Thousands throng Balasingham’s funeral held in London

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 December 2006, 10:16 GMT]
Thousands of Tamils in London have been paying their respects to Anton Balasingham, the LTTE’s theoretician and chief negotiator who passed away last Thursday. Thousands of people are filing past Mr. Balasingham’s body which is lying in state at Alexandra Palace in north London. In parallel, a funeral service is being held in Vanni, with footage from each location being broadcast to the other.
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SLA trooper seriously injured in claymore attack in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 December 2006, 10:04 GMT]
Unidentified persons triggered a claymore device Wednesday around 12:10 p.m, concealed in a rubble heap along the A9 route at Thandikulam in Vavuniya, seriously injuring a Sri Lanka Army (SLA)trooper who was first rushed to Vavuniya hospital and later transferred to Anuradapura hospital for further treatment, Vavuniya police said.


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Reduced curfew hours bring little succor to Jaffna residents

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 December 2006, 20:09 GMT]
The reduction in curfew hours announced by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) for Jaffna district brings little relief to the residents cut-off from rest of Sri Lanka, living with severe shortage of food and basic essentials, and gripped with fear of abduction by SLA and paramilitaries as part of the counter-insurgency campaign unleashed by Colombo, civil society sources from Jaffna said.
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Jaffna security arrangements add to Islets residents woes

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 December 2006, 16:48 GMT]
Recent relocation of Jaffna bus terminal to Pannai by Sri Lanka Army (SLA), and overflow of traffic along outer peripheral roads due to reconfiguration of traffic flow including prohibition of parking, have created additional burdens to families from the islets entering and leaving Jaffna town, civil society leaders said. Restrictions of intra-islet travel, and of transport in interior land routes have added further hardships for the people in these areas.
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Mannar shuts down, traders ignore SLA threats

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 December 2006, 11:36 GMT]
General shut down was observed in Mannar Thursday in remembrance of the internally displaced people in Vaharai in Batticaloa district killed due to the indiscriminate artillery fire and air strike by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), sources in Mannar said. The appeal for show of solidarity was made by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).
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Vavuniya shuts down in remembrance of Vaharai victims

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 December 2006, 08:46 GMT]
Normal life in Vavuniya Wednesday was affected to a great extent because of the shut down observed in remembrance of the dead Internally Displaced Persons of Vaharai in the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) rocket and artillery fire. Shops, bankss, government and private institutions remained closed in response to the request made by the Vanni Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians.


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"Colombo on genocidal war path" - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 December 2006, 23:50 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Political Head, S. P. Thamilchelvan, in his address on International Human Rights Day held in Kilinochchi Sunday, stated that the Sri Lankan Government, depriving the Tamil people of their fundamental birthrights such as the "right to life, right to national identity and the right to homeland," and disabling the Ceasefire Agreement with its presently introduced "Prevention of Terrorism" act, was on a "genocidal war path," violating not only human rights laws, but also the Geneva humanitarian laws by carrying out bombardments on hospitals and schools. "Tamil people stand deceived by the membership conferred on the Sri Lankan state to the newly formed Human Rights Council."
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Terror campaign stepped up in Trincomalee, 5 Tamils killed since Wednesday

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 December 2006, 10:33 GMT]
A Tamil civilian was shot dead and another wounded Friday evening in Orr's Hill, a suburb of Trincomalee town, bringing the death toll to 5 in individual slayings since Wednesday. Armed men who came in a three-wheeler opened fired at the victims Friday night around 7.30 p.m in front of a house along Lower Road in Orr's Hill. The victim, identified as 46 year-old Desmond Antony, was a sea diver. Tension prevailed in the area following the shooting.
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SLA fired artillery shells hit school, 13 refugees wounded

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 December 2006, 06:29 GMT]
Thirteen refugees, including a 4-year-old child, were wounded when Sri Lanka Army fired artillery shells hit a school in Paalchenai, 8 km north of Vaharai Saturday, around 11:20 a.m., as SLA intensified a ground offensive from Eachilampattu, via A15 trunk road towards Verugal, 15 km northwest of Vakarai amid indiscriminate artillery barrage. Nine wounded refugees from the school where IDP families were staying, were rushed to Vaharai hospital, medical sources said. Heavy fighting was reported between Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lanka Army at Eachilamapattu.
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Two SLA troopers killed in claymore attack, a civilian shot dead in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 December 2006, 10:49 GMT]
Unidentified persons triggered a claymore device Wednesday around 7:45 p.m on the Chettikulam-Madavadchi road in Vavuniya killing two Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers on the spot and in a separate incident on the same night around 7:30 p.m, unidentified armed men shot dead a civilian at Sasthrikoolankulam in Vavuniya, the police in Vavuniya said.


