UNP flays govt. for dialogue hypocrisy

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 June 2000, 15:32 GMT]
The general secretary of Sri Lanka's main opposition party, Mr.Gamini Athukorala, charged Monday that the government is hypocritical and insincere in its discussions with his party on constitutional reforms aimed at resolving the ethnic conflict in the island. The United National Party's (UNP) general secretary lambasted the state media for distorting decisions that had been mutually agreed upon and for carrying on a misinformation campaign about his party's role in the current dialogue towards a bipartisan consensus on constitutional reforms.
Full story >>

No role for LTTE in Interim Council - PA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 June 2000, 17:01 GMT]
The Government of Sri Lanka denied on Sunday media
Full story >>

STF officer killed in claymore attack

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 June 2000, 12:48 GMT]
The officer in charge of the elite Special Task Force (STF) commando camp in Thirukkovil, 77 kilometers south of Batticaloa, was killed Sunday morning around 11.30 a.m. when a claymore mine fixed to a bicycle exploded.
Full story >>

LTTE urges Muslims to be vigilant

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 June 2000, 15:18 GMT]
In a leaflet in Tamil titled "Dear Muslim brothers/sisters" distributed widely in the Batticaloa and Amparai districts this week, the political section of the Liberation Tigers calls on Muslims to be vigilant against a campaign to foment divisions between them and the Tamil people in the east. The LTTE leaflet says that Muslims need not be concerned about "the imminent war of liberation that is soon to engulf the east."
Full story >>

More casualties due to SLA shelling

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 June 2000, 15:16 GMT]
One civilian died and two suffered severe injuries whenthe Sri Lankan Army (SLA) intensified their shelling inthe Thenmaradchi sector of the Jaffna Peninsula.
Full story >>

Bishop says 500 civilian casualties in Madduvil

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 June 2000, 19:41 GMT]
The Bishop of the Catholic Church in Mannar Rt.Rev.Dr. Rayappu Joseph said in appeal sent to the heads of foreign missions in Colombo that there were more than five hundred civilian casualties due to bombing and shelling by Sri Lankan security forces in the Madduvil area, close to Chavakachcheri in Jaffna. "I am given to understand that the attitude of the armed forces is that 'it is better to kill the people than allow them to go into the LTTE controlled areas' the Bishop states in the appeal.
Full story >>

Casualties from Jaffna fighting

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 June 2000, 12:08 GMT]
Twenty-five Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers, including a senior officer, were killed and about 50 others were wounded in the heavy fighting that erupted at Sarasalai in the Jaffna peninsula yesterday, SLA sources in Colombo said.
Full story >>

Government officials to treat elephant in LTTE area

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 June 2000, 12:03 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers gave permission to government officials to take steps to treat a wounded elephant lying in the jungles of Sagamam in the eastern Ampara district, ICRC sources said. The Sagamam area is under the control of the Liberation Tigers.
Full story >>

ICRC, UNHCR urged over ceasefire for civilians

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 June 2000, 16:29 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers said Friday they had urged the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to help arrange a temporary ceasefire between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan armed forces to facilitate the evacuation of civilians trapped in the battle zones of the thenmaradchi division in the Jaffna peninsula. The civilians are unable to leave as the Sri Lankan armed forces are pounding the possible routes of evacuation, the Tigers said in a statement from their London offices.
Full story >>

SLA assault repulsed -LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 June 2000, 15:21 GMT]
An offensive assault by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in the Sarasalai area of the Jaffna peninsula was repulsed Friday with heavy casualties, the Liberation Tigers said in a statement from their London offices. Civilian settlements in Maduvil and Sarasalai had been hit by artillery and rocket fire, killing six civilians and wounding scores, the statement added.
Full story >>

LTTE ambush kills three

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 June 2000, 05:55 GMT]
Three homeguards militiamen were killed and four policemen were wounded in an ambush by the Liberation Tigers in the Avaranthulawa area about 22 km. west of Vavuniya, around 5.30 a.m. Thursday, police sources said.
Full story >>

