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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37 killed, 93 wounded in Jaffna fighting

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 August 2006, 12:46 GMT]
25 Sri Lankan troopers, including 3 officers, were killed and 70 wounded during the past 24 hours in fighting in the Jaffna peninsula, Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Brigadier Ajith Jayawardene, the acting defence spokesman who briefed media in Colombo Saturday. Meanwhile LTTE sources in Kilinochchi said 12 LTTE cadres were killed and 23 were wounded in the clashes.
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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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Sri Lanka ‘blocking massacre probe’ - SLMM

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 August 2006, 12:13 GMT]
Sri Lankan authorities are deliberately hampering efforts to investigate the murder of 17 aid workers, some of whose relatives blame the military, the island's chief truce monitor said on Saturday. “I have experienced this in the Balkans before. When you're not let in, it's a sign that there's something they want to hide,” retired Maj. Gen. Ulf Henricsson, who heads the unarmed Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) told Reuters.
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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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Co-chairs call for immediate cessation of hostilities, international investigation

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 August 2006, 06:49 GMT]
The Co-Chairs of the Tokyo Donor Conference for Sri Lanka Peace Process, the United States, the European Union, Japan, and Norway, Saturday called on the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to cease hostilities immediately and return to the negotiation table. The statement has called for independant, international investigations of serious human rights abuses, including the massacre of 16 Tamil and a Muslim NGO workers of the French NGO Action Faim and the alleged killing of Muslims. "Both parties should take immediate action to allow relief agencies to assist victims from all three ethnic groups and to grant access to disputed areas."
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Exchange of artillery fire continues in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 August 2006, 01:31 GMT]
Exchange of artillery fire has been going on between Sri Lanka Army (SLA) military installations in Trincomalee town and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Muthur East.
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Fighting in Maavilaru

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 August 2006, 01:18 GMT]
Heavy fighting is reported between Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops and LTTE fighters near the Maavil Aru sluice gates in southern Trincomalee district. Sources in Trincomalee town said close-quarter battles are raging and that heavy weapons fire has been stopped by both sides to prevent hitting their respective troops.
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LTTE shells Trincomalee navy base

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 August 2006, 00:44 GMT]
LTTE artillery shells are hitting the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) base in the Trincomalee harbour, sources in the eastern port town said. The shelling, which began at 3 a.m. had ceased at 4 a.m., but resumed at 6 a.m. the sources said. Several artillery shells have hit Chinabay SLAF air base in Trincomalee.


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Jaffna curfew, troops block anxious residents

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 August 2006, 00:34 GMT]
Frightened residents of various parts of Jaffna are unable to flee their homes due to a total curfew imposed by Sri Lanka’s military, sources in the northern peninsula said. Amid heavy shelling by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) towards LTTE-controlled Palai and Elephant Pass and warnings by the LTTE last night that it would retaliate against SLA camps in Thenmaradchchi and Jaffna islets, large numbers of people are anxious to move away from SLA positions.
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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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Oslo’s envoy returns as Sri Lanka expands offensives

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 August 2006, 21:03 GMT]
As Sri Lanka’s government widened its onslaught against LTTE held areas, opening new fronts in Batticaloa and Jaffna districts, in addition to its continuing offensive in Trincomalee district, Norwegian Special Envoy, Jon Hanssen-Bauer return home Friday.
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LTTE shells hit Palaly, civilians urged to move

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 August 2006, 20:13 GMT]
Two Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) helicopters, an Mi-24 gunship and a Bell 212 transport, were damaged by LTTE shells which hit the base Friday night, military sources said. The LTTE Friday vowed to repel a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) offensive on the Elephant Pass area and warned people living close to SLA positions in Thenmaradchchi and some of the islands off Jaffna, including the troubled Allaipiddy, to move away from Sri Lanka military positions for their own safety.
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Tiger aircraft rockets Palaly base, curfew in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 August 2006, 15:53 GMT]
At least one unidentified aircraft flew over the Sri Lankan military base at Palaly firing rockets at around 9.30 p.m. Friday, sources in Jaffna town said. Sri Lanka Army (SLA) artillery fire being directed from the base stopped after the attack, the sources said. Meanwhile a curfew has been clamped on Jaffna town. The LTTE has vowed to repel the SLA offensive on the Elephant Pass area.
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Four wounded in SLA shelling

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 August 2006, 15:03 GMT]
District Medical Officer (DMO) in Kilinochchi has called ambulance personnel to report to work at Kilinochchi hospital after Sri Lanka Army opened up with heavy artillery bombardment against LTTE controlled Palai and Elephant Pass areas, Friday evening. Hospital sources in Kilinochchi said two children who were injured in the SLA shelling in Pallai were brought to the hospital Friday evening. A father and his son, from Sembiyanpatru in Vadamaradchi East were rushed to Kilinochchi hospital Friday night.
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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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LTTE says "casualties" in Tharavai SLAF bombing

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 August 2006, 11:56 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) sources Friday said there were casualties, without specifying figures, in Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombing in Tharavai, northwest of Batticaloa. "The GoSL forces are attempting to open another front of offensive towards Batticaloa," said Director of LTTE's Peace Secretariat S. Puleedevan. He said the Tigers had called on the Norwegian facilitators and the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) to take "immediate steps to cease the Sri Lankan attacks that aimed to put CFA in jeopardy."


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"Restrain armed forces from killing civilians," TNA urges Rajapakse

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 August 2006, 11:26 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Friday wrote to Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse urging him to restrain the Sri Lanka armed forces from killing innocent Tamil civilians, and to ensure proper action is taken against those responsible for such crimes.
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No military solution to the conflict, says US Embassy

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 August 2006, 10:00 GMT]
The US Embassy in Sri Lanka, in a press release issued on Friday said there can be "no military solution to the conflict that continues to divide Sri Lankans. Without political commitment and a spirit of compromise between both parties, there will be no end to the conflict. "There is no other way forward than through a return to negotiations." The United States is "deeply concerned by the dislocation of tens of thousands of innocent civilians and the killing of NGO personnel in the northeast."
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SLAF bombs Tharavai in Batticaloa, UAV spotted over Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 August 2006, 09:27 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) jets fighters, Friday around 1:00 p.m. bombed residential Tharavai, Miankulam and Iralakulam areas in Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled Batticaloa. SLAF Kfir bombers dropped at least 16 bombs in four bombing sorties destroying homes and setting fire to the surrounding scrub jungles. Meanwhile, a UAV reconnaissance aircraft was spotted over Kilinochchi at 2:20 p.m.


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