SLA arrests 9 upcountry Tamil youths

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 October 2008, 18:50 GMT]
Nine Tamil youths were arrested Wednesday morning by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) with the help of three masked men during a cordon and search operation in Kirkil Estate in Uva Paranagama in the hill country, civil society sources in Colombo said. This was the first time the state armed forces had used masked men for their search operation to arrest upcountry Tamil youths.
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EPDP enforces shutdown in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 24 October 2008, 11:12 GMT]
Eelam Peoples' Democratic Party (EPDP) brought about a forced shutdown Thursday in Jaffa peninsula assisted by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police to protest against the Sea Tiger attack on Sri Lankan ships Wednesday early morning, affecting normalcy of life in Jaffna peninsula. EPDP obstructed distribution of a local newspaper Thursday prompting the daily's Colombo head office to release a protest report besides lodging a complaint with the relevant authorities.
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Change course or face misfortune: Indian scholar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 October 2008, 21:32 GMT]
The broad sentiment in Tamil Nadu this time is not merely against Colombo but against New Delhi as well. It is widely perceived in Tamil Nadu that New Delhi is collaborating with Colombo in authoring the misery of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, says M S S Pandian in an article appeared in The Times of India on Thursday. "Tamil Nadu had a history of demanding secession from the Indian Union. Yet, over time, it has chosen to integrate itself fully with the national mainstream. If New Delhi does not change course in its Sri Lankan policy, it may plant the seeds towards a reversal of such history. That will be India's misfortune," wrote the renowned scholar on sociopolitical and subaltern studies of contemporary India.
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Italian Tamils march to raise awareness about Tamils plight in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 October 2008, 20:29 GMT]
More than two thousand diaspora Tamils in Southern Italy marched Thursday from Piazza Politama to the Palermo office of the Internal Affairs Ministry to hand over an appeal urging awareness on the plight of the Eezham Tamils in Vanni and elsewhere in the island of Sri Lanka.
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Cheanaiyoor IDPs to be resettled

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 October 2008, 19:07 GMT]
144 members of 44 internally displaced Tamil families, who had fled from Moothoor east in Trincomalee district in 2006 due to military operations of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), were transported in six state sector buses Thursday from several welfare centres in Batticaloa district for resettlement in their village Cheanaiyoor, a once flourishing town and now deserted, civil society sources in Trincomalee said. The buses traveled via Vaakarai, south of the Trincomalee district, with police protection.
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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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2 SLA killed in Ampaa'rai - LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 October 2008, 10:42 GMT]
Two Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and one wounded Thursday at 11:05 a.m. in a gunfire ambush carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) in Bakimitiyawa in Ampaa'rai district, according to LTTE sources in the East.
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Grenade attack on SLA sentry post in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 23 October 2008, 10:31 GMT]
Unidentified persons hurled a hand grenade Tuesday night on the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) sentry post located close to Naavalar Veethi in Jaffna, and local residents had heard sounds of gunshots following the attack, sources in Jaffna said. Details are not known if anyone was killed or injured.
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SLA steps up fighting in Mu'rika'ndi, Akkaraayan

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 October 2008, 19:54 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) helicopter gunships were deployed in transporting casualties on Wednesday from newly occuppied territories in the southern frontiers of Ki'linochchi as Sri Lanka Army stepped up fighting amid stiff resistance by the Tigers. SLA launched artillery barrage in the frontiers also extended to target the suburbs of Ki'linochchi town, causing panic among the civilians who had come back for temporary stay in their houses due to the lack of shelter elsewhere following the monsoonal rain. More than 80 SLA soldiers were killed and 200 sustained injuries within the past 4 days, according to informed sources in Colombo.
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Sri Lankan DPU attack kills civilian, 2 wounded

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 October 2008, 19:12 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Deep Penetration Unit triggered a Claymore mine at Thikkuvil in Poonakari (Pooneryn) Wednesday around 1:00 p.m., killing a civilian and wounding two, initial reports from the Poonakari said.
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KKS harbour activities stall following Sea Tiger attack