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Two Tamil civilians shot dead, one injured in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 December 2006, 09:38 GMT]
Unidentified armed persons shot dead two Tamil villagers at Uppuveli in Trincomalee when they were returning in their carts with firewood from Kanniya, a village located about eight km off northwest of the east port city. Another Tamil civilian was injured in the incident, Uppuveli police said.


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Imperiled livelihood

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 December 2006, 02:46 GMT]
Jaffna's 'fisheries belt' which accounted for 37 percent of the island’s total catch two decades ago, today lies inside the Sri Lanka Army’s (SLA's) largest high security zone in the northeast. The peninsula's sea coasts, including the southern coastal waters of Jaffna lagoon, except Jaffna Islets, remain off-limits for fishing under a Sri Lanka Military enforced ban. In this scenario, the Sunday announcement by SLA that fishing ban in Vadamarachchy North is relaxed for fishing within 50 meters from the shore, is unlikely to lend succor to the fisher families struggling in dire poverty without a means of livelihood.
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Pope's envoy, US Embassy Officials visit Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 December 2006, 00:15 GMT]
The resident representative of Vatican to Sri Lanka, Rev. Mario Zanari, visited Jaffna Wednesday to observe the prevailing situation in the Peninsula and the hardships faced by the people in the aftermath of the closure of A-9 road in August, Bishop's house sources said. Four Officials from the US Embassy in Colombo also arrived in Jaffna for a fact-finding mission.


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Vavuniya identification parade postponed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 December 2006, 02:22 GMT]
Manickavasagar Ilancheliyan, Vavuniya District Magistrate, postponed the identification parade related to the killing of five students of Thandikulam School of Agriculture originally scheduled to be held Tuesday, to December 19, legal sources in Vavuniya said.
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GoSL considering proscription, reimposition of PTA

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 December 2006, 00:36 GMT]
The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) is considering seriously to proscribe the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) and re- impose the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) again, Ratnasri Wickramanayake, the Premier and Deputy Defense Minister of Sri Lanka, announced in Parliament Tuesday, while addressing allocation of funds to the Ministry of Defense in the new budget for the year of 2007, Parliamentary sources said.
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Road Authority vehicle damaged in DPU claymore attack

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 December 2006, 12:49 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) attackers, exploded a Claymore mine, damaging a Road Development Authority vehicle at Moonru Murippu along Mankulam-Mallavi Road in Liberation Tigers controlled territory in Vanni around 4.00 p.m.
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2 Priests, 2 youths arrested for subversive activities in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 November 2006, 05:17 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police officials produced two catholic priests and two youths before Additional Magistrate M .Thirunavukarasu on Wednesday, accusing the four of indulging in activities defaming both the Goverment of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Sri Lanka Military, legal sources in Jaffna said. The magistrate however, instructed the police to contact the Attorney General and submit a report concerning the feasibility of filing charges against the accused.
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SLA relocates Jaffna Central Bus Terminal

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 November 2006, 18:17 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Commanding Officer in Jaffna informed the media in Jaffna Wednesday that the Central Bus Terminal located in the heart of Jaffna town and close to Jaffna Teaching Hospital will be shifted to an area near Pannai Bridge with effect from Thursday. The SLA also informed the media that Stanley Road in Jaffna town will be closed in the future.
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Tree planting encouraged in Mullaithivu on Pirapaharan's birthday

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 November 2006, 18:52 GMT]
Business Union in Mullaithivu, on Sunday, organised an event to celebrate the 52nd birth day of LTTE leader V.Pirapaharan. Sea Tiger Special Commander Col. Soosai took part in the event where tree saplings were gifted, encouraging the local community to plant trees along the coast, ravaged by the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004.
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LTTE leader participates in Heroes commemoration event

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 November 2006, 08:22 GMT]
Leader of Liberation Tigers, Velupillai Pirapaharan, took part in a commemoration event held in Vanni Saturday when the three-day long 'Tamil National Heroes Day' remembrance events were inaugurated. From 27 November 1982, when the first LTTE fighter Lt.Sanker was killed, until 20 November 2006, a total of 18,742 fighters have died, all of whom have been declared War Heroes by the LTTE. 818 LTTE fighters, 568 men and 250 women fighters of the LTTE, have been killed in a largely defensive war faced by the Tigers in 2006. The list also includes members of Eelam Revolutionary Organization of Students (EROS) and selected members of other organisations.
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