Massacre in eastern Tamil village: 8 killed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 September 1997, 12:05 GMT]
Muslim policemen and homeguards have run amok in a Tamil village, killing at least 8 civilians. The surviving residents of the "4th colony" village, Amparai district, have fled the area. The attack is believed to have been carried out in reprisal for the killing of two Muslim homeguards. The 4th Colony has been sealed off by members of the Special Task Force, a police commando unit, which controls the area where the massacre took place.
Full story >>

Kadirgamar's divisive scheme stalls

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 September 1997, 12:03 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Foreign minister, Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar was in London recently on another official visit. However, apart from his routine meetings with British officials, Mr. Kadirgamar had another objective to accomplish this time. According to a British periodical, the Tamil Guardian, Mr. Kadirgamar had been instructed to meet leaders of London's Tamil expatriate community and cultivate their support. However, things had apparently not gone according to plan.
Full story >>

Buddhist clergy performs in Chandrika's theatre

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 September 1997, 12:00 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Buddhist clergy rejected the government's 'devolution proposals' last week. The Sinhalese people, who dominate Sri Lanka's government and armed forces, are mostly Buddhist, and the clergy wields considerable influence in Sri Lankan politics. The Buddhist clergy has consistently opposed any concessions to the Tamils on the island and their rejection of the proposals was widely expected. However, the Sri Lankan President has a place for the Buddhist clergy's stance within her strategy to win the war.
Full story >>

Suicide bomber threat sustains support for war

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 September 1997, 12:00 GMT]
The Colombo public have an abhorrent fear of suicide bomb attacks. The threat seems ever present, even though there have been no suicide attacks in the capital for nearly two years. Surprisingly, the spectre of the suicide bomber is being revived time and again by the Sri Lankan government itself. The fear generated by the official warnings is sustaining public support for the government's war in the Tamil homelands.
Full story >>

LTTE allays shipping fears

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 September 1997, 00:00 GMT]
On Thursday, the LTTE allayed international concern over its recent attack on a cargo ship. The Tigers said their destruction of the ship, the 'MV Cordiality', which had been hired by the Sri Lankan government, was intended to prevent the stripping of the Tamil people's mineral resources. The Tigers said that the attack should not be considered 'prejudicial to international trade or shipping'.
Full story >>

The Jaffna people's dilemma

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 September 1997, 00:00 GMT]
The city of Jaffna has had some foreign visitors recently. A team from Amnesty International and the United Nations special rapporteur on extra judicial, summary or arbitrary executions spent a few days in the city separately. The human rights officials were intent on assessing local conditions for themselves. However, the brevity of their visits and the pervasive presence of their hosts, the Sri Lankan military, ensured that the picture presented to them was to the Sri Lankan government's liking.
Full story >>

Troubled waters for Tamil fishermen

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 September 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A seemingly innocuous ban on fishing introduced in the Tamil areas by the predominantly Sinhalese Sri Lankan government over a decade ago has steadily destroyed the livelihood of the Tamil fishing community. Ostensibly introduced check the movement of Tamil fighters between the island and nearby India, the ban has had no impact on the growth of the Tamil Tigers, but has crippled the Tamil fishing industry. Many Tamils believe this was the Sri Lankan government's intended aim.
Full story >>

Equality of Tamil a facade

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 September 1997, 11:10 GMT]
In early July a presidential directive was issued to the pre-dominantly Sinhalese Sri Lankan civil service to give equal status to the Tamil language. As the directive is widely perceived as a public relations exercise staged for the benefit of the international community, it has barely received any attention. From Colombo's jails to Jaffna's streets, the use of the Tamil language is being systematically stamped out in a bid to irrevocably assimilate the Tamil people under Sinhalese control.
Full story >>

Mankulum takes a pounding

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 August 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Sri Lankan artillery has been targeting the Tamil town of Mankulum. The SLA is believed to be trying to disrupt LTTE plans to fortify the town, in the light of continued stiff resistance at Puliyankulum. Much of Mankulum had been blasted into rubble in earlier SLA shelling, but the latest shelling is pounding the ruins yet again.
Full story >>

Priest protests over bombing

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 August 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Rev. Father Maulis has written to the United Nations protesting over the bombing of his church by Sri Lankan Air Force jets last Friday. Nine Tamil civilians were killed when the SLAF Kfirs dropped four 250kg bombs onto the church premises which also serves as a refugee camp. Copies of Father Maulis' letter to the UNHCR were distributed to other international NGOs operating in the Vanni.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka claims end to war 'soon'

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 August 1997, 23:59 GMT]
At a graduation ceremony for army officers last week, the Sri Lankan President said she expects the war to be over soon. She told the troops that she needed their help to 'impose peace' on the Tamils and that the LTTE would soon be defeated. Mrs. Chandrika's bravado, is at odds with the developments in the battle zones. The government has also raised the price of basic food stuffs to help fund the war.
Full story >>

SLA forced to change plan.

