Tigers repulse Sri Lankan offensive in Mannar, recover 5 SLA bodies

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 May 2007, 13:41 GMT]
Liberation Tigers recovered 5 dead bodies of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers as more than 300 SLA troopers who advanced into LTTE controlled area in Thampa:nai in Mannar (Ma:n:naar) - Vavu:niya border were repulsed after 10 hours of heavy fighting in the area, LTTE's Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan told media in Ki'linochchi.
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SLA assault repulsed in Vavuniya - LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 May 2007, 05:51 GMT]
A group of Sri Lanka Army soldiers who attempted to move towards Naavatku'lam in Liberation Tigers controlled territory in Vavuniya Mannar border Sunday morning were repulsed and 2 SLA soldiers were killed, LTTE's military spokesman told media. On Saturday, five days after the Tigers shot down a Sri Lankan jet fighter, the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) attacked Puthukkudiyiruppu in Mullaiththeevu district. Meanwhile, 3 Sea Tigers were killed in action Friday night, when a sea-fight broke off Pulmoaddai in the north-east coast. Both the LTTE and the Sri Lanka Navy claimed to have inflicted heavy damage on the other in the clash off Pulmoaddai seas.
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35 civilians arrested in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 May 2007, 11:29 GMT]
Sri Lankan armed forces Thursday and Friday arrested thirty-five civilians, majority of them Tamils, in cordon and search operations conducted in Wellawatte, and Vaalaithoddam in Colombo city. Five have been remanded on the orders of the Colombo Magistrate and the others are detained in police station and are being interrogated, police sources said.
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Police powers to military threatens democracy - NPC

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 May 2007, 06:16 GMT]
Colombo based National Peace Council, a peace group, Friday said it was "extremely concerned," about SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa's decision, a month ago, about delegating police powers to the military. "There is an urgent need for the government to demonstrate clear political will in regard to law and order processes if it is to retain the confidence of the civilian population that it is not taking the country on a journey to anarchy and to the breakdown of democratic governance," the NPC said. The group said it was apprehensive that this government decision will send wrong signals and lead to an aggravation of the hardships faced by the civilian population.
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Katunayake international airport to be shut down at night

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 May 2007, 19:36 GMT]
The Katunayake International Airport, the main airport in the island is to be shut down for civilian air traffic during nights between 10.30 p.m. till 4:30 am from May 10, according to Sri Lanka's civil aviation sources. The restriction is being instituted as a temporary security measure and no passenger planes will be allowed to land or leave between these hours
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UK arms sales to Sri Lanka match tsunami aid

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 May 2007, 16:45 GMT]
Britain licensed £7 million worth of weapons and military equipment for export to Sri Lanka this year alone, it was revealed during a debate in Parliament Wednesday. The sum matches the amount of British aid provided in the wake of December 2004 tsunami. On Thursday the UK government said it was holding back half its £3 million annual aid allocation for this year citing British concerns over human rights in Sri Lanka.
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1 Police, 3 civilians killed in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 May 2007, 10:16 GMT]
One Sri Lanka Police constable was killed when unknown gunmen fired at the sentry point in Pampaimadu in Vavuniya Thursday morning Vavuniya police said. The gunmen escaped amid hail of return fire by the police said. Meanwhile, three bodies of civilians were recovered in two sites in Vavuniya Thursday morning, sources said.
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Tiger planes hit Sri Lanka economy

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 May 2007, 18:12 GMT]
Whilst Sri Lanka’s government has brushed aside the threat posed by the Liberation Tigers’ air attacks, the tourist industry is bracing for further setbacks as airlines pull out and other countries warn citizens to stay away. In addition to tourist arrivals falling further, Colombo’s potential as a passenger transit hub was been stymied, Hindustan Times reported. Defence spending is expected to soar as Colombo defends against the LTTE’s aircraft. Even before the recent raids, ratings agency Fitch had given Sri Lanka a rating of BB- with a negative outlook as the domestic security situation posed risks to economic stability and growth.
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Australia arrests will jeopardize humanitarian help- AFTA

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 May 2007, 11:55 GMT]
The recent arrests in Australia of Tamil activists on allegations of misdirecting of funds for the LTTE, "could jeopardize the humanitarian projects funded by the Australian Tamil community and NGOs that assist over 500,000 internally displaced Tamil civilians in the Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka. Denial of this assistance to the needy would only help the Sri Lankan government in their attempt to “beat the Tamil people in Sri Lanka into submission,"" the Australasian Federation Of Tamil Associations (AFTA) said in a press release issued Wednesday.
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Tamil civilian shot dead in Moothoor

