Tamils mark 25-years of Tiger sacrifice

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 November 2007, 10:11 GMT]
November 27 Heroes Day remembrance events were being held in Vanni since Sunday amid air attacks and Deep Penetration Unit attacks that have been stepped up by the Sri Lankan forces. Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has deployed soldiers close to the Heroes cemeteries in SLA controlled areas of NorthEast, including the cemeteries that have been desecrated by the Sri Lankan forces in Batticaloa, Ampaa'rai and Trincomalee. From 27 November 1982, when the first LTTE fighter Lt. Sankar died, until 20 November 2007, a total of 19,877 fighters are declared war heroes by the Tamileelam Heroes Secretariat.
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Magistrate directs police to consider arrest of soldier suspects in Thavasikku'lam killings

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 November 2007, 15:51 GMT]
Vavuniyaa magistrate M. Ilancheliyan Friday directed the police to consider arresting Sri Lanka Army soldiers who were on duty at Veappangku'lam SLA detachment on November 03 between 6:00 and 6:30 p.m. Five young Tamil males who were allegedly arrested by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) that day were found shot dead the following morning at Thavasikku'lam. The parents of the slain youths have told the magistrate that there were many witnesses who saw their sons being arrested and taken by SLA troops. The magistrate has earlier directed that the assault rifles of 49 soldiers, including that of the commander of the detachment, be sent to government analyst department for examination.
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Heavy fighting in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 November 2007, 13:59 GMT]
Heavy fighting erupted between the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) in Mu'l'likku'lam area in Mannaar Thursday morning around 6:30 a.m. The fighting continued throughout the evening. Seven SLA soldiers wounded in LTTE artillery fire were rushed to Anuradhapura hospital, medical sources said.
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Colombo court releases Tamil youth arrested in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 November 2007, 07:24 GMT]
A Tamil youth arrested by soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army stationed in Kodikaamam on June 27 last year was released by the Colombo Chief Magistrate Friday after 16 months in remand under the Emergency Regulations.
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Court releases Kadirgamar suspects on bail

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 November 2007, 12:21 GMT]
The Colombo High Court last Thursday allowed bail for the two suspects arrested following the assassination of Lakshman Kadirgamar, the former foreign minister of Sri Lanka, after two and a half years in remand. The suspects were taken into custody alleging that the two suspects from the upcountry had come to Colombo fifteen days before the date of crime and they were taking photograph after the killing, legal sources said.
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SLA shoots dead youth in Vara'ni

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 November 2007, 12:50 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers shot dead a youth riding a motorbike near a sentry point in Iyattalai, Vara'ni in Thenmaraadchi at 2:10 p.m. Sunday. SLA soldiers claimed they recovered a hand grenade in possession of the youth. The identity of the youth has not been established.
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Fear grips Sri Lanka's southern villages- paper

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 November 2007, 03:22 GMT]
"Villages bordering the Yala sanctuary had been living on the edge since 15 October," reported a Colombo daily, after the Liberation Tigers overran the Thalgasmankada Sri Lanka Army (SLA) unit killing six troopers and injuring many. In the last three weeks, three had gone missing, and bodies of five cattle-herders have been found with cut injuries in Thissemaharama division situated in the constituency of the Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa.
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Laborer abducted, two seek refuge at Jaffna HRC

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 November 2007, 02:53 GMT]
Two civilians sought protection at the offices of the Human Rights Commission in Jaffna Thursday, and Friday, due to threats for their lives from Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and SLA-backed paramilitaries, officials at the HRC said. Meanwhile, a day laborer from Nallur Jaffna was abducted Wednesday, according to complaints by his relatives at the HRC offices.
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SLA deployed to beef up security around Yala sanctuary

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 November 2007, 18:51 GMT]
More than two thousand soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) have been deployed to conduct search operation in the Yala national sanctuary since the recovery of dead bodies of Sinhalese villagers. Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camps and eight police sentries have been set up in villages in Tihssamaharama, around the sanctuary.
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Tigers thwart offensive in Jaffna, 23 SLA killed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 November 2007, 02:38 GMT]
Liberation Tigers have repulsed a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) ground operation towards the Northern Forward Defence Line (FDL) positions between Ki'laali and Mukamaalai in the early hours of Wednesday, Irasiah Ilanthirayan, the military spokesman of the Liberation Tigers told TamilNet. The ground operation, launched by the SLA with heavy artillery, Multi Barrel Rocket Fire and with the support of Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) helicopter gunships at 5:20 a.m. was thwarted around 7:30 a.m., after intense fighting, he said claiming that more than 100 SLA troops were wounded and at least 16 killed in the attack. A military source in Jaffna confirmed that 23 soldiers were killed and 150 wounded.
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UK urged to charge Karuna for war crimes

