Vadamaraadchi postal employee reported missing

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 December 2008, 12:33 GMT]
A postal employee attached to Nelliyadi Post Office in Vadamaraadchi is reported missing since 20 December after leaving his home in Kalikai, Thunnaalai, Vadamaraadchi, according to complaint lodged by his father with Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna. Local witnesses had reportedly seen Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers taking away a youth on the same day during night and being interrogated by the SLA soldiers, the father said in the complaint.
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Heavy fighting erupts in Kugnchup-paranthan

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 December 2008, 08:14 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) fighting formations were engaged in a heavy fighting with the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Kugnchup-paranthan, where the SLA suffered a debacle a few weeks ago, according to initial reports from the area.
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Sri Lanka Air Force attacks convent in Vanni, deploys cluster bombs

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 December 2008, 07:40 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombed a convent named Holy Cross Convent, located on Paranthan Mullaiththevu Road, 600 meters away from Paranthan junction Tuesday night around 10:30 p.m., a day before Christmas. TamilNet correspondent who visited the site Wednesday morning witnessed that the attacked premises was marked with Red Cross on the roof. The nearby church also sustained damage. The SLAF deployed cluster munitions in the bombardment, residents who fled the site said. 85 cows of a herd a few meters away from the convent were killed in the attack.
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ICRC worker shot dead in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 December 2008, 06:08 GMT]
A 42-year-old staff attached to the Jaffna office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was shot dead by unknown armed men in Jaffna Tuesday morning at 7:10, Police said. The victim, Suntharalingam Gengatharan, was shot in his head in front of UNHCR office in Jaffna, 100 meters from Nalloor temple, while he was on his way to ICRC office. The killing has taken place in a top security area, protected by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) where NGO and UN offices are situated.
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Hoodlums search, rob Tamil passengers in trains

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 December 2008, 02:30 GMT]
Incidents of Tamil passengers robbed by Sinhala gangs in trains running between Vavuniyaa, Trincomalee and Batticaloa, and Colombo have escalated at alarming rate, according to civil sources. Sinhala hoodlums enter trains when the trains stop at Ragama, Veyangoda, Maho and Anuradhapura stations, and subject Tamil passengers to search amid security provided by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police, civil sources said.
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14-year-old boy killed, 5 wounded in Sri Lankan bombardment in Vanni

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 December 2008, 17:21 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) artillery shelling killed a 14-year-old boy in Vaddakkachchi on Monday around 10:30 a.m. A 32-year-old father sustained injuries in the shelling that continued. In the morning, Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) fighter jets dropped bombs near Ki'linochchi hospital around 6:20 a.m. causing panic among the patients and the staff at the hospital. A mother of 4 children, a male and a 13-year-old boy were wounded in the bombardment. Shrapnels hit the hospital building causing damage. A 56-year-old female was wounded in Vattaappazhai in Mullaiththeevu district. At least 17 houses have sustained damage in the Sri Lankan bombardment on Monday.
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100 SLA killed, 250 wounded, heavy fighting in Ki'linochchi - LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 December 2008, 14:28 GMT]
More than 100 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and at least 250 SLA soldiers wounded Monday when the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) repulsed a fresh offensive push, said S. Puleedevan, the director of LTTE's Peace Secretariat, quoting LTTE's field commanders. Heavy fighting raged from 5:30 to 12:45 when the SLA attempted to advance from Uruththirapuram towards Ki'linochchi and Ira'naimadu. Several corpses of the SLA soldiers were seen in the battlefield and the Tigers were engaged in seizing arms and ammunitions after routing the offensive on two fronts, Mr. Puleedevan further said. The fighting was continuing on three fronts.
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Fresh SLA recruit becomes Prisoner of War

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 December 2008, 21:12 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldier, taken captive by the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) in Ki'laali on 09 December, has revealed that he was attached to Sinha Regiment and sent to the forefront of the offensive immediately after completing his military training at Diyathalawa Army Training Centre on 25 November. The Prisoner of War (PoW), who was allowed to talk to media on Saturday while he was admitted at Ki'linochchi hospital, said he had studied up to 7th standard and joined the SLA considering the economic benefits, but did not expect that he would be sent to the battle front immediately.
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SLA steps up attacks on hospitals in Vanni, disregards Geneva Conventions

