Tamil businessman shot dead in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 June 2006, 16:40 GMT]
Two armed men who came in a motorbike entered a crowded liquor restaurant in Kommathurai, 16 km northwest of Batticaloa, shot and killed the business owner, Iyathurai Nirmalakumaran, 55, Tuesday around 7:00 p.m., Eravur Police said. The killers were Karuna Group paramilitary cadres, who had been demanding money from the businessman, according to civilian sources in Kommathurai.
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SL Police delay in Allaipiddy investigations unacceptable- Judge

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 June 2006, 13:27 GMT]
Kayts district court Judge, Mr. Jeyaraman Trotsky accused the Sri Lanka Police of attempting to derail the investigations into the Allaipiddy killings in Jaffna islets, when the case was taken up at the Kayts Court Tuesday, legal sources said. Judge Trotsky in the earlier hearings gave 15 days extension to the special Committee lead by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) level officer Mahes Perera to submit a report detailing the investigations into the killings. Mr Mahesh Perera, instead, sent a letter to the judge citing reasons for the inability to submit the report and did not appear in Court, legal sources in Jaffna said.
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SLMM guarantee needed to re-open Muttur east schools-Principals

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 June 2006, 12:24 GMT]
Around eight thousand students are not attending classes since the closure of eighteen government schools in the Liberation Tigers held Muttur east in the Trincomalee district since the three pronged attack launched by the Sri Lankan government forces in the last week of April following the suicide bomb attack on the army commander in Colombo. The artillery fire continued during the second week of June following Kebbitigollawa blast has forced them to continue the closure of schools, said Principals of Muttur east schools in a memorandum sent to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Tuesday.
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Jaffna Rights Group declines offer of SLA protection

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 June 2006, 10:08 GMT]
The new head of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (SLHRC) for the Jaffna district declined Sunday an offer made by the Jaffna Commander of SLA Major General Chandrasiri to provide security for the SLHRC's workers in Jaffna. The SLA offer was made following the death threats received by the previous head of the Commission for the Jaffna Peninsula Rohitha Priyadharshana who has since left Jaffna.
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Pandemonium in SL parliament, JVP wants LTTE banned in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 June 2006, 06:31 GMT]
Speaker Mr.W.J.M.Lokkubandara Tuesday morning adjourned the sitting of the parliament when pandemonium reigned following heated arguments and fisticuffs between a group of parliamentarians of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) over the matter of observing two minute-silence for the Sinhalese civilians killed in Kebbitigollawa claymore mine explosion, and not for Tamil civilians killed by the Sri Lankan troops elsewhere in the NorthEast, parliamentary sources said.
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Clash erupts at Nagarkovil FDL

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 June 2006, 14:43 GMT]
Two Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were wounded in Nagarkovil in a fresh clash between the SLA and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on Monday, according to SLA sources in Jaffna. The Liberation Tigers said they counter-attacked the SLA after LTTE Forward Defence Line (FDL) positions were targeted by SLA artillery fire around 5:45 p.m. Monday. Civilian sources in Thenmaradchi, Jaffna, said artillery fire was initiated from SLA 52 Brigade Head Quarters camp located in Varani.
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Independent Tamil homeland, a reality, not a myth -Elilan

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 June 2006, 11:02 GMT]
"Tamils as a people entitled to right to self-determination and the freedom of Tamil homeland is not a myth but a reality. The hardline Sinhala leadership in the South would come to know this soon," said Mr.S.Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) addressing a gathering of Tamil civilians who participated the civil defence training programme in several villages in the Muttur east Monday, sources in Trincomalee said.
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SLAF Kfir bombers observed over Vanni

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 June 2006, 10:01 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir jets were observed over remote suburbs of Vanni in high altitude around 2:25 p.m. Monday. Civilian sources reported hearing sounds of explosion. Liberation Tigers had earlier warned Colombo that they would be forced to retaliate if SLAF bombers continued to bomb Vanni.
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Mannar Police arrest TRO volunteer

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 June 2006, 07:29 GMT]
One of the volunteers of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), engaged in providing assistance to injured civilians warded in the Mannar district base hospital, was arrested by the Mannar Police on Sunday evening, TRO officials said.
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SLN assaults three Pallimunai fishermen

