Police arrests six NorthEast Tamils in Gampaha

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 September 2008, 02:52 GMT]
Six Tamils were arrested in cordon and search operations conducted in several parts of Gampaha town from Wednesday evening till Thursday dawn. Police said they conducted the operation with the assistance of home guards on receipt of information that a group of strangers had infiltrated into the town.
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Ban Ki-moon 'helping LTTE' – Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 September 2008, 15:35 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s hardline government Thursday criticised United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for expressing deep concern about Tamil civilians in the Vanni region. Sri Lankan human rights ministry official Rajiva Wijesinghe told reporters that there were no civilian casualties in the Colombo government’s ongoing offensive and that the UN Chief’s comments were helping the LTTE.
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India betrays Tamils by providing military personnel to Sri Lanka - Vaiko

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 September 2008, 14:46 GMT]
Referring to the news that two Indian radar operators were wounded Tuesday when the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) attacked the Vanni Headquarters of the Sri Lankan military, Vaiko, the General Secretary of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), in a letter sent Thursday to the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, said that the Indian Government was "caught red handed in its unpardonable betrayal" of involving Indian military personnel in Sri Lanka's "genocidal war" against the Tamils. He blamed the top level bureaucrats in India, particularly the national security adviser, for "clandestinely conspiring" with the Sri Lankan government.
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TNA condemns expulsion of foreign aid workers from Vanni

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 September 2008, 11:49 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) on Thursday condemned the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) for instructing the foreign NGOs and aid workers to leave from Vanni and urged the International Community to prevail upon the GoSL to recall its decision.
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White van gunmen abduct Tamil youth in Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 September 2008, 11:39 GMT]
A Tamil youth was abducted by a group of armed men who arrived in a white van on Monday evening from a shop located along China Street in Fort, Colombo, where he had been working for several years. The abducted youth is from Pungudutheevu, an islet located to the west of Jaffna peninsula.
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4 STF killed, 3 wounded in Batticaloa - LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 September 2008, 11:11 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) officials in the East on Thursday said a guerrilla team of the Tigers triggered a Claymore mine killing four Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) commandos and causing injuries to three, Wednesday around 5:30 p.m., near Pulipaaynthakal, which is located 30 km north of Batticaloa.
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Police arrests 56 Tamils in Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 September 2008, 09:40 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police in the city of Colombo arrested fifty-six Tamils in two separate cordon and search operations conducted from Wednesday evening till Thursday dawn in Mt.Lavinia and Dam street in Colombo. Thirty-two were arrested in Mt.Lavinia and twenty-four in Dam Street in Colombo, sources in Colombo said.
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Sampanthan on excluding UN missions: Sri Lankan State destroys its sovereignty

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 September 2008, 07:41 GMT]
"The Sri Lankan Government, though it talks big about its concern for the displaced people in Vanni, does nothing more than make available to these people the meagre food items provided under the United Nations World Food Programme," said R. Sampanthan, the parliamentary group leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), while addressing the Sri Lankan Parliament on Tuesday. Also noting the Sri Lankan state's refusal to establish UN presence for monitoring the Human Rights violations, the senior Tamil politician blamed the Sri Lankan state for contributing to the "erosion and eventual destruction of its own sovereignty," in a lengthy speech during the debate on extending Emergency.
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5 Tamil civilians arrested in Badulla

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 September 2008, 13:27 GMT]
Badulla police took into custody seven persons including five Tamil civilians, all of them upcountry residents, in a cordon and search operation conducted from Monday evening till Tuesday dawn. They are being detained in Badulla police station as they have failed to prove their identity, Badulla police said.
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SLA orders power cut in Jaffna following Tiger attack on Vanni SF HQ

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 September 2008, 09:43 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Jaffna ordered a power cut Tuesday around 4:00 a.m in its High Security Zones (HSZs) around Kaangeasanththu’rai (KKS) harbour and Palaali military complex immediately after the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) attack Tuesday at 3:05 a.m on Sri Lankan Forces head quarters in Vanni, sources in Jaffna said. Jetliner, the ship that transports SLA troops to Jaffna was anchored in KKS harbour at the time of the Tiger attack, the sources added.
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Tissa arrest "illegal" under CFA provisions - Counsel

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 September 2008, 05:41 GMT]
Mr Anil Silva, the Counsel for senior Tamil journalist Tissainayagam, said during the hearing that the under the provision of the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) the Government of Sri Lanka gave undertaking not to search or arrest as authorized by the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), and the Sri Lanka has reneged on this promise. Mr Silva further urged the Attorney General' department to withdraw the indictment as this action would discredit the Government for reneging on the provisions of the CFA, legal sources in Colombo said.
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Opposition challenges war progress claims

