Diaspora Tamils condemn Sencholai Attack

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 August 2006, 06:17 GMT]
Diaspora Tamils around the world held protest marches and vigils to condemn the aerial attack of Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) that reportedly killed 61 schoolgirls in Mullaithivu in Vanni, Tuesday. Participants urged the international community to intervene to stop the atrocities of Sri Lanka armed forces and paramilitaries against Tamils in the Northeast, organizers said.
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Heavy fighting breaks out in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 August 2006, 18:25 GMT]
Explosions were heard inside Palaly airbase Wednesday night and heavy fighting was reported at many points of Forward Defence Line (FDL) positions in Jaffna from 6:00 p.m. Flares to illuminate the night sky were seen above the Palaly military base area, and Tiger artillery shells began hitting the base Wednesday night after the explosions ceased, according to initial civilian reports.
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Sri Lankan Kfir jets bomb Vanni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 August 2006, 07:26 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force Kfir jets Wednesday bombed LTTE controlled Vadamaradchi East . A civilian was wounded when the bombers hit Thattuvankotti, located on A9 road, between Elephant Pass and Paranthan, 6.5 km north of Kilinochchi. The attack took place around 1:00 p.m.
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SLA relaxes ban for government servants to enter Wanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 August 2006, 12:23 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has agreed to open Vavuniya-Omanthai check point for limited hours to enable public servants to report for works in government offices located in LTTE held Wanni, according to Vavuniya Government Mr.C.Shanmugam.
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Day of mourning for teenagers killed in airstrike

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 August 2006, 09:50 GMT]
Tamils in the Vanni Tuesday mourned the 61 teenage schoolgirls killed in Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombing Monday. Urging the international community to condemn the attack, the Tamileelam Students Association (TSA) said “there are no words strong enough to condemn the Sri Lankan government’s pre-meditated massacre of innocent school girls in a peaceful learning environment”
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SLA closing down small camps in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 August 2006, 18:48 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers are closing down several small camp-houses in the Jaffna peninsula and withdrawing into stronger camps Monday, sources in the northern peninsula said.
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ITRO condemns SLAF attack on "Peace Village" with 5 orphanages

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 August 2006, 13:42 GMT]
Chencholai Valaham is the campus among the orphanages at the Peace Village of Vallipunam, said the International Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (ITRO London), the representative body of the overseas offices of the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation in a press statement condemning the Sri Lanka Air Force bombing that killed 61 schoolchildren and wounded more than 129. "The area is well known by all parties: the Government of Sri Lanka, the Government Agent, ICRC, UNICEF and all those who work in the Vanni," the organisation said urging the international community to condemn the bombing.
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STF, LTTE clash in Batticaloa, Tiger cadre killed

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 August 2006, 08:34 GMT]
Sri Lanka Special Task Force (STF) troopers and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres manning the Forward Defence Line (FDL) positions in Vellaveli, clashed Sunday morning around 5:15 a.m. Mortar shells were fired towards LTTE FDL and the surrounding villages as a group of STF troopers attempted to move inside the LTTE territory, said LTTE Batticaloa District Poliitcal Head Daya Mohan. A Liberation Tigers cadre was kiled and two STF troopers were wouned in the clash that lasted for more than 45 minutes. Vellaveli is located 25 km southeast of Batticaloa.
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Kethesh Loganathan shot dead

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 August 2006, 16:21 GMT]
Kethesh Logananathan, Deputy Secretary General of Sri Lanka Government's Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP), and a former member of EPRLF, was shot dead by unknown gunmen near Vandervet place in Dehiwela Colombo at 9:30 p.m. Saturday. Mr Loganathan received serious gunshot wounds and died on the way to Kalubowila Hospital, sources in Colombo said.
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8 pilgrims killed in Muhamalai, 4 survive, fate of 37 not known

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 August 2006, 14:56 GMT]
Seven Jaffna civilians returning from a religious pilgrimage to Kathirgamam Hindu Temple were killed by artillery fired by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops retreating north from the Muhamalai checkpost, civil society sources in Jaffna said. The SLA had blocked a bus with 48 civilian pilgrims returning from Kathirgamam to Jaffna Friday evening. Four of the passengers survived artillery and gunfire attacks by the SLA troops while withdrawing from their checkposts. The injured were rescued by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres Saturday. Fate of the others is not known.
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SLA closes Vavuniya, Uyilankulam, Madhu checkpoints

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 August 2006, 12:37 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Saturday morning closed the entry points to and from LTTE held areas in Omanthai, Vavuniya, and in the Mannar district at Uyilankulam and Madhu junction until further notice. Madhu church is located in LTTE held area. Madhu junction is the gateway to Madhu Church located in LTTE area. Due to the closure of the Madhu junction entry point about ten thousand pilgrims who have already gone to attend the annual Madhu church festival are unable to leave for their hometowns in the south and elsewhere in the country, sources said.
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Muhamalai overrun, battle on Mandaithivu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 August 2006, 07:11 GMT]
Heavy fighting is reported at different locations in the southern Jaffna peninsula between Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops and the Liberation Tigers. The Voice of Tigers (VoT) radio confirmed that LTTE forces repelling SLA offensive towards Elephant Pass have now broken through SLA forward defence lines (FDLs) at Muhamalai. But Jaffna correspondents quoted military sources as saying that FDLs had been "breached in several locations." SLA artillery and Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) jets are bombing Mandathivu island, which LTTE officials say had been prepared as a launch pad for another offensive into Vanni.
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SLA allows food convoy after SL President's intervention

