‘War not way to peace’ - India

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 August 2006, 04:58 GMT]
As Sri Lanka’s military launched a new offensive against the Liberation Tigers this week, India re-iterated that war was not the way to resolve the island’s conflict. “We do not believe that war is the way out...We do not think violence, whether from LTTE's side or an armed conflict, can resolve any issue,” press reports quoted India’s Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran as saying in Delhi Monday. Meanwhile, The Hindu newspaper reported that, worried over the violence in Sri Lanka, peace-facilitator Norway and India “are engaged in quiet consultations to defuse the situation.”
Full story >>

Dozens killed in new Sri Lankan offensive on Sampoor

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 August 2006, 11:38 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s military launched a major offensive Monday to capture Tamil Tiger controlled Sampoor in the Trincomalee district. Bombs and shells have killed at least 20 civilians and wounded 26 more, LTTE sources in Sampoor told TamilNet. At least 11 SLA soldiers were killed and 79 wounded, AFP reported. The objective of the offensive was to capture Sampoor and Thoppur area, Sri Lanka Army (SLA) commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka told The Associated Press. The LTTE's Military Spokesman Irasaiah Ilanthirayan told Reuters the Sri Lankan government was trying to resume a full-scale war.
Full story >>

300 families trapped by SLA camps

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 August 2006, 16:39 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has occupied the village of Manatkadu in the Vadamaradchi East and established a camp in the precincts of St. Anthony’s Church, residents said Sunday. People are being prevented from leaving the village and many fear they are being held as a human shield to protect the SLA base at nearby Nagar Kovil. Manatkaadu is situated between Nagar Kovil and the eastern coastline.
Full story >>

7 SLA soldiers wounded in Claymore explosion in Muthur

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 August 2006, 08:03 GMT]
At least seven Sri Lanka Army soldiers, wounded in a Claymore attack at Selvanagar, a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled gateway towards Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled Muthur East, Sunday around 9:30 a.m., were rushed to Polonnaruwa hospital, Police sources said.
Full story >>

SLA shelling injures 5 civilians, damage 10 houses

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 August 2006, 20:44 GMT]
Five civilians, including a 10-year old and a 11-year-old children were injured and at least 10 houses were damaged when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers fired shells from Valaichenai and Komanthurai camps towards LTTE held western hinterlands of Batticaloa, Saturday evening.
Full story >>

Sri Lankan C-in-C, Rajapakse or Weerawanse, asks UNP MP

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 August 2006, 11:26 GMT]
UNP Puttalam District parliamentarian Johnston Fernando Thursday told reporters recent developments aimed at motivating armed forces of Sri Lanka had cast doubts on whether the Commander in Chief (C-in-C) of Sri Lanka was Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Propaganda Secretary Wimal Weerawanse or Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse. Wimal Weerawanse's demeanor during his address to the Sri Lankan soldiers in the recent "Manel Mal" (Water Lily) ceremonies was more like a C-in-C than a party secretary, the UNP MP said.
Full story >>

Clashes erupt in Vavuniya, A9 Omanthai entry point closed after brief opening

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 August 2006, 17:30 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) closed the Omanthai entry point from the SLA controlled Vavuniya to Liberation Tigers controlled Vanni, after opening the gates for a while Thursday. SLA soldiers fired mortar shells towards LTTE Forward Defence Line (FDL) claiming that the Tigers had fired 10 mortar shells towards SLA FDL. Meanwhile, two Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres were killed at Semamadu FDL, the SLA sources in Vavuniya claimed to have recovered one body. An SLA trooper was killed at Mamadu FDL, 8 km northeast of Vavuniya, in a clash between the SLA and LTTE cadres, Vavuniya Police said.
Full story >>

Policeman, civilian killed, one soldier injured in separate incidents in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 August 2006, 13:38 GMT]
A police constable and a Tamil civilian were killed and a soldier of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) was injured in three separate incidents that took place Wednesday evening and Thursday morning in Batticaloa district.
Full story >>

Claymore mine explosion in Pesalai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 August 2006, 08:12 GMT]
A claymore mine explosion took place Thursday morning around 11.15 a.m.targetting a group of soldiers of the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) on patrol duty along Talaimannar road near the office of the Ceylon Fisheries Corporation (CFC) in Pesalai in Mannar district. Four SLN soldiers were also on duty at the site.
Full story >>

RSF condemns Sivamaharajah assassination

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 August 2006, 20:32 GMT]
"The journalists and employees of Tamil news media continue to be eliminated at a horrific pace," said the France based media watchdog Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF). The organisation condemned the slaying of Sinnathamby Sivamaharajah, the managing director of the Tamil-language daily Namathu Eelanadu Sunday night in Tellippalai.
Full story >>