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 June 2006, 00:31 GMT]
Three fishermen from Pallimunai returning late Saturday around 7:00 p.m.after fishing in Mannar seas were severely assaulted by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) soldiers and have been warded in Mannar Hospital in critical condition, sources in Mannar said. Mannar residents have continued to seek refuge in the three churches in the area after the attack by SLN soldiers at the Our Lady of Victory church in Pesalai Saturday morning which killed 5 civilians and injured over 40, clergy in Pallimunai said.
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STF, paramilitary attack on LTTE office repulsed - LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 June 2006, 14:49 GMT]
Special Task Force (STF), the elite counter insurgency arm of the Sri Lankan forces and paramilitary cadres launched an attack on the Political office of the Liberation Tigers, located in Pavatta, in the interior west of Thirukkovil in Amparai district, Sunday around 2:15 a.m. during the night. The Tigers repulsed the STF and paramilitary cadres, according to Amparai District LTTE Political Head, Jeya. Truce monitors are yet to visit the attack site. Paramilitary cadres brought in 2 lorries are still moving around in the STF controlled area, according to the residents.
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SLA builds new camp in Mallakam

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 June 2006, 13:32 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers have established a new camp in an area between two schools along Jaffna-KKS Road near Mallakam, Mallakam residents said. Soldiers evicted elderly civilian owners from the house last week and have setup the camp in nearly half an acre (10 larchams) of land overnight, including road blocks, local residents said.
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Three SL Police officers killed in Vavuniya claymore attack

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 June 2006, 11:33 GMT]
Three Sri Lanka Police officers including a seargent was killed in a claymore attack in Thuttuwewa, a Sinhala settlement along Horawapotana road at 10:05 a.m. Saturday, Vavuniya Police said. The mine was fitted to a tracter with a water bowzer in tow, sources added.
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Pesalai victims traumatized

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 June 2006, 05:02 GMT]
Bishop Rayappu Joseph, one of the first persons to enter the church, Our Lady of Victory, after the attack targeting civilians who had taken refuge in the church, told media that the attack was carried out by men in blue uniform, alluding that the attackers were Sri Lanka Navy men. "There was no fight on land; no LTTE cadre was present at the attack site in Pesalai," the Bishop of Mannar Diocese told BBC Tamil Service Saturday. Fear has gripped civilians of Pesalai, who have no other place to seek safety, says Parish Priest Vincent Patrick. Nearly 3000 civilians, most of them women and children, were forced to remain inside the Church, for hours, among the flesh and blood of the victims.
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EU ban unfair, effect on expatriate support marginal- Prof. Plate

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 June 2006, 02:50 GMT]
"The European ban of the Liberation Tigers is unfair in one sense, but some one had to crack the ice; the situation cannot go on like this. However, the impact on the expatriate support is uncertain but probably marginal; the expatriates are loyal to a fault," Prof Tom Plate of University of California, Los Angeles, said Saturday when asked to comment on the EU ban.
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LTTE will be forced to retaliate, Thamilchelvan warns Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 June 2006, 09:54 GMT]
The LTTE has requested the Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and the peace facilitor Norway's Ambassador to Sri Lanka to convey a strong warning to Colombo of possible retaliation following the provocative aerial bombing by the Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) in Mullaithivu, Kilinochchi, Batticaloa, and artillery fire towards LTTE territory from Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camps carried out during the last 2 days in violation of the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA), LTTE Head of Political Wing, S.P. Thamilchelvan said in Kilinochchi Saturday.
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Sri Lankan attacks violate CFA, SLMM officials agree with LTTE in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 June 2006, 04:15 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) officials in Trincomalee have explained to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) officials in the district that the aerial bombing and artillery fire, carried out by the Sri Lankan armed forces towards the LTTE controlled territory were considered "clear violations" of the ceasefire agreement, S.Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the LTTE, told media Friday after concluding a meeting with Ove Jensen, Trincomalee district head of the SLMM.
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5 civilians killed, 44 wounded in Pesalai, SLN troopers lob grenades at church

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 June 2006, 02:59 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) troopers shot and killed four fishermen at the shores of Pesalai in Mannar and lobbed at least four grenades Saturday morning into the Church of Our Lady of Victory in Pesalai, killing a woman and wounding at least 44 persons, half of them in critical condition. The four fishermen were killed at the shores of Pesalai, 15 km northwest of Mannar, around 7:00 a.m. Saturday, when the troopers began attacking civilians after a naval battle with the Sea Tigers near Pesalai. Six of eight missing SLN troopers were confirmed dead in the sea fight, according to SLN sources.
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Mannar Bishop calls for end to violence

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 June 2006, 18:21 GMT]
Rt.Rev.Rayappu Joseph, Bishop of Mannar Diocese Friday said killings of civilians have increased several folds after the first round of Geneva peace talks and appealed to the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to resume the stalled peace talks immediately, with the facilitation of the international community and to put an end to these killings. The Bishop was addressing a meeting held in the premises of Mannar St.Mary's Cathedral, Friday morning.
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Three Tamil youths shot dead in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 June 2006, 12:23 GMT]
Three Tamil civilian youths were shot dead allegedly by soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Friday morning at Periyakulam, located close to the Welgampura along Trincomalee-Anuradhapuram Road about ten km off the east port town, civil sources in Trincomalee said. A large Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp is located in Periyakulam area.
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