Colombo moviegoers arrested

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army and Police launched an unusual operation this afternoon in Kotahena, a densely populated neighbourhood near downtown Colombo.
Full story >>

Mass arrests near Yala Park

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Eighty Tamil people were arrested in two villages near Kadhirgamam in an early morning operation today. Seven persons, including a woman are said to have been detained on suspicion that they may be linked to the LTTE. Kadhirgamam is on the southern edge of the Yala national park in the south east of the island.
Full story >>

Seven SLA soldiers killed - paper

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Eelanatham newspaper, the only daily published in the Vanni said yesterday in its lead story that seven SLA soldiers were killed in the Vanni on Thursday and Friday.
Full story >>

15 arrested in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Police arrested fifteen persons in the Iruthayapuram suburb of the Batticaloa town this morning around 10 a.m.
Full story >>

Police fire hits Vavuniya civilians

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
One child was killed and two others were wounded when Sri Lankan police opened fire indiscriminately in a suburb of Vavuniya town at around 6.00pm today. The incident occurred at the Madasami Koiladi in Vairavapuliyankulam.
Full story >>

Three SLA soldiers killed - radio

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Voice of Tigers (VOT) radio said last night that on Thursday (Maveerar Day) the LTTE attacked a Sri Lankan army patrol near Irupalai St. Mary's Church, killing two soldiers.
Full story >>

Returnees fired on near Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Four people who went to examine their houses and properties in Uruthirapuram, located ahead of the SLA's Forward Defence lines (FDLs) in Kilinochchi were attacked by a SLA patrol operating in the area.
Full story >>

Heavy shelling hits Konavil

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Konavil area was heavily shelled by the Sri Lankan army in Kilinochchi, at around 4.45pm on Thursday, Maveerer (Heroes) Day.
Full story >>

Jaffna emergency aid blocked

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army has detained more than twenty lorries carrying essential items to Jaffna town since Thursday Nov. 27. The lorries were carrying goods unloaded from a supply ship at the Pt. Pedro jetty.
Full story >>

Araipattai STF camp attacked

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers attacked the Special Task Force camp at Araipattai, five miles south of Batticaloa around 10 p.m. last night. The exchange of fire went on till 11 p.m.
Full story >>

SLA cordoned off Neervely

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The SLA cordoned off and searched Neervely in Jaffna yesterday. The operation began around 5 a.m. early morning.
Full story >>

Riot police smashed prison protest

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan riot Police broke up a fast unto death protest of Tamil prisoners and snatched away the camera of the Virakesari (Tamil daily) photographer who was at the scene this morning as the Sri Lankan government tried to control the repercussions of the developments in its Welikada jail.
Full story >>

GA intervenes to lift road blockade

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Security in Jaffna town was tightened up further as the army banned vehicles from the Kandy road between Maambalachchanthi in Ariyalai and the Kachcheri since Wednesday.
Full story >>

Protest fast in Welikade prison

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Eight Tamil prisoners detained in Colombo's Welikade prison are staging a protest fast, demanding that they are charged and their cases be heard soon.
Full story >>

Colombo prison protest spreads

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Over 200 Tamil detainees detained in Colombo's Welikada prison are staging a protest fast, demanding that they are charged and their cases be heard soon. Some of them have taken to the prison rooftops to highlight their protest.
Full story >>

Tigers hit Amparai police

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers attacked Akaraipattu police station in Amparai district last night at 10.30 p.m with small arms.
Full story >>

LTTE leader's speech distributed in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Maveerar Day speech by the LTTE leader, Mr. V. Pirabakaran, was distributed in Jaffna town which is controlled by the Sri Lankan military.
Full story >>

Thousands mark Heroes day in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Maveerar Day (Heroes Day) was celebrated on a grand scale in three places in the areas controlled by The Liberation Tigers (LTTE), in Batticaloa district. Several thousand people took part in these celebrations yesterday, says the TamilNet correspondent in Batticaloa.
Full story >>

Jaffna 'disappeared' are dead: Amnesty

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Approximately 540 Tamil people who 'disappeared' in the Jaffna peninsula are dead according to Amnesty International. In a report published yesterday, the London based human rights organisation said that "nearly all of them are likely to have died under torture or to have been deliberately killed [by Sri Lankan security forces]".
Full story >>

Vakarai lagoon fish dying

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Huge numbers of fish have died the Vakarai lagoon in the East. The rotting fish are floating on the surface and clogging the banks. Local residents say the entire fish population in the lagoon might have died.
Full story >>

Pardons to mark Heroes' day

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Voice of Tigers (VOT) announced this morning that 22 people convicted for various crimes by the LTTE's civil administration judiciary administration in Vanni were given general pardon yesterday.
Full story >>

LTTE leader delivers Heroes Day address

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
In his annual Heroes day speech, the LTTE leader Mr. V. Pirabakaran said that the Sri Lankan government's devolution package was a political ploy staged to justify the strategic aims of its military campaign in the Tamil homelands. Mr. Pirabakaran's speech was broadcast on the Voice of Tigers radio today.
Full story >>

SLA prevents entry into Paduvankarai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
All non-residents were turned back today at all entry points to Paduvankarai region (the vast western hinterland) in Batticaloa in view of Heroes Day (Maveerar Nall).
Full story >>

Protest planned against 'US concessions'

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Two leading Buddhists monks held a press conference in Colombo today at 9.30am to say that they will launch a protest movement against the US involvement in the exploitation of phosphate resources in Sri Lanka.
Full story >>

STF round up in the east

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Special Task Force units from the Araipattai, Mannmunai, and Kurukal Madam camps rounded up the residents of the Thalan Kuda area in Batticaloa yeasterday.
Full story >>