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 November 2007, 14:09 GMT]
Karuna, a former Tamil Tiger commander and later the leader of TMVP paramiitary group that has been deployed by the Sri Lankan forces in their war against the Tigers, has been arrested in Britain on suspicion of immigration offences, including traveling on a false passport, British press reports said this week. International human rights groups are now calling on the UK government to investigate Vinayagamoorthi Muraleetharan (Karuna) for war crimes and are assembling evidence to see whether they can trigger a prosecution, reports said. Amid fears by rights groups that Karuna would be deported to Sri Lanka, some press reports said he had applied for asylum in Britain.
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Rape by Sri Lankan troops resurfaces – in Haiti

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 November 2007, 07:31 GMT]
The United Nations has asked Sri Lanka to prosecute ‘to the fullest extent of the law’ 108 Sri Lankan soldiers with the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti for sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of minors, including prostitution, the Sunday Times reported. The number is one of the biggest single withdrawal of soldiers from a UN peacekeeping mission. During the conflict numerous local and international NGOs protested both frequent rapes by security forces and the climate of impunity in which they occur.
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6 members of family seek refuge with HRC

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 November 2007, 10:13 GMT]
A 37-year-old father, 27-year-old mother, and four children, all girls with ages between 2 and 10, surrendered Friday at the offices of the Jaffna Human Rights Commissions seeking safety from Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and SLA-backed paramilitaries, civil sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, a 31-year old driver has been reported disappeared since Wednesday, according to complaints at the HRC offices.
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25 SLA killed in Mannaar clashes - LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 November 2007, 15:26 GMT]
At least 25 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and more than 60 wounded when Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) confronted the ground troops of the SLA on two fronts, at Paalaikkuzhi and at the bund of Kaddukkarai Ku'lam Thursday morning from 5:30 a.m. till 12:30 p.m., field officials of the Tigers told media in Vanni Thursday evening. Tigers said they lost seven cadres in the fighting in Mannaar. Arrangements were underway to hand over a dead body of a SLA trooper, recovered by the Tigers, after thwarting the SLA movement. The LTTE has seized four automatic rifles and ammunitions in the clearing mission, they said.
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Civilian, 6 combatants killed in Mannaar clashes

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 November 2007, 08:28 GMT]
A young mother was killed when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and Special Task Force (STF) commandos in Murungkan, opened fire from their positions around 8:30 a.m. Thursday. The SLA and the LTTE engaged in offensive operations at two different positions. At least three FDL positions of the Sri Lankan forces were destroyed. The SLA has suffered heavy casualties. Military sources put their casualty figures at 3 killed and 32 wounded. Meanwhile, Murungkan Police has handed over 3 dead bodies of LTTE female cadres to Mannaar hospital.
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Muslim trader abducted in Maavadicheanai, STF arrests youth in Ka'ruvaakearni

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 November 2007, 00:25 GMT]
Unidentified armed men way laid and abducted a Muslim trader Wednesday morning at Chanthivea'li Main Road in Vazhaichcheanai police division in Batticaloa district, Vaazhaichcheanai police said.
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Tigers gun down 2 DPU intruders in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 October 2007, 20:04 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Tuesday said a roaming patrol of their border security combatants on Monday evening gunned down two Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) intruders inside LTTE controlled Valaignan Kaddu area in Mannaar district. Arrangements were underway to hand over the dead bodies of the SLA soldiers through the ICRC, informed sources in Vanni said. The Tigers have lost a combatant in the counter-ambush.
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Rights group launches campaign against attacks on Journalists in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 October 2007, 08:03 GMT]
Expressing concern on the level of prevailing impunity of the killings of media personnel in Sri Lanka, the Asian Human Rights Commission, citing 11 cases where 12 Tamil media personnel were killed since 31 May 2004 till 29 April 2007, on Tuesday urged the public to write letters to the concerned Sri Lankan authorities demanding impartial investigation in order to identify and bring the perpetrators to justice. "Not a single person has been brought before the court," in the 11 cases, the AHRC noted and urged the public to forward a copy of their appeal to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.
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SLN increases troop strength in Veala'nai

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 October 2007, 11:17 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) command has been transporting additional soldiers to the SLN camp in Veala'nai in the islets of Jaffna for the past three days, sources in Jaffna said. Soldiers are arriving in SLN ships from Mannaar to Kayts, and also from Colombo to Palaali by air and transported by road to Veala'nai, according to sources.
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Mine blast kills 6 SLA troopers in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 October 2007, 08:28 GMT]
Six Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and four wounded in a mine blast at Kalmadu in Vavuniyaa Friday around 12:30 p.m., initial reports from Vavuniyaa said. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan Ministry of Defense officials told media said the explosion was "accidental".
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