Voice of Tigers this noon.
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Amnesty call over civilian deaths

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 November 1999, 21:44 GMT]
Amnesty International, the London based human rights group, said it was "gravely concerned about the killing of 37 civilians in Madhu church last Saturday, and urged the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and the Liberation Tigers to "to take all necessary measures to prevent civilian casualties".
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SLA activity in Mannar

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 November 1999, 09:46 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops began pouring in large numbers into Mannar town today residents said. The town, on Mannar island, remains tense according to them. The Voice of Tigers (VoT) said in its special broadcasts today that heavy fighting continued in the Manthai area as the LTTE's fighting units pressed on with their offensive.
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Tigers step up attack on Thallady

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 November 1999, 23:17 GMT]
The Voice of Tigers (VOT) said in its night news broadcast today that the Sri Lankan Army's strategic base at Thallady has come under intense attack from new fighting units of the Liberation Tigers that have been sent to the theatre of operations in Mannar. The radio said that sections of the base, including the 21-2 brigade HQ, are burning.
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Madhu inquest held

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 November 1999, 13:09 GMT]
"I found my four children dead when I recovered from the shock caused by the shell explosion" said Chandramohan Suhandini in her evidence at the inquest into the death of 37 refugees, including 13 children at the Madhu Church on Saturday Nov.20. The inquest was held this morning before Mannar district judge Manickavasagar Ilancheliyan at his official residence.
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Tigers push further in Mannar

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 November 1999, 05:24 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers brought more villages under their control as their troops continued operations in the large sector west of Madhu and north of the Vavuniya Mannar highway in the district of Mannar yesterday sources in Vavuniya said this morning. The sources said that the fighting units of the LTTE are moving closer to the Thallady SLA base from the areas captured in the latest phase of the offensive in Mannar.
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Madhu victims’ bodies recovered

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 November 1999, 00:28 GMT]
The bodies of 37 civilians who were killed at the Madhu Church Saturday night were brought to the Mannar hospital Sunday evening around 6 p.m., said sources. The Mannar Magistrate, Mr.Ilancheliyan, inspected the bodies at the hospital, they said.
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“Human shields” at Madhu

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 November 1999, 13:14 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers Sunday denied Sri Lanka Army (SLA) accusations that they had killed scores of Tamil civilians by shelling the revered Catholic shrine at Madhu. The LTTE said SLA troops had shelled the church and used refugees sheltering there as human shields. The Tigers called on international NGOs to prevail upon the Sri Lankan military and halt this practice.
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Wounded Madhu refugees allege SLA fired

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 November 1999, 10:44 GMT]
Wounded refugees who were brought to the Vavuniya hospital speaking on condition of anonymity said this morning that an armoured column of the SLA, retreating from a fierce counter attack by the Liberation Tigers had opened fire on the Madhu shrine where they had been huddled together last night around 10 p.m. killing and wounding scores.
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37 killed at Madhu church

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 November 1999, 09:14 GMT]
Thirty seven civilians were killed and sixty four wounded when shells hit Madhu church amidst fighting between Sri Lankan Army units that had taken up positions in the environs of the Madhu shrine and the Liberation Tigers.
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