8 days, 35 explosions, SLA suffers casualties in Mannaar: LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 March 2008, 16:03 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Operations Command Mannaar on Wednesday said that 35 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops have been either wounded or killed in booby trap explosions in no-go zones between the LTTE and SLA FDLs in Mannaar from 02 March to 10 March in 35 separate incidents. Members of SLA Deep Penetration Units (DPU) and troops deployed in attempts to break into LTTE FDLs are the ones who were caught in Tiger booby traps according to the LTTE.
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LTTE ending use of child soldiers - US

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 March 2008, 04:22 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) “is eliminating the recruitment and use of child soldiers,” the US State Department said this week in its annual human rights report. The LTTE had not complied with its promise to end the practice by end of 2007, but its policy of recruiting one person from each family targeted those 18 years or older, the report said. Sri Lankan government forces were complicit in conscripting children for the TMVP (Karuna Group), “which used coercion, extortion, rape, and murder to force children and adults to join their ranks,” the report said.
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60 SLA killed in 48 hours in Mannaar - LTTE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 March 2008, 13:40 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Operations Command in Mannaar told TamilNet Tuesday that 60 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed on Sunday and Monday when the Tigers confronted 3 major attempts by the SLA to advance into LTTE territory in Mannaar. At Paalaikkuzhi, a large ground push launched by the SLA was thwarted by the Tigers on Monday in which 20 SLA soldiers were killed and 63 wounded. Simultaneously, the SLA has suffered heavy casualties on another push, at Parappaangka'ndal. Further, the LTTE claimed that its snipers have gunned down 18 SLA soldiers on Monday. On Sunday, 22 SLA soldiers were killed in the jungle area of Karampaikku'lam in Keerisuddaan.
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20 SLA killed, 62 wounded in Mannaar - LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 March 2008, 17:17 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Operations Command in Mannaar on Sunday said 20 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed Saturday in heavy fighting that lasted for 8 hours from 9:50 a.m. in Cheaththukku'lam in Mannaar. 62 SLA soldiers were wounded, the Tigers said.
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Sinhala daily: Sri Lanka tops Asian countries in number of NGOs

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 March 2008, 11:18 GMT]
Around 600 Non Government Organisations (NGOs) are officially present in Sri Lanka, while 400 more NGOs are also engaged in Sri Lanka without official presence, Divayina, a Sinhala language daily reported on Saturday. Highlighting that Sri Lanka had become a lucrative country for peace agencies, the paper pointed out that more than one hundred organisations were engaged in peace-related business, benefiting from the CFA. The newspaper criticized 8 organizations for managing to get foreign funding to the tune of 20 million rupees per year and further alleged that these organizations, which claimed to be researching about peace, were in fact supplying "false information" to foreign actors.
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4 SLA killed in Moneragala ambush - LTTE

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 March 2008, 07:34 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthiraiyan said four Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed in a Claymore ambush attack that targeted a SLA tractor at 53 Mile Post near Chellak-kathirkaamam in Moneragala district, around 9:45 a.m., Saturday. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Police said 6 soldiers were wounded in the attack and one of the wounded solider succumbed to his injuries at Kataragama hospital. 2 SLA soldiers were wounded in the attack, according to the Tigers.
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GoSL lacks will to bring justice – IIGEP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 March 2008, 00:16 GMT]
A lack of will on the part of the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) was one factor in the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) terminating its operations in Sri Lanka, Prof. Sir. Nigel Rodley, representing Britain in the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP), told BBC Tamil service in an interview Thursday.
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HRW: Rajapaksa Government, one of world's worst perpetrators of enforced disappearances

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 March 2008, 09:09 GMT]
The United States-based Human Rights Watch, an International rights advocacy group, on Thursday said Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa, "once a rights advocate," has now led his government to become "one of the world’s worst perpetrators of enforced disappearances." Issuing a 241-page report, "Recurring Nightmare: State Responsibility for 'Disappearances' and Abductions in Sri Lanka," the group has called on, in particular, India and Japan, to make further military and other non-humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka contingent on government efforts to halt the practice of “disappearances,” and to end impunity, including its acceptance of an international monitoring mission.
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Jaffna University undergrad feared abducted

