Abducted TRO officials remembered

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 January 2007, 08:40 GMT]
The one-year remembrance of the abducted seven employees of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) was observed in front of the TRO head office in Kilinochchi Tuesday. The relatives of the abducted and the employees of TRO gathered around 9:00 a.m. and remembered the persons abducted by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Karuna Group at Welikanda one year ago while they were traveling to Vavuniya from Batticaloa. The President of TRO, V. Sivanadiyar, read a memorandum addressed to the Commissioner of Human Rights for United Nations to secure the release of the persons.
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Remains of Eelanatham Journalist cremated in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 January 2007, 11:43 GMT]
The event paying final tribute to 'Patriot' Late V. Aruljothinathan, the senior most journalist of Eelanatham Tamil daily, was held at Eelanatham office at Jeyanthinagar in Kilinochchi Wednesday around 2:00 p.m, presided by V. Sudarmani, deputy head of Eelanatham.
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Col. Kittu remembered in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 January 2007, 05:02 GMT]
The 14th anniversary remembrance of Colonel Kittu and other fighters were remembered at the statue of late Lt. Colonel Kuttisri in Paranthan junction, Kilinochchi around 8:45 a.m. Tuesday. Colonel Kittu and nine other LTTE members who died exploding an LTTE vessel, when the Indian Navy cordoned off the vessel in which they were sailing to Sri Lanka on 16 January 1993. Kittu was the head of the LTTE's International Secretariat at the time of his death.
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Senior journalist passes away in Vanni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 January 2007, 02:05 GMT]
A senior journalist in Vanni, Vallipuram Aruljothinathan, 56, of Kanagapuram, Kilinochchi, passed away at Kilinochchi General Hospital around 3:00 a.m. Tuesday. Mr Aruljothinathan started his career in 1993 at ‘Eelanatham,’ a Tamil newspaper published in Vanni, from the day of the inception of its weekly edition.
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More than 250 Tamils arrested in South, taken for questioning

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 January 2007, 19:35 GMT]
Sri Lanka Security forces assisted by Police arrested 209 youths in Gampaha, 36 in Nittambuwa, 22 in Minuwangoda, and 7 in Borelesgamuwa Friday and Saturday during separate cordon and search operations, sources in Colombo said.
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"White van" squad abducts two Tamil youths in Puttalam

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 January 2007, 01:14 GMT]
Six unidentified armed men in a white van abducted two Tamil youths Tuesday around 8:45 p.m from the house their house at Kampawathe area in Puthalam, according to a complaint made with the Puthalam police.


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Mob led by SL Minister attack Journalists at UPM event

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 January 2007, 14:43 GMT]
An armed mob led by Sri Lankan Deputy Minister of Labour, Mervin Silva, arrived at the open air stage at Super Market Square in Nugegoda, the site of the first public event organised by the newly established United People's Movement (UPM), and attacked the journalists who were present at the site to cover the event which was about to commence at 3:00 p.m. Tuesday. The UPM is a political platform that seeks to establish consensus among especially the Southern polity on a Federal System of Governance, as against war and any other undemocratic, non-negotiable conclusion to the on going NorthEast conflict.
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2 killed, 2 wounded in DPU claymore explosion

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 January 2007, 04:24 GMT]
Two Agriculture Department officials were killed and 2 wounded Friday morning when a vehicle belonging to the department, transporting fruit plants, was hit by a Sri Lankan Deep Penetration Unit Claymore mine blast around 8:45 in Nedunkerni, 37 km northeast of Vavuniya. One of the two Claymore mines, triggered by the DPU attackers, exploded. Sri Lanka Army launched an artillery attack, firing around 25 shells towards the attack site, after the Claymore explosion.
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Death toll rises to 16 in Padahuthurai bombardment

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 January 2007, 14:26 GMT]
A young mother of a child victim Uthayakumar Malini, seriously wounded in the Sri Lanka Air Force bombardment on Padahuthurai coastal hamlet in Iluppaikadavai Tuesday morning, succumbed to her wounds at Kilnochchi hospital Wednesday. Her 18 months old baby girl, Uthayakumar Tharsika, died Tuesday night at Kilinochchi hospital.
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Aerial attack on Padahuthurai, a crime against humanity - Bishop

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 January 2007, 10:22 GMT]
The Bishop of Mannar Diocese, Rt Rev Rayappu Joseph, who visited Padahuthurai hamlet, which was completely destroyed by indiscriminate aerial bombardment by the Sri Lanka Air Force Tuesday morning, has condemned the bombardment and said the attack had destroyed the settlement of the Internally Displaced persons. There was no military installation of the LTTE in the area, the Bishop told media. The Bishop, calling the bombardment "a crime against humanity," urged the International Community to send independent observers to NorthEast. Death toll has risen to 15, including 7 children below age nine , a pregnant woman, her child and husband.
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14 civilians killed, 35 wounded in aerial bombardment