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 August 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The twin prongs of the Sri Lankan military's Operation 'Jaya Sikiru' are said to have linked up, the SLA spokesman, Brig. S. Munasinghe, said on Thursday. However, the troops have still not been able to overrun the small town of Puliyankulum, due to continuing Tamil resistance around the town. LTTE units are said to be continuing to launch mortar attacks on the SLA troops 2kms south of the town.
Full story >>

War is at a stalemate: Kalkat

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 August 1997, 23:59 GMT]
General A.S. Kalkat of the Indian Army was interviewed by the Colombo based weekly, the Sunday Times last week. In his opinion, the Sri Lankan government's war in the Tamil homelands is a 'stalemate'. General Kalkat has first hand experience of the conflict: he was the commander of the inaptly named Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) dispatched to tame the Tigers on behalf of the Sri Lankan government in 1987.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka's Dirty War: the Home Guards

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 August 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Last week a Tamil Tiger squad ambushed a group of armed 'Home Guards' killing five gunmen. While the term 'Home Guard' might have connotations of defensive forces mobilised to protect homelands against foreign invaders, Sri Lanka's home guards are a key component of the government's invasion of the Tamil homelands. However, when they die in combat against the LTTE, these paramilitaries often turn into 'innocent civilians'.
Full story >>

Tigers breach Omanthai defences

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 August 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The LTTE confirmed on Sunday that their forces had launched an attack on Sri Lankan defences at Omanthai. Over a hundred members of Sri Lanka's security forces are reported killed, as well as 126 Tamils when the Tigers broke into the fortifications, and intense fighting followed. This is the third major operation the Tigers have launched on Sri Lanka's biggest offensive in the Tamil homelands.
Full story >>

135 Sri Lankans killed at Omanthai: LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 August 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The LTTE said that 135 Sri Lankan security personnel were killed and a further 400 wounded in the battle at Omanthai last Friday. The Tigers say they have acquired intelligence reports from the Sri Lankan high command giving the breakdown of these figures. Meanwhile the Red Cross accepted 39 Tamil bodies from the Sri Lankans and refused 70 badly mutilated ones today.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka rewards loyal Sinhala journalist

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 August 1997, 23:59 GMT]
After years of supporting the Sri Lankan government's propaganda by using his position as a reporter for the Reuters News agency, Mr. Mohan Samarasinghe has been formally employed by the Colombo regime. Mr. Samarasinghe is to join the Sri Lankan diplomatic mission in Canada.
Full story >>

Colombo plays down Indian deaths

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 July 1997, 23:59 GMT]
On Monday, the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry denied its security forces had fired on Indian fishing craft as described by the Indian High Commission here. According to the Indian government, Sri Lankan gunboats and aircraft had fired on fishermen from Tamil Nadu on July 14 and 17 respectively. Sri Lanka denied what it called 'monstrous allegations'. However, the Foreign Ministry's feigned innocence is in sharp contrast to the regularity of attacks on Tamil and Indian fishermen carried out by the Sri Lankan military.
Full story >>

TULF MP Briefs US Decision Makers

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 July 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Mr. Joseph Pararajasingam, the MP for Batticaloa district and the Parliamentary Group Leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), is currently in the United States on a three week visit to brief US officials on developments on the island. His visit is being sponsored by a US-based NGO.
Full story >>

Wishful thinking - or simply deceptive lies?

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 July 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Last Thursday, the Sri Lankan army spokesman, Brigadier Sarath Munasinghe, claimed that the Tigers were being defeated and that victory was in sight. Paradoxically, his comments were made as the SLA's biggest offensive remained stalled following fierce LTTE counter attacks. However, the moral boosting claims also come at a time when the SLA is desperately trying to recruit more troops and to coax thousands of deserters back into service.
Full story >>