2 SLA soldiers killed, 2 injured in Vaakarai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 December 2008, 13:17 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launched a grenade attack Wednesday around 7:30 p.m on a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) sentry post in Vaakarai police division in Batticaloa district killing two soldiers and seriously injuring two, LTTE officials in Batticaloa said. The four soldiers were in the sentry post in Thaddumunai in Vaakarai when the attack took place.
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SLA death toll hits 170 in Vanni, hundreds wounded, 36 bodies recovered - LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 December 2008, 02:08 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) officials on Wednesday said that 130 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed in the multi-front offensive push by the SLA in Ki'linochchi on Tuesday. More than 300 soldiers were wounded in the heavy battle that raged throughout the day till 4:00 p.m. on five main localities and along a wide stretch of the frontiers in Ki'linochchi. Meanwhile, in Ki'laali, 40 SLA soldiers were killed and more than 120 sustained injuries. 36 dead bodies of the SLA soldiers have been recovered so far, 28 in Ki'linochchi and 8 in Ki'liaali, in the clearing missions following Tuesday's fighting. There are young recruits of the SLA, including child soldiers, engaged in the front by the SLA in Ki'linochchi.
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SLA suffers third debacle in Ki'linochchi, 100 killed, 250 wounded - Puleedevan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 December 2008, 16:51 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) on Tuesday repulsed a major push by the Sri Lanka Army, killing at least 100 SLA soldiers and causing injuries to more than 250, said S. Puleedevan, the director of LTTE's Peace Secretariat, quoting Tiger commanders who were in charge of the Tiger defensive fronts in Ki'linochchi district. "According to the emerging details, a multi-front push towards Ki'linochchi from Malayaa'lapuram, Kugnchupparanthan, Mu'rika'ndi and Pulikku'lam, was repulsed by the LTTE defensive formations that have seized weapons and recovered at least 10 corpses of the Sri Lanka Army," Mr. Puleedevan told TamilNet citing the military officials of the LTTE.
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Tigers recover 8 SLA bodies, seize 18 weapons in Ki'laali fighting

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 December 2008, 15:36 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) said Tuesday that they seized two Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) launchers, one AK-LMG, fourteen T-56 assault rifles and a 40 mm Grenade Launcher after repulsing an SLA-initiated offensive push that lasted for 9 hours from 1:20 a.m. Tuesday. The Tigers have earlier claimed that at least 40 SLA soldiers were killed and more than 120 sustained injuries. Information from Jaffna also indicates heavy casualties on SLA-side. The latest debacle of the SLA in Jaffna comes after a recent by the SLA commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka and the Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.
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Artillery duel in Northern Front, SLA closes roads to transport casualties in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 December 2008, 15:07 GMT]
Clashes between Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which began with an SLA offensive advance through Ki’aali Tuesday around 1:20 a.m continued through the day with artillery duels and gunfire exchanges, sources in Jaffna said. Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) helicopters were seen engaged in transporting casualties and injured soldiers while Kandy road and Palaali road were blocked several times during the day enabling ambulances to carry the dead and injured to Palaali SLA hospital. The SLA has suffered considerable loss of lives and injuries to many, sources close to SLA said.
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Elderly man killed by SLA field bike in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 December 2008, 14:06 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers riding a field bike knocked down an elderly man seriously injuring him Tuesday at Koa’ndaavil junction on Kaangkeasanthu’rai road in Jaffna. The elderly man was rushed to Jaffna Teaching Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, sources in Jaffna said.
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SLA push thwarted in Ki'laali, 40 killed - LTTE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 December 2008, 10:30 GMT]
More than 40 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and at least 120 soldiers wounded Tuesday morning when the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) repulsed an offensive push by the SLA along the Forward Defence Line in Ki'laali, Tiger officials in Vanni told TamilNet. The LTTE has claimed to have seized weapons and recovered dead bodies of the SLA.
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Unidentified men shoot, injure two sinhala settlers

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 December 2008, 10:01 GMT]
Two Sinhalese villagers were injured when unidentified men opened fire on a village Samaagipura in Kanthalaai police division in Trincomalee district Saturday night around 7:00 p.m. The villagers were guarding a chena cultivation when they were shot. Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and police rushed to the site on receipt of information and opened fire in retaliation.
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HRW: Sri Lanka's use of child soldiers to result in suspension of US military aid

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 December 2008, 14:37 GMT]
Governments involved in the use of children as soldiers may no longer be eligible for US military assistance under legislation adopted by the US Congress on December 10, 2008, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Thursday. Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Chad, Congo Sudan, and Uganda are expected to be affected by the new legislation passed unanimously by both the Senate and the House, HRW further said.
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SLA cordon, search Thunnaalai in Vadamaraadchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 December 2008, 15:17 GMT]
Following the killing of two youths by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Wednesday morning during a sudden cordon and search conducted in Thunnaalai in Vadamaraadchi, SLA launched yet another intensive cordon and search Thursday early morning in the same area deploying more than a thousand troops, sources in Vadamaraadchi said. Young men and women were brought out to the temple courtyard and subjected to rigorous interrogation which went on until evening. Meanwhile, no information is available on the elderly mother of one of the two youths. The two bodies lie unclaimed in Manthikai government hospital in Vadamaraadchi, hospital sources said.
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500 SLA soldiers hurriedly transferred to Vanni from East