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 December 2008, 18:37 GMT]
Mullaiththeevu Government Hospital has come under artillery fire by the Sri Lanka Army despite the Sri Lankan military and civil authorities being repeatedly urged by the medical authorities at the hospital not to fire shells on the civilian medical facility. The government hospital was attacked Monday, Friday and Saturday. Two patients sustained injuries last Monday and two medical staff were wounded in the artillery attack on Friday. The building sustained damage in the bombardment Friday when 5 shells hit the premises. The quarters of the Medical Superintend has also sustained damage for the second time.
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EPDP stages ’protest march’ in Vadamaraadchi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 December 2008, 17:13 GMT]
Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), the paramilitary-cum-political party led by Douglas Devanda, a cabinet minister in Rajapaksa regime, organized a ‘protest march’ in Vadamaraadchi Sunday around 3:15 p.m along Point Pedro-Jaffna road in which hundreds of persons, mostly women, were forced to take part with the armed escort by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers. The marching protestors were instructed to shout slogans calling the SLA to "liberate" the North and to "free" people from LTTE controlled territory in Vanni.
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Slain parliamentarian Maheswaran’s death anniversary held in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 December 2008, 16:24 GMT]
Hundreds of people from different parts of Jaffna peninsula took part in the first death anniversary of Mr. Thiyagarasa Maheswaran held Sunday around 9:00 a.m in the Trustee Board Hall of Kaarainakar Sivan Koayil in his home town. He was gunned down while observing prayers in Colombo Ponnampalavaa'neasvarar Koayil on January 1 this year.
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Douglas, Anandasangari prepare for election campaign in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 December 2008, 12:48 GMT]
Douglas Devananda, a cabinet minister in the Rajapaksa government and the leader of paramilitary-cum-political party EPDP and V. Anandasangari of the TULF, are both busily engaged in preparatory meetings for election campaign in Jaffna, informed sources in Jaffna told TamilNet. No official announcement, however, has been made by Sri Lanka government on holding elections in Jaffna peninsula.
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Young woman shot, injured in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 December 2008, 12:01 GMT]
Gunmen who entered the house of a 20-year-old woman in Nalloor, Jaffna, opened fire on her after obtaining her personal particulars, Saturday night around 11:45 p.m., during SLA imposed curfew, sources in Jaffna said. The woman managed to run away from the armed men but was injured on her leg in the shooting.
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Floods displace thousands in Vanni again

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 December 2008, 18:30 GMT]
More than hundred thousand were displaced due to floods in Mullaiththeevu and Ki'linochchi districts earlier this week, the Government Agent for Ki'ilnochchi district, Imelda Sukumar, told media Saturday. Meanwhile medical sources in Vanni said one civilian was killed by the floods. Students who sat for GCE O/L exams have been disturbed due to the floods, air attacks and artillery shelling by the SLA.
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2 civilians killed in SLA shelling in Vaddakkachchi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 December 2008, 17:21 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired shells killed 2 civilians in Vaddakkachchi in Ki'linochchi Saturday around 3:00 p.m., medical sources in Tharmapuram hospital said. One dead body was brought to Tharmapuram hospital.
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Tigers recover 12 SLA bodies after preemptive strike, 60 killed, 150 wounded

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 December 2008, 16:03 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) counter-offensive units carried out a preemptive strike on Sri Lanka Army (SLA) offensive formation in Mu'rika'ndi - Ira'naimadu area Saturday, killing at least 60 SLA soldiers, LTTE officials told TamilNet. The SLA was pushed back 2 km, and the Tigers said they have recovered 12 dead bodies of SLA soldiers so far in the clearing mission, according to latest update from the LTTE officials in Ki'linochchi. More than 150 SLA soldiers were wounded in the counter operation, Tiger officials told TamilNet.
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Colombo steps up bombardment on Vanni, 3 wounded

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 December 2008, 05:49 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers attacked Saturday a coastal area in Mullaiththeevu where thousands of civilians, recently displaced, had established temporary shelters. The bombers dropped eight bombs on fishing huts and boats, lighting up the stretch using para lights, causing panic among the refugees and the fishermen engaged in fishing at 4:55 a.m. The bombers arrived again at 5:35 to bomb the area with 8 eight more bombs, targeting the temporary shelters of refugees. The SLAF bombers attacked Mullaiththeevu and Ki'linochchi five times within four hours in the morning. Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched an artillery barrage from all the frontiers of Vanni from 4:20 a.m. till 5:50 a.m.
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Rwandan convicted of genocide

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 December 2008, 00:27 GMT]
A senior Rwandan military officer charged with being one of the masterminds of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda was convicted on Thursday by a United Nations court in Tanzania of genocide and sentenced to life in prison. The court used the doctrine of "command responsibility," to convict the "highest authority in the Rwandan Defense Ministry," and also found him "guilty in connection with the killing of 10 Belgian peacekeepers by soldiers at Camp Kigali, and in the organized killings by soldiers and militiamen," International Herald Tribune reported.
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SLA camp closes segment of Point Pedro-Kodikaamam road

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 December 2008, 15:27 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has constructed a large base for its 52nd division enclosing a stretch of the Point Pedro-Kodikaamam road at Va’ra’ni, directing the public to use a sandy path through the coconut grove that runs parallel to the section of the main road closed to the public. Water-logged bypass road has become impassable to traffic, and is likely to force Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) and private bus owners to suspend services in the next few days, sources in Jaffna said.
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Jaffna Bishop urges curfew lift on Christmas, New Year nights

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 December 2008, 15:23 GMT]
Jaffna Bishop, Rt. Rev. Thomas Saundaranayagam, has appealed to Jaffna Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Commander, Major. Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri to lift the SLA imposed night-curfew in Jaffna peninsula on Christmas and New Year nights so as to enable the Christians in the peninsula to attend midnight mass and services in the peninsula churches freely, Rev. Fr. Rosan, Bishop’s Secretary, said in a media release Friday night.
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