Mother of three killed in SLA DPU attack in Vanni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 November 2008, 16:06 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Deep Penetration Unit detonated a Claymore mine targeting a tractor, killing a 49-year-old mother of three, P. Packiyaluxmy, Wednesday morning at 9:10 a.m., according to medical sources in Mullaiththeevu hospital. The woman was killed on the spot and the body was brought to Mullaiththeevu hospital.
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SLA arrests 16 Tamils in Vaazhaichcheanai

[TamilNet, Friday, 31 October 2008, 12:56 GMT]
Sixteen Tamil civilians including three women were taken into custody during a cordon and search operation conducted jointly by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police in Ka'n'nankiramam, Vinaayakapuram and Pa'ndimadu villages within Vaazhaichcheanai police division Thursday early morning.
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Tigers launch airstrike in Mannaar, Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 October 2008, 18:55 GMT]
Sri Lankan military officials in Colombo said that the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) carried out an air attack on Tha'l'laadi military base, the main artillery and Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL) launchpad of the Sri Lanka Army in Mannaar Tuesday around 10:30 p.m., dropping three bombs on the base. The Tiger aircrafts then proceeded to Colombo and dropped two bombs on Kelanitissa power station, while Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) bombers were searching for LTTE aircrafts in skys over Ki'linochchi between 11:00 and 11:30 a.m. Latest reports from Vanni said the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) aircrafts were flying over the suburbs of Mullaiththeevu and Puthukkudiyiruppu with para lights focused on the ground from 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
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SLA artillery fire kills father, son in Ki'linochchi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 October 2008, 08:23 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched artillery barrage on Ki'linochchi town and its suburbs Friday evening, killing a 68-year-old father and his son around 5:20 p.m. while they were moving their household articles to Tharmapuram to escape continuing SLA artillery fire on residential areas. Six shells fell and exploded in the densely populated suburb.
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Rain highlights depth of emotions in Tamil Nadu

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 October 2008, 23:19 GMT]
The heavy downpour that started simultaneously with the Human Chain agitation in Tamil Nadu on Friday has in fact helped to understand the level of emotional involvement of the leaders and people of Tamil Nadu in the cause of the Eezham Tamils in Sri Lanka. It was a singular sight to see prominent politicians, celebrities of the cine-world, trade unionists, pontiffs of mutts, members of Churches and civil society activists amidst hundreds of thousands of people, largely students of both gender, completely drenched and standing in ankle deep water, voicing solidarity with their brethren across the Palk Straits, reported media sources in Chennai.
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Thirumavalavan courts arrest with thousands of cadres, asks India to stop proxy war

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 October 2008, 12:05 GMT]
In a powerful state-wide railway blockade of a scale that has not been witnessed in recent years in Tamil Nadu, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) President Thol. Thirumavalavan courted arrest Thursday morning with thousands of his cadres urging the Indian Government to stop the genocidal war against the Tamils within the next twenty-four hours. He said that the ongoing war in the island was "clearly a proxy war being waged by the Indian Government through the Sinhalese forces" and he urged upon New Delhi to put an end to it at the earliest.
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STF shoots dead 2 Tamils, 2 Muslims in Ampaa'rai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 October 2008, 19:26 GMT]
Sri Lanka Special Task Force (STF) commandos opened fire Thursday around 6:00 a.m, on four farmers, two of them Tamils and two Muslims, killing them at Vaddamadu pasture land in Thirukkoayil police division in Ampaa'rai district.
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Medical, health crisis looms in Ki'linochchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 October 2008, 12:01 GMT]
120 refugees were admitted after snake-bite during the past 7 days alone in Ki'linochchi district's hospital functioning at Tharmapuram. One of the patients, a girl, has died and another, a 53-year-old woman, was being treated at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital, according to Dr. P. Brighton, the assistant Deputy Provincial Director of Health (DPDH) on Tuesday. He said three lorries with urgently needed medicines to treat snake-bite and diarrhea have not entered Vanni despite three repeated attempts to cross the entry/exit point at Oamanthai in Vavuniyaa. Meanwhile, ambulance-transport for patients in need of urgent medical treatment at Vavuniyaa hospital has become increasingly difficult.
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Sri Lankan forces blast bridge on humanitarian access route in Vanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 October 2008, 02:44 GMT]
Pearaa'ru bridge, located on Maangku'lam - Oddisuddaan Road, which branches off from the A9, the access route which was used by the World Food Programme (WFP) humanitarian convoy to Vanni during the first week of October has been destroyed by the Sri Lankan forces in joint attacks carried out since Sunday. In the meantime, rain has started to fall in densely populated areas in Vanni on Tuesday. Many of the refugees living under the trees were forced to seek shelter in buildings, temples, churches and with the neighbouring houses.
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Indian Express survey shows Tamil Nadu support for LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 October 2008, 09:42 GMT]
A survey undertaken in 10 cities in Tamil Nadu by the best-selling daily newspaper The New Indian Express and the research agency C fore has reported that one-third of the respondents favoured the ruling DMK Government to snap ties with the Union Government for arming and training the Sri Lankan military. A clear majority of the respondents wanted India to lift the ban on the proscribed Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and 66% of the respondents said the LTTE is either freedom fighters and/or the sole and genuine representatives of Tamil voice.
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Ki'linochchi hospital urges civilians to donate fuel to continue critical services