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 December 2008, 13:44 GMT]
Informed military sources in the East said at least 500 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers have been transferred to the war front in Vanni from the Eastern province in the recent days.
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Body of mentally ill man recovered from Jaffna well

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 December 2008, 17:36 GMT]
Koapaay police recovered Wednesday the body of a mental patient who went missing from Jaffna Teaching Hospital (JTH) Monday, in a well close to the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp in Thirunelveali in Jaffna. The body had severe assault injuries. The 54-year-old family man from Thenmaraadchi was admitted to JTH Monday and had gone missing the same day, according to his wife.
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90 SLA killed in two fronts of Ki'linochchi - LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 December 2008, 15:12 GMT]
More than 60 SLA soldiers were killed and 12 SLA bodies recovered by the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) defensive units, 5 km west of Ki'linochchi Wednesday after defeating the SLA formations that attempted to advance from Oottuppu'lam to Puthumu'rippu, Tiger officials said. At the same time, a heavy fighting broke out at A'riviyal Nakar, south of Ki'linochchi, where 29 SLA soldiers were killed in the clashes. The Tigers have seized four AK-LMGs, two PK-LMGs and eleven T-56 assault rifles with ammunitions in the clearing mission at Puthumu'rippu Wednesday afternoon.
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SLA shoots dead 2 youths in Vadamaraadchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 December 2008, 14:06 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers shot and killed two youths Wednesday in a sudden cordon and search launched around 5:00 a.m on a house in Koayitkadavai, Thunnaalai in Vadamaraadchi, sources in Vadmaraadchi said. The two youths, one of them the owner of the house, attacked SLA soldiers with hand grenades and gunfire in the clash that lasted till 7:00 a.m, the sources added. One of the victims was identified while the other is yet to be identified.
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Condoleeza Rice spotlights Rights violations in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 December 2008, 12:15 GMT]
United States Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, Wednesday, awarded the 2008 Human Rights and Democracy Achievement Award to Michael De Tar, the chief of the Political Section of our Embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka, for engaging "constructively with Sri Lanka while underscoring our [U.S.'s] human rights," and for proposing the roadmap adopted by the Sri Lankan Government "to induce a paramilitary aligned with the government to begin to release its child soldiers [in the east]." The situation in the East, however, has rapidly deterioted recently with Human Rights Watch accusing the Colombo-backed paramilitaries in the east for thirty murders and thirty abductions during September and October.
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SLA imposes rigid pass system on civilian access to Jaffna hospital

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 December 2008, 20:16 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) directed the Jaffna Teaching Hospital (JTH) administration Monday to introduce a 'pass' system under which even patients in need of treatment will have to prove their ailment to the police and army personnel manning the check post in front of the hospital. This system is being imposed to to ensure the safety of the Sinhalese medical officers of JTH by restricting the number of patients and visitors seeking entry to the hospital, hospital authorities said.
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Ethnic filtering, registration at SLA checkpost in Mannampiddi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 December 2008, 05:44 GMT]
Sri Lankan soldiers manning the checkpost at Mannampiddi in Batticaloa have introduced a new scheme to register all Tamil and Muslim passengers who travel from eastern province into other provinces. Only Tamil and Muslim passengers are ordered to get down at Mannampiddi from buses and private vehicles for checking and registration, but not the Sinhalese, civil sources said.
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SLA soldier killed, 1 wounded in mine explosions in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 December 2008, 12:15 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) sources in Batticaloa said Wednesday that a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldier seriously wounded in a mine explosion Monday on Vadamunai - Welkande Road succumbed to his injuries and another SLA soldier lost his leg in a second explosion on the same road on Wednesday.
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7 SLA deserters escape from army custody

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 December 2008, 13:22 GMT]
Seven soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) escaped from Panagoda army camp located in Kalutara district Saturday midnight. They were deserters and were being detained in the army camp after being arrested in a search operation. Several hundred deserters are currently being detained in the Panagoda army camp.
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Quick IDP action averts carnage from Cluster bombs

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 December 2008, 01:33 GMT]
“Three bombs exploded first time. Second time, when the bomber returned after 5 minutes from the opposite direction, there were 3 more blasts. But, the third time, bombs exploded with a parachute effect, like an auto explosion,”  said the head of the camp of the Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs) that came under indiscriminate attack by the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) in the early hours of Saturday. Many children fled into the jungle during the five-minute window before the aircraft returned for the second attack. If not for the fast action of Ketheeswaran, the head of the settlement, and Pulendran, an intrepid IDP, in escorting and moving IDPs away from the refugee camp, the cluster bombs would have wrought havoc killing many, according to the refugees who escaped. TamilNet interviewed both Ketheeswaran and Pulendran, and several wounded civilians for this feature.
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