SLA soldiers arrest 33 civilians in Pa’lai

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 January 2009, 04:18 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers arrested 9 women, 20 men, and 4 children in a search conducted Friday, in a house in Choaranpattu, Pa’lai area, earlier held by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), sources in Jaffna said. SLA handed over the arrestees to Kodikaamam police.
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Tamil farmer shot dead in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 January 2009, 17:43 GMT]
The body of a Tamil farmer with gun shot injuries to head was recovered Friday morning by residents of Katpahapuram in Vavuniyaa division. The victim had gone to the near by tank Thursday evening to take a bath but failed to return home, according to complaints lodged with the police by his relatives.
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Bandarawela Police arrest Tamil youth

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 January 2009, 16:16 GMT]
Bandarawela Police arrested a Tamil youth Wednesday in a cordon and search operation conducted in Poonagala estate in Bandarawela district. Police said the suspect had been hiding in the estate and suspected to have been with the Liberation Tigers in 2003.
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SLA attempt to advance from Ira'naimadu repulsed: Tigers

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 January 2009, 15:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched an offensive push from Ira'naimadu targeting to enter Vaddakkachchi in Ki'linochchi district Saturday. The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) officials told reporters in Vanni that their defensive forces repulsed the move. 18 SLA soldiers were killed, 40 wounded and the Tigers seized arms and ammunitions in the clearing mission that followed the 8 hours long fighting.
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Tamil youth arrested in Badulla with rifle

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 January 2009, 14:49 GMT]
Badulla Magistrate Saman Kaariyawasam Friday ordered remand for a Tamil youth on a report by the police that the suspect had been in possession of a rifle at that time of arrest. The suspect was a resident of Thelpatha-Morogolla estate in Badulla district.
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Lasantha killing, a savage assault on media independence - TNA

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 January 2009, 13:56 GMT]
Condemning the assassination of Editor of The Sunday Leader Lasantha Wickrematunga, and extending deepest condolence to his family, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), in a press release issued today said, "Mr. Wickrematunga has been an ardent critic of the incumbent government," and "the manner of the assassination of Mr. Wickrematunga bears the same hallmarks as the manner of the assassination of the much respected late TNA parliamentarian Hon. N. Raviraj. The TNA has little doubt that Mr. Wickrematunga was targeted by those who were embarrassed by his exposure of the truth and their excesses of high office."
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Tamil hotel employee arrested in Mt.Lavinia

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 January 2009, 13:46 GMT]
A Tamil employee working in a hotel was taken into custody by the Mt.Lavinia Police Wednesday on receipt of information that he was in possession of several national identity cards and an identity card issued by the Sri Lanka Army, police sources said.
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Tamil civilian shot dead in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 January 2009, 09:53 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen shot and killed a Tamil owner of a fuel station and robbed the cash he had with him, in Kaaththaankudi police division in Batticaloa district Saturday around 5:30 a.m., sources in Batticaloa said.
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SLA arrests 4 Tamil civilians in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 2009, 20:46 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers took four Tamil civilians into custody Wednesday morning while they were resting in a hut located in a paddy field in Puthukku'lam in Vavuniyaa division on their return home after hunting. These youths are residents of Sasthrikoo'langku'lam and Puthukku'lam.
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Police hand over 4 corpses to Jaffna Teaching Hospital

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 2009, 18:13 GMT]
Kaangkeasanthu’rai (KKS) police, directed by Mallaakam court, Friday evening handed over four corpses to Jaffna Teaching Hospital (JTH) mortuary. The bodies were handed over in plastic bags because of their highly decomposed state. Their gender and identification were not disclosed by the police, JTH sources said.
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SLAF suffers casualties in Tiger ambush in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 2009, 12:04 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) from Trincomalee district claimed that 12 Sri Lankan armed personnel were killed and 6 sustained injuries in a Claymore and gunfire ambush on a tractor carrying armed personnel from Panku'lam to Muthalikku'lam (Morawewa) at 8:55 a.m. Friday. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan military sources in Colombo said three Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) personnel and four civilians and seven SLAF personnel sustained injuries in the ambush. A main camp of the SLAF is currently situated in Morawewa, which was earlier a traditional Tamil village called Muthalikku'lam.
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Tamil civilian shot dead in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 2009, 11:09 GMT]
Armed men who arrived in a three-wheeler shot and killed a 30-year-old Tamil civilian Thursday night in his resident at Periyaku'lam in Vavuniyaa division, police sources said.
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Tamil youth arrested in Kandy

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 2009, 03:30 GMT]
Katugastota Police Wednesday morning arrested a Tamil youth identified as Subramaniam Joseph in Katugastota town in Kandy district. Police said he was taken into custody as his movement in the town had created suspicion.
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Moneragala police arrest 5 Tamil youths

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 2009, 01:25 GMT]
Moneragala Police took five Tamils youths into custody during a cordon and search operation Monday. The operation was conducted on receipt of information that some LTTE cadres had stealthily entered the Moneragala estate, police said.
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SLN arrests 12 youths fleeing war in Vadamaraadchi East

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 January 2009, 01:07 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) arrested Friday twelve youths fleeing war in Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held Vadamaraadchi East in a boat which was washed ashore on Point Pedro coast in Vadamaraadchi, sources in Point Pedro said. SLN handed over the arrestees to Point Pedro police who produced them in Point Pedro court Monday.
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6 Tamils arrested in Chilaw, one in Kuchchave'li

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 January 2009, 22:03 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police arrested six Tamil civilians Tuesday night in Chilaw town on receipt of information that some strangers were seen moving in the area. The Chilaw police said that the arrested failed to justify their presence in the location during the preliminary inquiry.
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IFT calls for redoubling of effort to support Eelam Tamils

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 January 2009, 12:47 GMT]
Accusing the International Community of attempting to "wean Tamil people, both in the Tamil homeland and the Diaspora, away from the LTTE," by advocating the need for a political solution while Kilinochchi is under occupation, International Federation of Tamils (IFT), a Geneva-based umbrella group of expatriate Tamil organizations, in a press release issued today "called upon over 70 million strong world Tamil community to redouble it support to the Eelam Tamils for their struggle to create the State of Tamil Eelam," and interated "that the future State of Tamil Eelam will negotiate with the Sinhala State of Sri Lanka to create a mutually acceptable relationship whereby both Peoples pool their sovereignties to associate with each other for purposes of mutual benefit."
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RSF: Mahinda Rajapakse "directly to blame" for Wickrematunge murder

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 January 2009, 12:27 GMT]
Expressing outrage over the murder of Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunge, Reporters sans frontières (RSF), a Paris-based media watchdog, in a press release issued today, said: "President Mahinda Rajapaksa, his associates and the government media are directly to blame because they incited hatred against him and allowed an outrageous level of impunity to develop as regards violence against the press. Sri Lanka's image is badly sullied by this murder, which is an absolute scandal and must not go unpunished."
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White van gunmen abduct Tamil youth in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 January 2009, 21:12 GMT]
Unidentified armed men arriving in a white van Friday around 5:00 p.m abducted a Tamil youth serving in Maamaankam Maariamman Koayil in Batticaloa, according to a complaint lodged with Batticaloa police.
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Sri Lanka bans LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 January 2009, 17:01 GMT]
The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has proscribed the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE), one year after it unilaterally withdrew from the February 2002 Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) with the Tigers. The LTTE was banned in 1998, for the first time before Colombo embarked on the futile military exercise of 'Operation Jayasikurui' (Victory Assured) on Vanni mainland. Colombo had to lift the ban in 2002 before entering into the CFA agreement with the Tigers.
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