May Day observed in Vanni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 May 2007, 10:41 GMT]
Hundreds of residents of different parts of Vanni participated in the May Day events held Tuesday in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts, sources in Kilinochchi said. Three separate regional events were held in Kilinochchi district, and the event in Kilinochchi town was held in the Kilinochci Co-operative Hall at 10:00 a.m.
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RSF condemns murder of Jaffna journalist

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 May 2007, 01:12 GMT]
Reporters Without Borders (RSF - Reporters Sans Frontiers) the French based Journalist organization condemned the killing of young journalist, Selvarajah Rajivarman, who was killed in Jaffna Sunday by a lone gunman riding a motorbike.
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SLTMA urges action on Journalist's killing

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 April 2007, 20:37 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance (SLTMA ) in a communique issued Sunday appealed to the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) to take immediate action to find those involved in the killing of Uthayan journalist Selvarajah Rajivarman in Jaffna Sunday morning, sources in Jaffna said.


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Air Tigers attack 2 targets in Colombo - LTTE

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 April 2007, 22:33 GMT]
Two oil storages that supply fuel to Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers were attacked by the Tamileelam Air Force, Tiger Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan told TamilNet. Oil and fuel storages in Kolonnawa and Muththuraajawala were attacked by the TAF at 1:50 a.m. Sunday and at 2:05 a.m. after Sri Lanka Air Force bombers attacked a suburb of Kilinochchi town in Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam administered territory, Mr. Ilanthirayan said adding that the Tiger bombers had safely returned to their airbase in Vanni.
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Colombo in dark following airstrike alarm

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 April 2007, 20:11 GMT]
Power supply was cut off in Colombo at 1:10 a.m. Sunday when the city was watching the Cricket world cup final match. Sri Lanka Air Force personnel opened fire in the air and Sri Lankan armed forces from their positions in Colombo, Ratmalana, Wattala, Negombo, Kolonnawa, Rajagiriya and other suburbs of the city began firing tracer bullets into the air. Chaos and pandemonium prevail in Sri Lanka's capital.
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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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Barrage of gunfire as Tiger aircrafts complete bombing raid, woman wounded

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 April 2007, 13:26 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers in camps across Jaffna Peninsula emptied bullets in the air in a barrage of gunfire after Tamileelam Air Force (TAF) attacked SLA's main base complex in the Jaffna peninsula in the early hours of Tuesday morning, residents in the peninsula said. A woman was wounded in Eezhaalai, 5 km southwest of Palaali when Sri Lanka Army soldiers opened fire from their positions as the Tiger aircrafts, that completed their mission inside the High Security Zone of the Palaali garrison, flew at low altitude on their way back to Vanni.
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Sri Lanka seeks US petroleum investors

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 April 2007, 10:49 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Minister for Petroleum and Petroleum Resources Development, A. H. M Fowzie, will lead delegation on May 1 to a key meeting in Texas of investors in oil exploration organized by the US embassy in Colombo, reports said. Minister Fowzie and the US ambassador to Sri Lankan Robert O’ Blake are expected to address the breakfast meeting scheduled for May 1 in Houston, the Daily Mirror reported.
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Tiger aircrafts bomb Palaali military base

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 April 2007, 22:09 GMT]
Two attack aircraft of the Liberation Tigers bombed the Sri Lankan military’s main base complex in the Jaffna peninsula in the early hours of Tuesday morning, inflicting heavy damage and casualties, LTTE military spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan told TamilNet. Tamileelam Air Force bombers had hit an Engineering Unit of the complex and a military storage, the Tigers spokesman claimed. Meanwhile sources said continuous explosions were heard from inside the High Security Zone for five hours after the air raid. Military sources in Colombo confirmed that at least 6 of their personnel were killed. Informed military sources said more than 30 troopers were wounded the attack inside the HSZ.
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Canadian Tamil concludes fast, urges Canada to exert pressure on Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 April 2007, 13:41 GMT]
A Canadian Tamil peace activist in Toronto, Dr. Sri Skanda Rajah, on Saturday concluded a six day Ghandian fast, he undertook to sympathize with the victims in NorthEast Sri Lanka. Urging the Canadian Government to exert pressure on the Sri Lankan Government to help "stop the carnage, starvation and the human rights abuses perpetrated by the Sri Lankan armed forces," Dr. Sri Skanda Rajah said the fast was a spiritual exercise that transcended partisan politics and asked those who attended not to make political capital of the endavour.
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Sri Lanka steps up air strikes on Vanni

