No elections in North or East

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 March 1999, 20:45 GMT]
The Sri Lankan President announced today that elections to local government bodies in the Eastern province and the Vavuniya district which are to be dissolved on April 3 will not be held until "conditions improve" in these areas.
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Policeman killed in Mannar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 March 1999, 07:37 GMT]
Three Sri Lankan Policemen were shot this morning around 9.45 a.m. in the heart of Mannar town by two gunmen, suspected to be members of the Liberation Tigers. One of the wounded policemen identified as Bandara, 24, died on admission to the Mannar base hospital.
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President halts Palaly expansion plan

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 March 1999, 18:53 GMT]
The Sri Lankan President has ordered a halt to the acquisition of land to expand the 'perimeters' of the Palaly Sri Lankan Army (SLA) base in the Jaffna Peninsula said the state run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Co-operation (SLBC) today.
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Demonstration against Palali expansion

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 March 1999, 15:14 GMT]
Nearly 300 people demonstrated this afternoon in front of the market in Wellawatte, a suburb of the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, protesting against the government's plans to expand the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) base complex at Palaly in the northern Jaffna peninsula. The picket was organised by the New Left Front (NLF).
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News In Brief

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 March 1999, 01:30 GMT]
Two bodies found in Ampara paddy field and Army takes charge of distributing ration cards in Vadamaraddchi East.
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Refugees arrive in hope of food

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 March 1999, 01:26 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) took journalists on a conducted tour of its newly captured areas in Madhu yesterday. Rev.Devasagayam of the Madhu church told journalists that civilians were moving into the SLA controlled area, drawn by reports of food handouts.
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"Avoid Madhu church", Bishop pleads

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 March 1999, 16:22 GMT]
The TamilNet's Mannar correspondent spoke to the Bishop of Mannar Rev. Rayappu Joseph about the current situation in Madhu this evening. The Bishop said that he had met the Mannar Brigade Commander Ranjith De Silva this morning and requested him to avoid the precincts of the Madhu Church while conducting military Operations in the area.
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SLA takes new ground

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 March 1999, 11:51 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) said that it has brought a section of Aandaankulam, six kilometers north of Uyilankulam junction under its control by 4 p.m. this afternoon. The Uyilankulam junction is on the Mannar-Vavuniya highway and is currently the entry point for civilians to the LTTE controlled parts of the Vanni.
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Schoolgirl killed in air strike

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 March 1999, 18:09 GMT]
A 14 year old school girl, Gukanathan Pirainitha, was killed and another woman was seriously wounded in an air strike by the Sri Lankan Air Force at Puthukudiyiruppu in the Mullaithivu district this morning around 11 a.m., said sources in the Vanni.
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Displaced seek refuge in jungles

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 March 1999, 16:50 GMT]
More than four thousand civilians who fled Vidaththaltheevu, Aandankulam etc., due to heavy Sri Lankan Army (SLA) shelling since last week have sought refuge in the jungles of Kalliady said Mannar Kachcheri sources today. They said that the local school was filled with refugees when the main body of the people who fled the SLA shelling arrived here this weekend.
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News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 March 1999, 22:42 GMT]
Army molests Jaffna school girl; Woman killed in airforce strike on Mullativu; Army operation prevents school girl from receiving life saving treatment; Search operation in Amparai and protest against plans to expand Sri Lankan army base in Palaly onto civilian land.
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Civilians flee artillery barrage

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 March 1999, 17:21 GMT]
Heavy SLA artillery fire on Vidaththaltheevu from its positions in Thallaady has completely driven out the civilian population from the area since last Thursday said the Mannar TamilNet correspondent today.
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TELO used schoolboy to test explosive device

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 March 1999, 17:19 GMT]
A cadre of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO), a Tamil paramilitary group assisting the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) and the Special Task Force (STF), was ordered by the Batticaloa district court today to pay sixty thousand rupees as compensation to a student whose right hand was blown off by a parcel bomb on October 19, 1996.
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SLA repairs damaged defences

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 March 1999, 23:38 GMT]
Sri Lankan Army (SLA) headquarters sources in Colombo said that the food store of the Thallady base was also completely burnt out in the LTTE shelling yesterday.
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SLA starts operation towards Madhu

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 March 1999, 06:51 GMT]
The SLA began an operation towards Madhu this morning, sources in Vavuniya said. The operation was launched from army positions at Madhu Road Junction on the Mannar Vavuniya road this morning they said.
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Residents express apprehension

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 March 1999, 19:28 GMT]
Residents of Iranai Iluppaikulam, which was captured by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) recently, told journalists who visited the area yesterday that they are afraid that "disappearances" will occur as the SLA continues screening for Tiger suspects.
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Batticaloa police arrests bomb suspect

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 March 1999, 20:16 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Police in Batticaloa arrested one of its cooks this morning around 10 a.m. when he allegedly attempted to enter the district Police headquarters today with an explosive device hidden in a parcel.
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PLOTE to oppose Palaly base expansion

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 March 1999, 14:17 GMT]
The PLOTE protested to the Sri Lankan President today that they would oppose the take over of more than twelve thousand acres of land in Valigamam north in Jaffna belonging to Tamil civilians and the temples of Maviddapuram and Naguleswaram "with all means available".
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SLA holds Tamils as hostages -TULF MP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 March 1999, 18:12 GMT]
"Tamils remain under a majority run army as hostages under a state of siege" said Joseph Pararajasingham MP addressing a meeting for Norwegian Parliamentarians in Batticaloa this morning.
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Norwegian delegation meets Batticaloa politicians

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 March 1999, 15:26 GMT]
The Norwegian Parliamentary delegation that is currently on an official visit to Sri Lanka held discussions with government officials and politicians in Batticaloa today about the ethnic conflict and conditions in the district. The delegation was led by Kirsti Kolle Grøndahl, the President of the Norwegian Parliament.
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