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 March 2008, 03:43 GMT]
A science faculty first year student of Jaffna University is missing since Thursday after going to a shop near the campus to buy provisions, Jaffna University Student Union (JUSU) said. JUSU, which fears that the student was abducted, extended an appeal for his immediate release and to restore normalcy in the campus.
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Tigers say random explosions cause rise in SLA casualties in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 March 2008, 16:59 GMT]
At least 23 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were wounded or killed in random explosions within the past week in parts of Mannaar battlefront, the Tigers said Sunday. The SLA has sustained casualties when its soldiers attempted to move around inside no-go zone and during retreats after skirmishes.
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Two pronged SLA operation thwarted in Ma'nalaa'ru - LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 March 2008, 16:41 GMT]
Six SLA soldiers were killed and 11 wounded when Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) confronted Sri Lanka Army (SLA) from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Sunday offering stiff resistance to the SLA that attempted to advance beyond no-go zone via two fronts at Ma'nki'ndimalai in Ma'nalaa'ru. LTTE Operations Command in Ma'nalaa'ru said that the Tigers also seized ammunitions from the SLA.
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Vavuniyaa court takes action on abduction complaints

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 March 2008, 10:19 GMT]
Vavuniyaa Magistrate M.Ilancheliyan Friday directed the Cheddiku'lam Superintendent of Police to conduct inquiry into the allegations made to him by parents of two Tamil youths who are allegedly "abducted" by soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army at Arasadikku'lam area. The abduction had taken place on February 27, according to complaints by parents to the Magistrate, media sources said.
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Suspects in attempted murder case of SLA commander remanded

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 March 2008, 16:06 GMT]
Colombo Fort Magistrate, Mr. Namal Bandara Balalle, Thursday ordered further remand till March 12, for the two suspects in the attempted murder of Commander of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Sarath Fonseka, legal sources in Colombo said.
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11 SLA killed in Mannaar - LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 February 2008, 17:41 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Operations Command in Mannaar said Friday that 11 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and many wounded when Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) recaptured a position at Pa'ndivirichchaan Friday morning between 5:00 and 6:30 a.m. Meanwhlie, an SLA Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) was confronted by the Tigers at Mu'l'likku'lam around 2:00 p.m. 2 Claymore mines were seized, the Tigers said.
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MP objects to SLA video-filming residents during cordon, search

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 February 2008, 16:54 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian for Ampaa'rai district K. Pathmanathan sent an appeal to Defence Secretary Gothabaya Rajapakse and Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse protesting against the video taping of residents by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers during cordon and search operation conducted 20 February in Aalayadiveampu area in Akkaraipattu. People were also harrassed during the interrogation and these are violations of basic human rights, the MP said in the appeal.
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11 SLA killed in Paalaikkuzhi, Mannaar - LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 February 2008, 17:45 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Operations Command in Mannaar said Sunday that 11 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and 23 SLA soldiers wounded in a five-hour fighting erupted in Paalaikkuzhi Sunday. The SLA withdrew its forces at 10:00 a.m., the Tigers said.
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3 SLA killed in Vavuniyaa FDL - LTTE

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 February 2008, 12:54 GMT]
A 3-member-team of a patrol unit of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in no-go zone between the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) and the SLA at Naavatku'lam in Vavuniyaa were killed in an attack carried out by the Tigers Saturday around 10:15 a.m. The SLA is yet to recover the dead bodies of their soldiers lying near their Forward Defence Line, the Tigers said.
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Large scale SLA search operation in Vadamaraadchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 February 2008, 14:03 GMT]
Thousands of SLA troops including soldiers in armoured personnel carrier and Field Bike units forced all residents in Valveddiththu’rai, Udupiddi, Kamparmalai and Naavaladi areas in Vadamaraadchi out of their houses on to the roads in a cordon and search operation launched Thursday around 1:00 p.m, sources in Vadamaraadchi said. Nearly a hundred youths were led to temples and public places for interrogation, and it is not known whether they had been detained, eyewitnesses said.
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SLA launches fresh search operation in Buttala

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 February 2008, 08:31 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Thursday launched a fresh cordon and search operation in areas surrounding Buttala-Kathirkaamam (Kataragama) road and other suburbs following the killing of three SLA soldiers by an unidentified group of persons.
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3 SLA soldiers killed in Buttala ambush

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 February 2008, 03:46 GMT]
Three Sri Lanka Army soldiers were killed when Liberation Tigers ambushed the vehicle in which they were travelling on Buttala - Kathirkaamam (Kataragama) Road, around 11 a.m., Wednesday, Police said.
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