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 Army push stalled

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 August 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A renewed Sri Lankan attempt to capture the town of Puliyankulum was stopped on Thursday night, the LTTE said Friday. The sudden lunge towards Puliyankulum comes several weeks after the Sri Lankan operation 'Jaya Sikuru' stalled following two fierce LTTE counter attacks. The Sri Lankans said there had been fighting in the area, but did not admit to a renewed push being stopped.
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 >>

Tamil-Muslim alliance being targeted

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 July 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Attempts are being made to break the alliance between the Tamils and the Muslims. A Muslim opposition MP, Mr. Mohammed Mahroof was assassinated on Sunday. In another incident, a gunman was said to have been 'arrested' attempting to get close to a ruling Muslim MP. The government has promptly blamed the LTTE for both. However, the violence against Muslim officials comes at a time when the alliance between the LTTE and the leaders of Muslim people is paying off for both sides.
Full story >>

Smear campaign by fax?

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 July 1997, 23:59 GMT]
According to a report carried by a Sri Lankan weekly, a western embassy in Colombo received an unusual fax last week. The message claimed to originate from the Tamil Tigers and said that a Sri Lankan arms shipment had been interdicted. When the embassy queried the claim with the Sri Lankan military, they were told that an arms shipment was indeed 'missing'. However, the fax had not originated from the LTTE.
Full story >>

Arrests not ethnic: LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 July 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Seven out of the 39 Muslim villagers arrested on suspicion of abducting an unarmed Sea Tiger squad have been released, the LTTE said in a press release on Thursday. The other 32 suspects are still in custody pending an LTTE investigation. The statement also stressed that the arrests were not indiscriminate and not based on ethnic grounds but were based on information received on specific individuals.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka desperate for more troops

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 July 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government is still desperately trying to recruit soldiers for its war in the Tamil homelands. Casualties sustained in the war against the LTTE, natural wastage, and above all, desertions are frustrating Colombo's attempts to wage an all out war against the Tamils. Last Thursday, the Sri Lankan government declared yet another amnesty for deserters.
Full story >>

LTTE throws down a gauntlet

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 July 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Tamil Tigers have unequivocally said that they will target Sri Lankan ships supplying the Sri Lankan forces occupying the Jaffna peninsula. In a press release distributed by its London office, the LTTE has said it will do 'its utmost' to interdict Sri Lankan supply lines.
Full story >>

Stop the offensive: TULF

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 July 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A Tamil political party allied to the Sri Lankan government has called for an end to the Sri Lankan military offensive in the Tamil homelands and for negotiations with the LTTE. Sri Lankan Church leaders also appealed for talks with the Tigers last week. The Sri Lankan government has not responded.
Full story >>

An unconvincing charade - and a plan?

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 July 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan police claim to have arrested 3 men suspected of assassinating the TULF MP, Mr. A. Thangathurai at a Trincomalee school. The Sri Lankan government claims the trio are Tamil Tigers. However, the government's zealous claims are being viewed with increasing skepticism by friends and foes alike.
Full story >>

Morang Bong's Crewmen Released

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 July 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The 37 North Korean crewmen of the Sri Lankan supply vessel, Morang Bong, captured by the LTTE have been released, according to the Red Cross (ICRC). The crew were detained last Monday night. The captain is said to have been surprised on seeing the other side of the island's ethnic conflict.
Full story >>

Tigers target sea bridge

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 July 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The LTTE confirmed yesterday that they had detained a Sri Lankan supply ship off the Jaffna peninsula on Monday and had taken it to Mullaitivu. The Tigers also said that one of the 38 North Korean crewmen was killed when the ship ignored orders to stop and was fired on. This second attack on a Sri Lankan supply ship within a week could indicate that having drastically reduced Sri Lankans' aerial supply capability, the Tigers are now turning their attention to the sea lines.
Full story >>

Public anger breaks out over food siege

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 July 1997, 23:59 GMT]
As the Sri Lankan government's restriction on food and medicine into the Vanni causes untold suffering in the Vanni, frustration is building within the Tamil populace. A series of mass demonstrations are taking place in the area. Aid workers are also condemning the deliberate starvation of a people and government interference in their work.
Full story >>

Tamils mark Black Tigers' Day

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 July 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Across the Vanni, Tamil people marked Black Tigers' day by with traditional religious ceremonies, lighting oil lamps in prayer. Black Tigers are one of the LTTE's elite fighting units, whose members execute missions which carry a high degree of risk and in some cases certain death.
Full story >>