On duty, armed - and drunk

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 December 1998, 18:18 GMT]
Batticaloa was tense this evening as shots were fired in the heart of the town from the upper floor of the Orient Hotel building in front of the Police quarters. Military trained Policemen and SLA soldiers took cover in their bunkers as the firing commenced.
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Frustrated troops destroy property

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 December 1998, 10:09 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) burnt a grocery and barbershop last night in Kannankiramam, a village on the outskirts of Valaichenai, 32 kilometers north of Batticaloa.
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New amnesty for deserters - SLA

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 December 1998, 15:12 GMT]
Twenty six soldiers were wounded in limited operations conducted by the Sri Lankan Army in Kudarappu and Kaithady in Jaffna and in the Paranthan during the last 48 hours said military spokesman Brig.Sunil Tennekoon, addressing journalists at the cabinet press briefing today. He said that 21 Tigers were killed in Paranthan and 6 Tigers in Jaffna in these operations.
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Batticalo councillor arrested

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 December 1998, 17:20 GMT]
Rasaiah Prabhaharan a member of the Batticaloa Municipal Council was arrested by the Sri Lankan Army and was severely beaten by soldiers in public before being handed over to a special Police investigation unit this morning.
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New SLA commander assumes duties

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 December 1998, 16:48 GMT]
"We urgently need twenty thousand more troops to fight the Liberation Tigers" said Sri Lanka's new Army commander, Lt. Gen. Sri Lal Weerasooriya, addressing a press conference this morning soon after assuming duties. He added that meeting this need by having recourse to conscription is not practical (in Sri Lanka).
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News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 December 1998, 22:04 GMT]
Police in Amparai shot and killed three youths and arrested a jeweller in connection with two motorbikes they found fixed with explosives. A special combat unit of PLOTE cadres is to work with the Sri Lankan Army in operations against the Tigers.
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TULF team in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 December 1998, 20:23 GMT]
A four member team of the TULF arrived in Jaffna by a special Sri Lankan military flight today to revive the function of the Jaffna Municipal Council. The team is in Jaffna with a mandate to ratify the Council's budget for 1999 said party sources.
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Congressional discussion focuses on Rights violations

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 December 1998, 17:56 GMT]
A five member panel of experts on Human Rights violations in Sri Lanka, speaking at Congressional Human Rights Caucus staff round table discussions, were unanimous in their call to the Sri Lankan Government to expedite the investigations into the alleged mass graves at Chemmani, Jaffna where up to 400 bodies of Tamils disappeared in 1996 and 1997 may be buried.
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Young girl escapes death to give evidence

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 December 1998, 08:29 GMT]
"On the day of the incident three soldiers entered our house. One of the soldiers asked us to get into one of the rooms. He placed the gun on our heads, threatened to kill us if we made any noise, and asked for our names. He then put the lamp out and emptied the bullets on us," said the 16-year old girl, Sinnarasa Vinodhini, while giving evidence to the Human Rights Commission on December 10th.
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Garment factory to employ disabled soldiers

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 December 1998, 19:02 GMT]
Sri Lankan Deputy Minister of Defence Gen.Anurudha Ratwatte ceremonially opened today a large scale, modern garment factory called 'Ranaviru Apparels', at Yakkala, for the benefit of the disabled soldiers.
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Three Tigers killed - SLA

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 December 1998, 18:59 GMT]
Three Liberation Tigers were shot dead by the government forces in fresh clashes in the Vanni region security sources said. Soldiers on duty ahead of their defences sniped and killed two tigers north west of Oddusuddan and another tiger member was killed in a sniper fire at Kilinochchi on Wednesday, said the sources.
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Oddusuddan people arrive in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 December 1998, 14:24 GMT]
One hundred and sixty four persons, from 33 families who were in Oddusuddan when the Sri Lankan Army moved into the village last weak, have been brought to Vavuniya by military officials, said sources in Vavuniya said.
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Jaffna-Trincomalee ferry service resumes

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 December 1998, 20:56 GMT]
Sources in the north said that the cargo ship 'Lanka Muditha' is scheduled to sail to Trincomalee from Jaffna on December 11 with 1000 passengers. It is expected that the ship will return from Trincomalee to Jaffna in order to make another trip.
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Army presence leads to social problems - report

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 December 1998, 12:35 GMT]
The presence of the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) in the Sinhala border areas of the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka has created massive social problems, said the commissioners of the Fact Finding Citizen's Commission on the Border Villages in the Northeast Affected by the War.
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SLA fire kills two children

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 December 1998, 09:06 GMT]
A three month old infant and his fifteen year old brother were killed allegedly when the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) opened fire in a house at Kilaly, southeast of Jaffna last night said hospital sources in the north.
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Roundup at Jaffna bus station

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 December 1998, 18:28 GMT]
Nearly 50 Sri Lankan Army (SLA) soldiers who came on bicycles rounded up bystanders and passengers at the Jaffna Bus Station and conducted a search operation today. The operation went on for several hours, said sources.
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General Ratwatte escapes mortar attack

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 December 1998, 16:23 GMT]
General Anurudha Ratwatte, the Deputy Minister of Defence had a narrow escape, from an LTTE mortar attack at Oddusuddan around 2.15 this afternoon. According to the Lakhande Radio's Sinhala service the LTTE's first mortar landed 15 metres from where the General stood.
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Tiger shelling wounds SLA officer

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 December 1998, 13:14 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) said that the Liberation Tigers fired three artillery rounds on the convoy and escort of Sri Lanka's deputy defence mininster, Gen. Anuruddha Ratwatte, and the commanders of the Sri Lankan Air Force, Navy, and Army, around 10.30 a.m., killing four soldiers and injuring forty two.
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Separate department for the disabled

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 December 1998, 16:05 GMT]
The Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunge, while addressing the 8th Annual Sports meet of the Disabled said that a separate department will be set up to look after the welfare and the needs of the disabled in the country. The sports meet was held at the Grounds of the Sports Ministry on Thursday 3 December.
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SLA abandons operation Jeyasikurui

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 December 1998, 16:07 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) said that 'Operation Jayasikuri' (Victory Assured), its biggest military operation against the Liberation Tigers in the fifteen year old ethnic conflict has been called off in a communiqué released this evening.
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