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 January 2007, 05:29 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force bombers Tuesday morning bombed more than 25 houses, killing at least 14 civilians, including 6 children, and seriously wounding 35 civilians at the coastal hamlet of Padahuthurai in Iluppaikadavai, 24 km northwest of Mannar town. Medical staff at two local hospitals in the area, Mulankavil and Pallamadu, were struggling to transport the seriously wounded, as an ambulance rushed from Mannar hospital, was blocked by Sri Lanka Army soldiers manning the Uyilankulam entry point.
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Tamil youths arrested in Galle, Kandy

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 December 2006, 16:10 GMT]
Seven Tamil youths including a woman were arrested in Habaraduwa in Galled district and in Kandy town in two separate cordon and search operations conducted by security forces Sunday evening, sources said.


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LTTE hands over Jordanian ship's crew to ICRC

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 December 2006, 10:53 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) media spokesman Thaya Master said that the 25 sailors including the Captain of the Jordanian ship, rescued on the LTTE territorial waters off Mullaithivu Saturday, were handed over to ICRC Monday around 10:00 a.m. in Kilinochchi.


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Drifted ship's Captain talks to Jordanian Ambassador in India

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 December 2006, 10:49 GMT]
Iraqi Captain of the Jordanian owned cargo ship M.V. FARAH III that drifted and struck the ground in LTTE territorial waters off Mullaithivu Saturday, Ramaz S. Abdul Jabbar, has contacted the Jordanian Ambassador in India Sunday evening, from the Peace Secretariat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Kilinochchi, conveying the message of safety of his crew members. Asked to comment whether there has been any military standoff between the Sri Lanka Navy and the Sea Tigers, the Captain of the ship told TamilNet: "this, I guess is all political. We are all safe and we have good cooperation here."
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Cargo ship's crew safe, Tigers inform IMO

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 December 2006, 14:57 GMT]
Liberation Tigers officials have informed International Maritime Organisation in UK that the 25-member crew of the cargo ship that drifted into LTTE waters off Mullaithivu coast due to technical failure, were safe in Kilinochchi. LTTE's U.N. Liaison officer Pavarasan is in touch with the ICRC to facilitate safe passage to the crew members as the cargo ship was grounded, according to LTTE Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan.
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Vanni pays homage to 'Voice of the Nation' Balasingham

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 December 2006, 11:05 GMT]
"Anton Balasingham bore the cross for the liberation of Eelam Tamils," said Puthuvai Iratnathurai, the Poet and the head of the Cultural Organisation of Tamileelam, addressing the mourners at Kilinochchi where LTTE Commander Col. Theepan hoisted the Tamileelam flag at half mast. "Bala Annai, when he visited Vanni last, told me that he wished to breathe his last in an Independent homeland," Puthuvai told the gathering. "We will support our Nation's leader, paving the way for the freedom of our nation, fulfilling Bala Annai's wish."
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Two LTTE cadres to be disciplined over Thirukkovil episode

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 December 2006, 17:22 GMT]
Two Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres have been ordered transferred to Kilinochchi from Amparai, to face disciplinary action for enlisting underage youths from a tuition centre in Thirukkovil Monday, LTTE officials in Amparai told TamilNet. All the 23 civilians, including the 21 students, in the custody of an LTTE unit attached to a training camp, were freed after an internal investigation initiated by LTTE Commander Ram.
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Three men shot dead, woman injured in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 December 2006, 09:33 GMT]
Three unidentified armed men arriving in a car shot dead three men and injured a woman at their house at Chalampaikulam in Vavuniya Monday around 7:45 p.m, said the injured woman to Vavuniya police.
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Tamil homeland, diaspora in 3-days mourning for Balasingham

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 December 2006, 21:52 GMT]
Liberation Tigers officials in Kilinochchi announced a 3-day mourning period, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, for the death of LTTE's theoretician and political advisor Anton Balasingham. Meanwhile, representatives of the diaspora Tamil organisations, expressing condolences following the demise of Mr. Anton Balasingham, have also announced a 3-day mourning, according to IBC Tamil radio.
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Protest condemning Vaharai killings held in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 December 2006, 22:56 GMT]
Several hundred residents of Kilinochchi held a demonstration Monday condemning the killings of Tamil refugees in Vaharai area by the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) and demanding the opening of the A9 land route, civil sources in Kilinochchi said. The demonstrators gathered in front of the Kilinochchi Kanthasami Kovil around 10:30 a.m. and marched north along A9 to the UNHCR office at Karadippokku Junction.
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