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 August 2006, 00:18 GMT]
Soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) manning the checkpoint at Mankerni allowed a convoy of lorries carrying dry ration and other food materials to enter the LTTE held Vaharai area at 5:00 p.m. Friday after Sri Lanka's President intervened on the request of TNA parliamentarian, Mr R Sampanthan, civil society sources said. The relief material was intended for distribution among the thousands of internally displaced Tamil civilians who fled from Muthur east and Eachchilampathu division in Trincomalee district following heavy aerial bombardment and artillery by the SLA, sources said.
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Civilians flee SLA offensive in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 August 2006, 12:10 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Army (SLA) launched heavy artillery bombardment against LTTE-held Elephant Pass area Friday and at 5.40 p.m. troops began moving towards LTTE frontlines at Muhamalai. The Tigers said they are rushing reinforcements to their northern Vanni defences to confront the SLA advance. Civilians have begun fleeing the southern Jaffna area and the town of Pallai is emptying amid hundreds of SLA shells. Meanwhile LTTE artillery counterfire is hitting SLA positions in Nagerkoil, Jaffna sources said.
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Fleeing IDPs bombed in Verugal, five killed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 August 2006, 16:16 GMT]
Fleeing IDPs from Eachchilampathu and Muthur to Vaharai were caught in aerial attack and SLA artillery fire Wednesday evening when they were ferrying through Verugal River to Vaharai division in Batticaloa district. On Wednesday evening around 6.05 p.m. five IDP persons were killed in bombing by Kfir jets and several others injured at Verugal. About thirty five thousand people of around seven thousand families displaced from Muttur east and Eachchilampathu division seeking refuge in Vaharai division in Batticaloa district till Wednesday.
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Tigers checkmate

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 August 2006, 10:05 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers' announcement that they would regard continued ground and air attacks by the Sri Lanka armed forces as declaration of war by Colombo, is an ominous development in Sri Lanka's continuing undeclared war. In addition to forcing the Government of Sri Lanka to choose between war and peace, Tigers have demonstrated their readiness to open multiple battlefronts in other strategic locations of the island to effectively counter the objectives of Sri Lankan military signified by the Trincomalee offensive.


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Thousands flee amid new Sri Lankan bombardment

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 August 2006, 11:20 GMT]
Six hundred Tamil families fled an intense bombardment of villages in LTTE held Eachchilampathu division Tuesday and sought refuge in Vaharai division in Batticaloa district. Continuous artillery fire from Sri Lankan military installations in Trincomalee and its suburbs and from Kallaru Army (SLA) camp drove the four thousand people from their homes. Sri Lankan troops at Kallaru are blocking international and local aid workers from reaching the displaced.
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Bodies of 17 NGO workers brought to Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 August 2006, 09:01 GMT]
The bodies of 17 persons, 16 Tamils and a Muslim, were brought to the mortuary of the Trincomalee general hospital Tuesday in a lorry from Muthur via Allai-Kantalai road. On the orders of the Sri Lankan authorities, a Sinhalese Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) was brought from Anuradhapura to conduct the post-mortem examinations. One of the victims, Y.Kodeeswaran, was the eldest brother of Y.Hemachchandran, another victim of an execution-style massacre by the Special Task Force (STF), the Sri Lankan counter-insurgency elite force in January this year along the Trincomalee sea beach. A father who was a driver, and his daughter, a hygience promoter, were also among the ACF victims.
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SLA sergeant injured in Vavunativu

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 August 2006, 18:43 GMT]
M.Jayantha, 35 years, a Sri Lankan Army (SLA) Sergeant on guard duty at the Vavunativu SLA Camp was injured in an attack on the camp by LTTE cadres at the LTTE Forward Defense Lines (FDL) around 7:00 a.m. Friday, Batticaloa Police said. The injured trooper was admitted to the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital for treatment.
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Shelling, troop movement in Batticaloa, 3 killed

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 August 2006, 11:32 GMT]
As fighting rages in Trincomalee district, to the south, Sri Lanka Army troops Friday attacked Liberation Tigers’ positions in northern part of Batticaloa district. Following five hours of intense shelling, that killed 3 members of a family, SLA troops and paramilitaries advanced towards LTTE positions in Panichchankerni before being beaten back. Meanwhile, a significant number of Sri Lanka Army troops in Batticaloa town have been withdrawn for deployment in Trincomalee and their duties were being assigned to the troops from the elite Special Task Force (STF). All leave has been cancelled for police forces.
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