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 October 2008, 22:13 GMT]
Unable to relocate three critical services, the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Surgery Unit and the Maternity Ward, the Ki'linochchi hospital is forced to continue these services from the town, even after most of the civilians have fled the urban centre of Vanni, hospital spokesperson said. As fuel required to run the three critical units has reached dangerously low levels, Medical authorities at the hospital have urged civilians in Vanni to donate fuel to operate the basic services to save lives. Fuel supplies for September and October months are yet to reach the hospital.
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Children, Mentally-handicapped displaced due to artillery, air-attacks

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 October 2008, 08:42 GMT]
Facing imminent danger from Sri Lanka Army's (SLA's) artillery attack, and aerial bombardment, more than ten homes sheltering orphaned children, mentally-handicapped, and elderly persons, located within a few miles radius from Ki'linochchi town, have been hurriedly relocated to interior villages of Vanni, hospital sources from Ki'linochchi said.
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Multiple air strikes target civilian infrastructure in Ki'linochchi

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 October 2008, 13:22 GMT]
A key sluice transporting water to thousands of acres of agricultural lands in Vanni sustained damage in Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) indiscriminate bombardment Friday morning around 9:30 a.m., at Paravippaagnchaan, near Ki'linochchi town where LTTE's Peace Secretariat is located. Meanwhile, SLAF bombers dropped bombs in the vicinity of the UNICEF office located at Kaneasapuram in Ki'linochchi three times between 3:35 and 4:00 p.m. Centre for Women's Development and Rehabilitation (CWDR) was heavily damaged in the air strike.
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Sri Lankan artillery barrage hits Ki'linochchi town

[TamilNet, Thursday, 02 October 2008, 14:37 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army has started firing artillery shells towards Ki'linochchi town Thursday evening around 7:00 p.m., causing panic among the remaining civilians in the town and its suburbs. At least four artillery shells crossed over the town as TamilNet correspondent was reporting that the building of the Ki'linochchi hospital was shaken due to the blasts, causing fear among the remaining patients and the staff. A 33-year-old civilian was rushed to Ki'linochchi hospital in the evening. One shell hit the ground near UNDP office and the other near Ki'linochchi Government Agent's hostel, according to latest reports.
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5 civilians wounded in SLA shelling in Ki'linochchi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 September 2008, 11:13 GMT]
5 civilians were injured Sunday morning when Sri Lanka Army fired artillery shells targeted houses near A9 road between 155 Mile Post and Ira'naimadu junction, according to initial reports. A 19-year-old youth lost his two hands and another youth his leg.
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Civilian killed, 8 including 4 children wounded in SLAF attack

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 September 2008, 10:08 GMT]
A civilian was killed and eight, including four children, were wounded in Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) attack in Iraththinapuram, a suburb of Ki'linochchi town, Saturday around 12:15 p.m., Tamileelam Police said. The ICRC office, which was recently relocated from Ira'naimadu junction, is situated around 150 meters away from the bombed locality. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan defence ministry claimed that the attack was a 'precision air strike' against an LTTE target. Medical sources at Ki'linochchi hospital said an 8-month-old baby, a 9-month-old baby, and two 2-year-old children were among the wounded.
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IDP wounded in Sri Lankan air attack in Visuvamadu

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 September 2008, 10:57 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers attacked a civilian settlement at Thearaavil in Visvuvamadu Friday between 1:50 p.m. and 2:10 p.m. Friday. A 35-year-old father of one child was wounded in the indiscriminate bombardment. The victim is an Internally Displaced Person from Kaaraitheevu (Kaarainakar) of Jaffna.
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Eezham Thamizh and Tamil Eelam: Understanding the terminologies of identity

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 September 2008, 00:43 GMT]
Many readers, Tamils as well as non-Tamils, wonder at the way words and phrases such as Eezham, Thamizh, Eezham Tamil or Eezham Thamizh, Tamil Eelam or Thamizh Eezham, Sinhala, Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan etc., are presented today in the media and the connotations implied by them. Culture Columnist Akazhaan discusses the etymology, historical linguistics and sociolinguistics of these terms in the context of the Tamil and Sinhala national questions in the island known as Sri Lanka today.
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TMVP operative shot dead in Ea'raavoor

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 September 2008, 08:25 GMT]
Two men armed with hand guns entered an office of TMVP, shot and killed a paramilitary operative, said to be the coordinator of TMVP in Tha'lavaay in Ea'raavoor of Batticaloa district, Friday around 8:45 p.m. One person was rushed to hospital with injuries.
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SLAF bombardment kills displaced civilian, 2 wounded

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 September 2008, 01:48 GMT]
Two Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers attacked a civilian settlement in Visuvamadu Thursday around 4:00 p.m., killing a 47-year-old mother of two, who displaced from Ki'linochchi suburb Uthayanakar within the last couple of days. Two women were wounded in the bombardment, Tamileelam Police said.
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