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 September 2008, 05:38 GMT]
Hours after a devastating Tamil Tiger attack on the Sri Lankan military’s headquarters in Vavuniya, the main opposition Tuesday questioned the government’s claims of progress in the war against the LTTE, press reports said Wednesday. “The Air Force base and the Police HQ of Vavuniya was attacked using heavy artillery. Radar defence system is completely destroyed. This happened in an area that government has always claimed has been liberated a long time ago, and cleared of any LTTE activity,” United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian Lakshman Seneviratne was quoted by The Bottom Line newspaper as saying.
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TMVP gunmen shoot dead student, injures another in Akkaraipattu

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 September 2008, 05:16 GMT]
Gunmen of Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), the paramilitary-cum-political party, opened fire Tuesday around 9:00 p.m on two students in front of their office at Aalayadiveampu in Akkaraipattu police division in Ampaa’rai district, killing one and seriously injuring the other, sources in Akkaraipattu said.
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2 SLA killed in ambush in Ampaa'rai - LTTE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 September 2008, 17:36 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelm (LTTE) officials in the East on Tuesday claimed that their a Tiger guerrilla unit triggered a land mine targeting Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers who were on road patrol in Bakmitiyawa, 30 km southwest of Ampaa'rai Tuesday morning around 9:05 a.m. Six SLA soldiers sustained injuries, they added.
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12 upcountry Tamils arrested in Matale

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 September 2008, 15:31 GMT]
Twelve Tamil youths who are residents of upcountry were arrested in a cordon and search operation conducted at Naula in Matale police division from Sunday evening till Monday. They are being detained in Naula police station for further inquiry, according to the Police.
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Tamil youth abducted in Wattala

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 September 2008, 15:29 GMT]
A 25-year-old Tamil youth John Anthony of Jampettah Street in Colombo was abducted by four armed men Monday evening when he was returning from the Wattala sea beach with his fiancé. His fiancé was later released at Matale but not the youth, according to complaint made by his fiancé at the Wattala police station Tuesday, police sources said.
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Time for Britain to act, says UK Parliamentary group for Tamils

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 September 2008, 15:14 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s decision to bar foreign aid staff at this critical juncture from the Vanni region, when these internally displaced people most need help of the aid staff, begs the question whether the Government of Sri Lanka will ever adhere to international norms, said All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils in a statement issued on Tuesday. "Government of Sri Lanka should be made to realise that time for soft talking is over and it should be warned more tough actions will follow if it fails to fall in line with international norms and standards," the group said urging the British government to act.
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Sri Lanka parliament extends emergency

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 September 2008, 14:17 GMT]
Sri Lanka's parliament Tuesday adopted a motion moved by the government led by President Mahinda Rajapakse to extend the State of Emergency for another month by a majority of 99 votes. 110 parliamentarians voted in favor for the motion to extend the emergency. Eleven parliamentarians of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) voted against the motion. Parliamentarians of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) abstained, parliamentary sources said.
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UN pulls staff from Vanni, aid workers fear 'bloodbath'

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 September 2008, 13:33 GMT]
United Nations staff have begun leaving Vanni this week after Sri Lanka’s government ordered aid workers out of the Tamil Tiger controlled region and told them to remove their equipment with them. The government move comes after the UN agencies said they were unable to advise civilians to vacate LTTE-controlled areas in compliance with a government directive to this effect. Over 160,000 people have been displaced in the past two months by Sri Lankan offensives and a humanitarian crisis is fast developing, aid workers said. And amid indiscriminate bombing and shelling, some aid workers are warning of an impending bloodbath.
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Mission on Vanni SF HQ successful, Tiger aircrafts safe - LTTE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 September 2008, 13:24 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) has claimed that their Black Tigers destroyed the Radar installation inside Sri Lankan military's Vanni headquarters at 3:05 a.m. on 09 September, Tuesday. Thereafter, Tamileelam Air Force (TAF) aircrafts and Col. Kittu Artillery formation targeted the Sri Lankan Vanni HQ with the coordination of the Black Tigers, successfully carrying out the operation, the Tigers said, adding that the LTTE aircrafts safely returned to their bases after completing their mission. The communication facility with its tower, engineering facility, anti-aircraft weapon and the ammunition store at the Sri Lankan base were completely destroyed, the LTTE said.
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