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 October 2008, 14:43 GMT]
Activities of Kaangkeasanthu'rai harbour came to a halt Wednesday following the early morning Sea Tiger attack on two Sri Lankan supply ships in Kaangkeasanthu'rai harbour, sources in Vadamaraadchi said. Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) jointly searched villages east and west of Kaangkeasanthu'rai harbour, and fishing boats in the seas off the same coastline, sources added.
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Explosions target Sri Lankan ships in the seas off Vadamaraadchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 October 2008, 03:32 GMT]
Two big explosions were heard in the seas off Kaankeasanthu'rai Harbour in Jaffna around 4:00 a.m. Wednesday. Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers fired rockets from their coastal positions in Vadamaraadchi North, fishermen in the area said reporting heavy exchange of gunfire in the seas after the explosions. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan military officials in Colombo said one of their ships sustained damage in the attack and that they prevented the Sea Tiger boats from destroying the other ship. In the meantime, the SLA soldiers have instructed the fishermen not to access the seas off Vadamaraadchi Wednesday morning. The LTTE is yet to issue details of their attack.
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Police guard shot dead in Chaavakachcheari

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 October 2008, 19:30 GMT]
A member of the police unit guarding the office of Eealm Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) in Chaavakachcheari was killed in gunfire Monday around 11:25 p.m, allegedly from the police sentry posts located in the surroundings of the EPDP office. Chaavakachcheari magistrate directed Chaavakachcheari police to arrest the three policemen who were on duty along with the victim Monday night, on suspicion of having shot and killed him.
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Paradigm shift is the need of Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 October 2008, 15:41 GMT]
The International Community and especially India, should not burden any further the peoples of Sri Lanka by insisting on a united Sri Lanka. The first step to diffuse tension is to recognize the right to self-determination of Tamils, not necessarily to mean partition, but to achieve parity and to provide a conducive platform needed for meaningful negotiations of the concerned parties to decide the future of the island of Sri Lanka, peacefully. The way sentiments have been built up, initially it may stir emotions among the Sinhalese, but it may not take long for them to realize that it was for their good as well, writes opinion columnist Chivanadi, quoting paradigm changing global thinking on ethnonationalism.
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6 civilians including woman seek protection with HRC Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 October 2008, 20:14 GMT]
Five civilians from Thenmaraadchi, including a young woman and a family man from Valikaamam sought Monday protection to their lives due to death threats by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and SLA-backed paramilitaries with Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna. Four of them were instructed by Chaavakachcheari Magistrate Court to surrender with HRC Jaffna office, HRC sources said.
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Shut down observed in Batticaloa district

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 October 2008, 20:10 GMT]
A general shut down was observed in Batticaloa district Monday against Tamil youths being abducted and killed by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Tamil youths arrested being killed, civil society sources in Batticaloa said. All public and private institutions, business establishments were shut down in Batticaloa district though SLA troops compelled the shop owners to open the shops.
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Jaffna fishermen's woes discussed with GA, in civil society meeting

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 October 2008, 17:23 GMT]
Government Agent (GA) met with a delegation of civil society members from the Federation of Fishermen societies from the peninsula to explore solutions to hardships faced by fishermen in Jaffna district last week. GA told the civil society delegation that he was not in a position to get the ban on fishing lifted, but that he will provide a response regarding increasing the monthly relief payment after consultations with higher authorities in Colombo.
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SLA imposes unofficial restrictions on Thenmaraadchi residents

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 October 2008, 17:21 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Jaffna has imposed restrictions on the residents in Thenmaraadchi against buying food provisions in large quantities or to stock them from Sunday, following instructions from the Ministry of Defence, sources in Jaffna said. SLA authorities suspect that the people of Thenmaraadchi are providing food to Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eazham (LTTE) combatants who had infiltrated into Thenmaraadchi.
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Tamil Nadu film industry vows support to Eezham Tamils

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 October 2008, 11:38 GMT]
Bringing the entire Tamil film industry in Tamil Nadu state of India to a standstill, more than two thousand artists converged at the southern tip of Rameswaram (Raameasvaram), which is situated in the close proximity to the island of Sri Lanka, expressing their support for Eezham Tamils struggle. Actors are also expected to hold a fast on November 01 to express their solidarity with the civilians who suffer due to the military offensive by the Sri Lankan forces.
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'Allow us to speak': French Tamil diaspora demonstrates

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 October 2008, 01:45 GMT]
Allow us to speak. We are not terrorists. What is happening in Sri Lanka is genocide: These were the voices of the thousands of Eezham Tamil demonstrators who braved defying a government ban and gathered in Paris on Sunday. Reflecting on his experience, Mr Somasundaram Sarveswaran, a participant said what is abominable that goes against all norms of civilization is silencing the civilian voice. "The Tamil national cause and the struggle against genocide of a people are not terrorist issues. There is a tendency today to look at everything related to Tamil as terrorism. This is why we earnestly look upon the leaders of Tamil Nadu to secure us our righteous global space as a priority, by recognizing the Tamil right to self-determination in the Island of Sri Lanka," he said.
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