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 May 2007, 10:38 GMT]
Unidentified armed men shot dead a fifty-eight year-old civilian at Me:nkaamam, a Tamil village in the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled territory in Moothoor south division in Trincomalee district Tuesday night, Moothoor police sources said.
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Two Tamils arrested in Puttalam

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 May 2007, 16:11 GMT]
Sri Lanka Government armed forces Tuesday arrested two Tamil civilians in Puttalam area during the cordon and search operation, sources in Puttalam said. The two had failed to prove their identity and the reason for their stay in the location, police sources said.
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Three Tamils arrested in Morawewa

[TamilNet, Monday, 30 April 2007, 20:31 GMT]
Sri Lanka Security forces arrested three Tamil civilians in Gomarankadawela village in Morawewa division in Trincomalee district during a cordon and search operation Monday morning. Police sources said they three were taken into custody on suspicion, as they failed to provide satisfactory explanation for their stay in the area.
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Tamil youth shot dead in Moothoor

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 April 2007, 10:54 GMT]
Unidentified armed persons shot dead a Tamil civilian in Pattithidal in Moothoor south division in Trincomalee district Saturday night around 10 p.m. A group of armed men had dragged the victim out of his house and fired at him, sources said.
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Government officials visit Paduvankarai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 April 2007, 18:58 GMT]
A team of government officials visited Paduvankarai region in Batticaloa district Friday, for the first time after residents had fled the region due to the offensive by the Sri Lankan armed forces in March, sources in Batticaloa said. The team consisting of officials from the Departments of Education, Health, Electricity, Highways, Irrigation, Cooperatives and Agrarian Services were joined by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) commanders and Senior Superintendent of Police, Batticaloa.
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16 civilians arrested in Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 April 2007, 17:57 GMT]
Sixteen civilians, majority of them Tamils, were arrested in a four-hour cordon and search operation conducted in Colombo city by Sri Lanka's security forces Saturday. Twelve of them were taken into custody for alleged involvement in terrorist activities, police sources said.
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Taraki Sivaram remembered

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 April 2007, 10:14 GMT]
"We once again remember with pride the service rendered to the media by Taraki Sivaram. He exercised his right to freedom of expression without fear. We bear this in our minds as we take it among the people on his second death anniversary," the statement issued by North Sri Lanka Journalists Association (NSLJA) Friday said. Members of NSLJA and Jaffna University Media Research & Training Centre (MRTC) jointly took part in the first event of a programme launched to remember Taraki Sivaram, the well-known, political analyst and senior editor of TamilNet, on the second anniversary of his assassination on 28 April 2005.
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CID requests Allaipiddy identification parade moved out of Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 April 2007, 09:24 GMT]
Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials investigating into the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) Allaipiddy killing of August 2006 in which 11 civilians were killed, submitted a petition Thursday to Kayts Magistrate Mr. Jeyaraman Trostky, saying they had sought advice from the Attorney General to conduct the identification parade either in Trincomalee or Amparai areas, as it was not possible to organize a parade involving many soldiers in Kayts, due to the current extraordinary situation, legal sources in Jaffna said.
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Civilian found dead in Thenmaradchi

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 April 2007, 09:15 GMT]
Kodikamam police recovered the body of a family man Thursday morning at Yathali, Thavalai area in Varani, Thenmaradchy and handed it over to Jaffna Teaching hospital. The victim lived within the demarcated boundary of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) High Security Zone, an area where the 52nd SLA division and SLA camps are located.


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Civilian killed, 2 injured in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 April 2007, 01:20 GMT]
A Tamil family man was killed and two, including a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) trooper, were injured in an attack Wednesday around 7:10 p.m on a SLA sentry unit posted near a lake at Sithandy, Morokodanchenai in Eravur police division in Batticaloa district, Eravur police said. The attack was launched from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held area across the lake and the civilians were caught in the attack, the police claimed.
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Court releases 8 Tamil youths, orders detention of one woman

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 April 2007, 21:01 GMT]
Colombo Chief Magistrate Wednesday ordered the release of six Tamil civilians and detention of one Tamil woman to a Rehabilitation Centre in the south. They were arrested in a cordon and search operation in Moratuwa in western province two months ago and detained in the Boosa detention centre in Galle.
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