More lorries to be used to transport goods from Colombo to Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 June 2009, 20:40 GMT]
Sri Lanka government has announced its intention to transport goods by 200 lorries from Colombo to Jaffna through the A9 land route soon, sources in Jaffna said. Though the government had made much publicity of opening the A9 route for public transport in April, transport of goods in government lorries had been possible only eight times since then, the sources added.
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Investment Promotion Minister visits Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 June 2009, 12:12 GMT]
Former United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian and the present Sri Lanka Minister of Investment Promotion, Naveen Dissanayake and his younger brother Mayantha Dissanayake paid a sudden visit to Jaffna peninsula Saturday which the brothers described as a personal visit, to the media, sources in Jaffna said. The brothers are the sons of late Gamini Dissanayake, who is alleged to have been the person responsible for the burning of Jaffna Public Library in June 01, 1981, by Sri Lankan police, the sources added.
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President Rajapakse’s wife, son visit Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 June 2009, 13:19 GMT]
Sri Lanka president’s wife Shiranthi Rajapakse and his son Namal Rajapakse arrived on a sudden visit to Jaffna Friday morning with a statue of Changkamiththa, Emperor Aoska’s daughter and the first woman Buddhist missionary to Ceylon, to be enshrined in the newly built Buddhist temple in Maathakal in the High Security Zone (HSZ), sources in Jaffna said. Seven girl students were taken to the temple by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) soldiers on the occasion to sing the national anthem in Sinhalese language, the sources added.
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Colombo under tight security to celebrate government’s “Victory Day”

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 June 2009, 21:32 GMT]
Cordon and search operations are being conducted by large number of soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army in Fort, Bambalapitya, Wellawatte, Dehiwala Kohuwela, Nugegoda, Kelaniya, Demtagoda and Gampaha in Colombo district since Monday to ensure foolproof security for grand victory day celebration with military parade that is scheduled to be held on Wednesday in Galle Face Green, media sources said.
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SLA gunfire heard in Ariyaalai in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 June 2009, 14:04 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers opened rapid gunfire from their sentry posts located in Ariyaalai East area Tuesday around 7:00 a.m for nearly ten minutes into the shrub land and coconut groves on finding the presence of strangers, sources in Jaffna said.
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SLA officials accused of taking bribes from Vanni detainees

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 May 2009, 23:11 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) high officials in charge of the internment camps in Jaffna, where Vanni civilians are held, are alleged to be taking bribes ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 rupees to free the youths among the detainees, according to complaints made by the detainees to Human Rights Organizations (HRC) in Jaffna. SLA authorities in Jaffna, however, continue to refute such allegations.
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The Times demands action over ‘monstrous collusion’ in slaughter of Tamils

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 May 2009, 15:59 GMT]
Pointing out that not only the United Nations but several Western governments knew of the ongoing slaughter of 20,000 Tamil civilians by the Sri Lanka Army, but kept silent for fear of upsetting the Colombo Government, The Times newspaper Saturday demanded international action to prevent further atrocities. “Such a monstrous collusion in covering up an atrocity must not go unchallenged. If the UN Human Rights Council refuses to investigate what has happened, the West must do so forthwith,” the paper said. “The silence of those who were warned of civilian deaths in Sri Lanka is shameful. They must speak out now to prevent future atrocities,” the editorial’s subtitle charged.
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Elderly man knifed to death in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 May 2009, 10:12 GMT]
Unidentified persons arriving at the house of a 74-year-old man in Valikaamam Monday around 7:00 p.m forcibly took him away and knifed him to death. The victim's beheaded body was found dumped in a Saiva temple area 200 m away from his house, in a paddy field. Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers who were informed by the residents of the area are the only persons who had visited the area.
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Jaffna court denies appeal by person seeking protection to life

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 May 2009, 15:17 GMT]
Jaffna Magistrate Court, directed by Sri Lanka Army (SLA), denied protection to a youth from Chaavakachcheari who had sought Thursday protection to his life due to death threats by SLA soldiers and SLA-backed paramilitaries, according to sources in Jaffna. Jaffna Human Rights Commission (HRC) too had not entertained the appeal for protection to his life by the above youth Thursday, the sources added.
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5 LTTE fighters killed in Batticaloa jungles

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 May 2009, 11:56 GMT]
Sri Lanka military shot and killed five Liberation Tigers fighters inside the jungles of Karadiyanaa'ru jungles in Batticaloa Wednesday morning, a LTTE political official in Batticaloa told TamilNet.
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SLA shelling kills civilian, injures 4 on Mullaiththeevu sea

