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.
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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.
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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.
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Civilians cross open lines-ICRC

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 August 2006, 13:21 GMT]
Since Monday, the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) facilitated a convoy of civilians going from Killinochchi to Vavuniya. The convoy consisted 243 persons, including 61 foreign citizens and 182 Sri Lankan nationals, said the press release of the ICRC Tuesday
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Jaffna bound civilians stranded in Vavuniya for 11 days

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 August 2006, 09:31 GMT]
More than five hundred Tamil civilians bound for Jaffna district stranded in Vavuniya for the last eleven days Monday morning gathered in the Vavuniya district secretariat urging the civil authorities to take steps to send them to the peninsula.
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SLA directs artillery fire towards Batticaloa LTTE-areas

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 August 2006, 04:46 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Saturday night around 8:30 p.m. directed artillery and mortar bombs from its military installations in Vavunativu, Kommathurai, Kiran, Pulipainthakal and Meeravodai towards border areas held by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Batticaloa district. The attack continued for about one and a half hours, residents said.
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SLRC worker shot dead in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 August 2006, 04:45 GMT]
Gunmen riding motorbike shot and killed a Sri Lanka Red Cross employee, Nagarasa Thavaranjitham, 24, Sunday night around 10:00 p.m. at his residence in Chettikulam, Vavuniya, Police said.
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Claymore blast injures police sergeant

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 August 2006, 06:53 GMT]
A Sri Lankan Police Sergeant was injured in a claymore blast at Saalambaikulam, about 7 k.m., west of Vavuniya on the Mannar road, around 7:30 a.m., Sunday, police in the northern town said.
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Police attacked in Vavuniya, two AK rifles recovered

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 August 2006, 13:04 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen fired at a police party at Kurumankadu in front of Kalaimagal pre-school, about 1 k.m. west of Vavuniya on the Mannar road, around 1 p.m., Saturday. Two AK rifles were recoved during the susequent search operation in the area, police said.
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Paduvankarai faces misery

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 August 2006, 12:20 GMT]
Tamil people living in LTTE controlled Paduvankarai area in Batticaloa District face starvation and danger of health hazards due to the closure of all the entry points to the LTTE controlled area from Military controlled Eluvankarai area by the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) from 12 August, local residents said. "This act of collective punishment by the SLA has affected mostly the poorest civilians in the LTTE-controlled areas in Batticaloa," civil society sources in Batticaloa said.
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Tamil youth shot dead in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 August 2006, 07:56 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen shot and killed a Tamil youth Saturday morning around 7 a.m at Ellapar Maruthankulam in Vavuniya police division, police sources said. The dead youth was identified as Karuneeswaran Kandeepan, 23, from Asikulam area in Vavuniya.
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Thousand civilians enter LTTE held Vanni region

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 August 2006, 15:48 GMT]
Stranded Tamil civilians in Vavuniya town for about six days were allowed to travel through Omanthai check point to the LTTE held districts of Killinochchi, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya North division in the Vavuniya district Friday. The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) reopened the Vavuniya-Omanthai check point Friday afternoon around 2.30 p.m for limited hours due to combined effort taken by Mr.Kishore Sivanathan, Vanni district parliamentarian and officials of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) and Vavuniya district secretariat.
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SLA re-opens Omanthai checkpoint for stranded civilians to travel

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 August 2006, 09:47 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army Friday afternoon around 2 p.m. re-opened the Vavuniya Omanthai check point enabling stranded civilians in Vavuniya town to travel to their areas in the LTTE held Wanni region. About eight hundred Tamil civilians including around 260 public servants had been stranded in Vavuniya since the closure of Vavuniya-Omanthai check point, sources said.
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Stranded Tamil civilians in Vavuniya demand opening of A9 highway

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 August 2006, 12:30 GMT]
About six hundred Tamil civilians stranded in Vavuniya due to the closure of Vavuniya-Omanthai Sri Lanka Army (SLA) check point Thursday morning held a protest in front of the office of the Vavuniya District Secretariat demanding that they should be sent to their villages and towns in the districts of Jaffna, Mullaitivu and Killinochchi, sources said.
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SLMM monitors leave Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 August 2006, 06:36 GMT]
Monitors of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) posted in the Trincomalee district left for Colombo Thursday morning as the ground situation was not conducive for further monitoring. Trincomalee SLMM office located along the Inner Harbour Road in the east port town was closed down Wednesday and all six monitors led by SLMM Head of Trincomalee District Office (DO) Ove Janssen, left by road to Colombo, SLMM sources said.
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Vavuniya, Trinco observe hartal, mourning day for massacred children

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 August 2006, 08:20 GMT]
General shut down and the day of mourning day was observed in the districts of Vavuniya and Trincomalee Wednesday condemning the massacre of about sixty one children in Puthukudiruppu Sencholai children home in Mullaitivu district by Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF), killing of seventeen workers of French NGO in Muthur by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and indiscriminate killing of Tamil civilians in the North East by the State armed forces, sources said.
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Vavuniya lawyers boycott courts, protest against killing innocents

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 August 2006, 12:34 GMT]
The District Court of Vavuniya, Magistrates Court of Vavuniya and Vavuniya High Court did not function Tuesday following a boycott campaign carried out lawyers condemning the killings of innocent civilians, children and workers of non-governmental organizations without any reason in the North-East, said the Vavuniya District Bar Association in a statement released Tuesday.
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SLA relaxes ban for government servants to enter Wanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 August 2006, 12:23 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has agreed to open Vavuniya-Omanthai check point for limited hours to enable public servants to report for works in government offices located in LTTE held Wanni, according to Vavuniya Government Mr.C.Shanmugam.
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One killed, another injured in Mannar shooting incident

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 August 2006, 09:04 GMT]
Gunmen Monday night around 10.30 p.m. attacked the Special Task Force sentry point at Semmankulam located along Mannar-Madawachchi road. In the retaliatory fire by the STF one person was killed and another injured, Mannar Police said.
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SLA closes all gateways to LTTE controlled Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 August 2006, 10:45 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA), Saturday evening closed all the entry points to and from LTTE controlled areas in Batticaloa District, with the exception of the A-15 highway which links Trincomalee and Batticaloa, sources in Batticaloa said. All civilian traffic has been blocked, said sources.


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