Feeding Mars in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 June 2000, 23:59 GMT]
Jaffna has been supplied by air and sea for almost a decade. However, this is the first time the sea and air supply facilities of the SLA in the northern peninsula have been threatened directly. Sri Lanka's Deputy Defence Minister acknowledged last week that the Liberation Tigers are firing a large number of shells on the Sri Lankan army's Palali base complex, which includes the Kankesanthurai harbour.
Full story >>

One killed and five wounded in attacks

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 June 2000, 20:00 GMT]
Three military trained Policemen were wounded in the high security zone of Trincomalee town Tuesday night around 8.40 p.m. when a grenade was lobbed at their checkpoint by persons suspected to be Liberation Tigers. Meanwhile, a military trained Policeman was killed and two were wounded in another attack Monday night by the LTTE on a bunker at Poolavady near the border between the Ampara and Batticaloa districts.
Full story >>

Two super-dvora gun boats sunk

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 June 2000, 15:25 GMT]
Two Israeli made super-dvora fast attack gun boats were sunk and 15 naval personnel were killed when the Liberation Tigers attacked a convoy of Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) off the coast of Vadamarachchi this morning, the LTTE said in a press release this evening. The Tigers said two other gun boats were seriously damaged in the sea battle.
Full story >>

Police post attacked -VoT

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 June 2000, 20:31 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers attacked a Sri Lankan Police post in Pulmoddai in the Trincomalee district, around 11.50 p.m. yesterday, killing a policeman the Voice of Tigers Radio (VoT) said this evening.
Full story >>

Three Policemen wounded

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 June 2000, 08:19 GMT]
Three military trained Policemen were shot and seriously wounded by gunmen suspected to be members of the Liberation Tigers last night around 9.30 p.m. in the heart of Kattankudy, a predominantly Muslim town, 6 kilometers south of Batticaloa. The gun men had lobbed a grenade near the scene of shooting before getting away on a motorbike, Police in Kattankudy said. The Police imposed restrictions on Tamils living and working in this town on May 30 in a bid to curb the activities of the LTTE in Kattankudy.
Full story >>

SLA search in Colombo's business hub

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 May 2000, 19:03 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army cordoned off and searched Sea Street, the island's 'gold market', in the heart of Colombo's business hub Tuesday. More than thousand businessmen and shop assistants in this predominantly Tamil sector of the capital's business district were lined up for identification by 'spotters' who had come with the army. More than thirty youth, including five girls were arrested.
Full story >>

MSF brings Jaffna wounded to Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 May 2000, 17:19 GMT]
Four civilians wounded in shelling in the Thenmaradchi division of Jaffna were transferred from Mallavi to Vavuniya hospital Monday by Medicins Sans Frontiers. The four are from the village of Madduvil south which was captured by the Liberation Tigers when they advanced on Chavakachcheri and its environs on May 19-20. They were brought overland through the Vanni from LTTE held sectors of Jaffna by the MSF.
Full story >>

SLA silence stymies UNHCR effort

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 May 2000, 15:32 GMT]
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a press release issued in Colombo Sunday that it did not receive a response to a request it had made to the Sri Lankan government on May 6 that "military actions be suspended for the period of the LTTE declared cease-fire" on May 27 Saturday, "in the interest of the civilians, who may be moving during that time". The UNHCR had also asked the Sri Lankan government to indicate a safe route to areas held by the army but had got no reply from the Ministry of Defence according to the press release.
Full story >>

Shelling thwarts civilian evacuation

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 May 2000, 18:12 GMT]
The evacuation of an estimated 15,000 civilians from the embattled Chavakachcheri sector failed Saturday, as heavy shelling by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) prevented them moving to designated points where UNHCR officials were waiting, following the declaration of a ceasefire by the Liberation Tigers, the LTTE said in a statement. The LTTE urged international governments to "prevail on the Sri Lankan armed forces to desist from using civilians as human shields and subjecting them to indiscriminate artillery and aerial bombardment".
Full story >>