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 May 2009, 16:27 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched shells fell and exploded in a boat in which 12 persons from war torn Vanni were fleeing to Point Pedro Thursday night, killing a father while injuring his wife and two children and another woman, sources in Point Pedro said. The woman, admitted to Manthikai government hospital, was transferred to Jaffna Teaching Hospital for further treatment, the sources added.
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Sri Lanka Police arrests 8 Tamils in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 May 2009, 11:22 GMT]
Eight Tamil civilians were arrested in Grandpass area in Colombo Wednesday night and were detained in police station for further interrogation in regard to the recovery of eighteen claymore mines from a motor workshop in the area, according to police sources.
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South Korean delegation visits Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 May 2009, 12:28 GMT]
A five member delegation led by South Korean resident representative, Mr. Zong Min Hyeon visited Tuesday Jaffna Technical College where a large building complex is being constructed with South Korean government funds, sources in Jaffna said. The containers sent by the South Korean government which had remained unopened since their arrival in November 2008 were opened in the presence of the visiting South Korean delegation, the principal of Jaffna Technical College and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) officials, the sources said.
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Aid workers tell donors not to fund Sri Lanka, reports Channel-4's Walsh

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 May 2009, 21:14 GMT]
"This is a man-made humanitarian disaster, the aid worker explained. "I am in the strange position of just keep telling all our donors when they come here to NOT to give money,"" writes Channel-4's Nick Paton Walsh, quoting an aid worker inside an internment camp in Vavuniyaa. The Channel-4 crew was deported on the directions of Sri Lanka's Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse for reporting allegations of abuse, rape, and ill-treatment of Tamils held in internment camps.
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Malnutrition in mothers triggers Jaundice, Hepatitis in newborns

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 May 2009, 18:09 GMT]
Lack of basic nutrients in food available to lactating mothers is causing severe cases of jaundice and hepatitis-A in the new borns and months old babies inside the safe-zone where an estimated 120,000-165,000 Tamil civilians are struggling to stay alive, medical sources within the safe zone said Saturday. Mothers have flocked to the temporary hospital relocated to junior school, crying and pleading with the doctors for milk-powder, but hospital stocks are completely depleted, according to Vanni medical sources.
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Tamil families to be evicted to settle injured Sinhala soldiers

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 May 2009, 14:42 GMT]
Mano Ganeshan, leader of the Democratic Peoples Front and Colombo district parliamentarian in an urgent letter faxed to Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse, urged him to stop moves to oust sixty two Tamil families residing in Vavelkanthura GS division in Ratnapura district and to settle injured soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), sources in Colombo said. The said Tamil families have owned and been living in their homes for the past seven decades, according to local sources.
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Extortion through abduction of children increases in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 May 2009, 07:22 GMT]
Officers of local UN organizations in Jaffna peninsula have complained to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) high authorities in Jaffna of demands of extortion and intimidation that their school going children will be abducted, sources in Jaffna said. Though the said officers confirmed the demands and intimidation they refused to give additional information. The persons alleged to be the perpetrators are Sri Lanka Army (SLA) backed paramilitary men who move freely during SLA imposed curfew hours and around SLA camps in the peninsula, civil society sources in Jaffna said.
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Gunmen shoot dead a Muslim, injure 10 in Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 May 2009, 06:48 GMT]
Masked gunmen arriving in a van with T56 type rifles opened fire Friday around 2:00 p.m on a group of Muslims coming out of Maa’likaavaththai Mosque, killing one and injuring ten of them, sources in Colombo said.
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SLA, Police arrest 75 Tamil civilians in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 May 2009, 15:51 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and Sri Lanka Police arrested seventy five Tamil youths who are residents of Jaffna, Batticaloa, Trincomalee and upcountry areas in cordon and search operations conducted during the last three days from dusk to dawn in Kotahena, Grandpass, Muhathuwaaram, Wellawatte, Bambalapitya and Kollupitty. Similar operation was also conducted in Negombo, Gampaha and Kalutara, media sources in Colombo said.
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Maathakal St. Thomas Church plundered

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 May 2009, 16:27 GMT]
Persons alleged to be Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) soldiers entering St. Thomas Roman Catholic Church in Maathakal, Jaffna, during curfew hours on a night last week, had broken the holy statues and other properties in an attempt to find gold jewelry beneath the statues, residents of Maathakal said. Christian organizations in Maathakal have brought this incident to the attention of SLN Northern region high command, sources in Maathakal said.
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