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 April 2007, 13:33 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) has stepped up bombardment on Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) territory in Mullaitheevu and Kilinochchi districts during the past week. A civilian was wounded Friday, when Sri Lanka Air Force bombers hit Puthukudiyiruppu 9th Division twice Friday. SLAF MiG and Kfir bombers were observed over Kilinochchi Saturday.
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SLA soldiers gun down fellow soldier in Allaippitti

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 April 2007, 10:23 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers at a sentry post in Allaipitti area shot dead Tuesday night a fellow trooper, approaching their sentry post, suspecting the soldier as a Tiger fighter on a recon mission, who failed to respond to their queries, SLA sources said.
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Pirapaharan confers Maamanithar award to Poet Naavannan

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 April 2007, 06:27 GMT]
Leader of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Velupillai Pirapaharan, Saturday bestowed the title Maamanithar (Great Human being) posthumously on poet Naavannan, Marusaleen Soosainayagam, who passed away on April 15 last year in Vanni at the age of 58. Mr. Pirapaharan honoured the late poet, a Catholic who hailed from Mannar, for his literary contribution to the Tamil struggle.
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2 ambulances with 11 patients turned back at Omanthai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 April 2007, 07:40 GMT]
Two ambulances from Kilinochchi district hospital, in need of urgent medical transportation to Vavuniya hospital, were forced on Tuesday to return to Kilinochchi as the ambulances were not allowed to proceed beyond Omanthai SLA checkpost due to the closure of the entry point by the Sri Lanka Army. Exchange of artillery fire following Sri Lankan troops attempt to move into LTTE territory had caused the closure of Omanthai gateway.
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SLA operation in southern front thwarted, 8 SLA bodies recovered - LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 April 2007, 06:03 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Wednesday morning said they have repulsed a fresh ground operation by the Sri Lanka Army that attempted to move towards Paalamoddai, northwest of Vavuniya, according to the Military Spokesman of the Tigers, Irasiah Ilanthirayan. SLA troopers, on retreat, have left behind their dead soldiers, arms and ammiunition, including a Rocket Propelled Grenade Launcher and 15 automatic guns. Eight bodies of SLA troopers were located by the Tigers who were clearing the area, according to the latest information provided by the LTTE field officials in Vanni. The bodies are to be handed over to the ICRC.
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UNP leader slams Rajapakse regime for "notorious Human Rights record"

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 April 2007, 10:58 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Opposition Leader Ranil Wickramasinghe, who attended a confluence of the relatives and friends of the missing persons, held in Colombo Monday, charged that the ruling United Peoples' Freedom Alliance (UPFA) regime was responsible for the bad reputation of the Sri Lankan state's Human Rights record. 88 persons have been either abducted or gone missing since August 2006 up to now, according to the records of the Civil Monitoring Committee (CMC), an ongoing initiative by a few involved politicians.
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Karuna threats prevent Batticaloa MPs from visiting electorates

[TamilNet, Monday, 09 April 2007, 11:57 GMT]
"Due to death threats from Sri Lanka Army (SLA) backed Karuna group in Batticaloa district, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians representing constituencies in the district have not been able to go to their electorates for the last six months, affected parliamentarians said. Batticaloa MPs have been unable to even participate in high level planning meetings where the district's urgent needs are discussed and decisions taken,TNA parliamentarians told media Sunday.
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SLA accused of claymore attack on passenger bus

[TamilNet, Sunday, 08 April 2007, 03:32 GMT]
Vanni district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Mr.V.Selvam Adaikalanathan in a statement issued Sunday accused the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) for the claymore mine attack on the passenger bus at Piramanalankulam bound for Vavuniya from Mannar on Saturday. Eight civilians were killed and about 25 injured in the attack.
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Jaffna peninsula faces electricity shortage

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 April 2007, 01:04 GMT]
Electricity supply to the Jaffna peninsula is danger of being curtailed severely following the announcements by the two private operators of electric power plants that they will be decreasing production of electricity due to contractural issues and other logistical difficulties, civil sources in Jaffna said.


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Stranded workers demand temporary employment in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 April 2007, 00:00 GMT]
Over one thousand graduates from Jaffna peninsula employed in Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)- controlled Wanni district began a protest on Wednesday morning at 7:00 a.m outside the premises of Jaffna Education department and the Secretariat of Additional Provincial Director of Education located at Nallur, Muthiraisanthy demanding temporary employment in the peninsula until proper transportation arrangements are made.
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