SLA directs artillery fire towards LTTE area in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 August 2006, 18:59 GMT]
Sri Lankan Army (SLA) from its Vavunativu camp directed artillery fire on Wednesday from morning 7.00 a.m. till evening 5.00 p.m towards the LTTE controlled Vavunativu and Ayiththiyamalai area in Manmunai West Divisional Secretariat Division.
Full story >>

Jaffna Magistrate, academicians visit undergrad under detention

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 August 2006, 18:40 GMT]
Jaffna Magistrate Mr.R.T.Viknarajah and a group of academicians including Professor Sivachandran, Dean of Art Faculty, and Dr.Sri Satkunarajah of Science Faculty Tuesday visited Mr.Paheerathan, Third Year Art Student who has been kept under detention order in the Special Police Detention Centre located in Kankesnathurai. Mr.Paheerathan is a representative of the Jaffna University Students Union.
Full story >>

Patients not allowed through Omanthai checkpoint to Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 August 2006, 12:26 GMT]
Seven patients including four children, two pregnant women and an old man sent in an ambulance by Kilinochchi general hospital for emergency treatment in Vavuniya general hospital on August 20 were not allowed to enter government controlled territory through Omanthai SLA checkpoint. SLA soldiers sent them back to Killinochchi hospital, civil sources said.
Full story >>

Woman shot dead in Vadamaradchchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 August 2006, 12:11 GMT]
Unidentified armed men shot dead a forty year old woman Manoharan Rajini, mother of four children Tuesday morning around 7.30 a.m. in front of the welfare centre at Sakkotai in Vadamaradchchi division in Jaffna district where she had been residing on being displaced from Palaly which is located in the high security zone.
Full story >>

Snake-bitten girl dies, SLA checking delayed treatment

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 August 2006, 11:33 GMT]
A 13-year-old girl, bitten by a poisonous snake Tuesday early morning around 3:00 a.m., died on her way to hospital during the curfew-hours as there was no ambulance available to transport her to the hospital and the three wheeler which brought her to Jaffna Teaching Hospital from Kopay to Jaffna, via Rasa Veethi, was subjected to check and interrogation in every check point and road block by soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA). The father of the girl said she breathed last in his hands when the three-wheeler reached Jaffna hopital with 3 hour delay.
Full story >>

Limited SLAF flights to Palaly

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 August 2006, 06:40 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) has resumed limited flights between Ratmalana air base in Colombo and the Palaly airbase on the Jaffna peninsula, military sources in Colombo said. Taking off and landing at Palaly is restricted to late evening or night and the number of trips has been limited to two.
Full story >>

SLA bans Colombo bound heavy vehicles from east

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 August 2006, 19:40 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has imposed a total ban on heavy vehicles transporting cargo such as fish, and other perishable goods from the districts of Amparai and Batticaloa to Colombo. These vehicles are stopped at Welikanda and Ottamavadi and sent back to Batticaloa and Amparai. The ban has come into effect since Saturday, civil sources said.
Full story >>

Police, SLA search operation in Valaichchenai, many detained

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 August 2006, 06:56 GMT]
Sri Lankan Army (SLA) troopers and police cordoned off and searched several villages falling within the Valaichchenai police division Sunday from 5:30 a.m. to 12 noon, arresting more than 200 men. The arrested residents were taken to Kalmadu army camp where they were photographed and interrogated. The Armed forces later released many of the arrested but are still holding an unknown number of residents in their base, said civil sources in Batticaloa.


Full story >>

SLA arrests 3 brothers in Punkudutheevu

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 August 2006, 16:19 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers cordoned off and arrested three brothers from their house at 10th ward in Punkudutheevu, islet north of Jaffna, around 10:30 p.m., Saturday, according to a complaint made by theie relatives at the Human Rights Commission (HRC). SLA's Civil Adminstration authorities have, however, informed the relatives that they do not have any information about the arrest of the brothers.
Full story >>

53 Division bears brunt of war

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 August 2006, 12:10 GMT]
Amid continuing heavy fighting in the northern Jaffna peninsula, hundreds of wounded Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers have been brought to hospitals in and around Colombo, with hundreds more awaiting transfer from Anuradhapura, medical sources in the capital said Saturday. While the government officially says 106 soldiers have been killed in a week of fighting, defence sources in Colombo said Friday the bodies of more than 400 soldiers had been brought to the south. They said the majority of the casualties have been borne by the SLA’s elite 53 Division.
Full story >>