Parents invited to Heroes Day function

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Thirty parents of LTTE fighters killed in action, who are living in Sri Lankan army controlled areas in Batticaloa, have been invited to take part in the Maveerar Day function tomorrow.
Full story >>

Search operation in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army cordoned off and searched sections of Jaffna today, according to sources there. The operation was still underway at noon local time (6.00am GMT).
Full story >>

SLA operation in Thandiyadi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Sri Lankan army troops moved into the Paduvankarai region late last night for an operation in the Thandiyadi area, according to sources close to the SLA.
Full story >>

SLAF helicopter crashes

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A Sri Lankan Air Force helicopter crashed today, killing 4 crewmen, according to military officials. The aircraft came down close Puliyankulam, where Liberation Tigers and Sri Lankan troops are fighting for control of a strategic highway they said.
Full story >>

Cordon and search in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army launched a cordon and search operation in Kalatti, Maruthanamadam and Kondavil in Jaffna today.
Full story >>

SLAF chopper: fireball seen

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The SLAF which crashed early this morning may have been shot down, according tosources close to the army in Vavuniya. Sri Lankan soldiers report seeing afireball in the sky said the sources.
Full story >>

SLN, EPDP exchange fire

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
When the EPDP returned to Kayts island with its wounded on Saturday, there was an exchange of gunfire between the Sri Lankan navy personnel guarding Kayts jetty and the EPDP in the boats, it is reported.
Full story >>

Vavuniya SLA searches for deserters

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army cordoned off and searched the suburbs of Vavuniya around the town's railway station in the early hours of the morning yesterday. The army searched Katkuly and Vairavapuliyankulam for more than two hours.
Full story >>

Wounded EPDP cadre dies

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The EPDP cadre who was shot and seriously wounded in mid sea on Saturday by the Sri Lankan navy died in the Jaffna hospital last night. He was identified as Anojan.
Full story >>

Civilian movements disrupted in Vanni

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
More than 1500 people from the Vanni were turned back at Uyilankulam junction yesterday, said the Voice of Tigers this morning. The radio did not specify who turned back these people back.
Full story >>

Maveerer posters in Jaffna town

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Large Maveerar week posters have appeared in Jaffna town. About seven hand written posters were put up in the heart of Jaffna town's high security zone which is held by the Sri Lankan army's 51-2 Brigade.
Full story >>

SLA shells land near school

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army at the Vavunathivu camp northwest of the Batticaloa town fired mortar and artillery this afternoon in the direction of the Paduvankarai region which is controlled by the LTTE.
Full story >>

Villagers forced to work on STF defences

[TamilNet, Monday, 24 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The special Task Force forced all adults between 18 and 50 years in the villages of Kirankulam south of Batticaloa town this morning around 7 a.m. to engage in hard labour in and around their camp.
Full story >>

SLN fire on their allies

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Navy fired on a EPDP boat that was on its way to the Neduthivu island yesterday, wounding five members of the organisation.
Full story >>

Search operation in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Two suburbs of the Batticaloa town on the western edge of the Sri Lankan airforce base were cordoned off and searched by the Razeek group and the Police in the early hours of the morning around 5 p.m. today.
Full story >>

Search operation in Valigamam

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army cordoned off and searched Vaddukkodai, Tholpuram and Sittankerni in the Valigamam sector in the early hours of the morning today.
Full story >>

SLAF says LTTE camp bombed

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan MoD claimed in the afternoon today that the SLAF had bombed out an LTTE camp in an area north of Mankulam in the Vanni around 11 a.m. this morning. The incident could not be verified independently.
Full story >>

SLA orders Tamil homage to lion flag

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army commander of the Punnaalaikadduvan area in Jaffna has instructed all school principals there to hoist the lion flag before prayers in the morning. The commander had observed that no school in the area flew the lion flag even on special occasions. The practice stopped more than two decades ago in Jaffna.
Full story >>

SLA informer shot dead

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A youth identified as 'Jeya' was shot dead in a suburb of Batticaloa this evening around 5.30 p.m. Sources said he had been operating with the Sri Lankan army's military intelligence unit in the Batticaloa town.
Full story >>

Over thousand typhoid cases last month - Radio

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The out patients department of the Akkarayan hospital had treated 21,500 patients last month said the Voice of Tigers today.
Full story >>

Human rights organisations plan Colombo rally

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The organisation for the arrested and disappeared in Jaffna is to join several other human rights organisations which are planning to hold a public meeting and rally in Colombo on December 10 - International Human Rights Day.
Full story >>

Eastern SLA braces for Maveerer week

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Security measures in Batticaloa town and its outskirts are being further increased for the Maveerar week.
Full story >>

Grenade attacks rock Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A spate of grenade attacks rocked Vavuniya town today. A grenade was lobbed at the Telecommunication building at around 3.30 this afternoon and 15 minutes later another exploded near Mannar road.
Full story >>

Tigers move to halt porn theatres

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers in Jaffna have sent out letters to operators of mini-theatres in Jaffna not to screen obscene movies.
Full story >>

Jaffna patients face increased checks

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The security arrangements at the Jaffna general hospital have been severely tightened up since yesterday said outpatients and visitors.
Full story >>

Abandoned SLA shell wounds three

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Three boys who picked up an abandoned SLA shell while playing were wounded when it blew up on them this afternoon around 11.30 a.m. at Potpathy road in Kokkuvil Jaffna.
Full story >>

Tamil mother shot in revenge

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A fifty two year old woman was shot and seriously wounded by a Sri Lankan soldier last evening around 6.30 p.m. at Mirisuvil in the Thenmaradchi sector in Jaffna.
Full story >>

SLA jeep destroyed

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Two Sri Lankan army soldiers were killed on the spot when the jeep they were traveling in ran over a powerful pressure mine this morning at Paranthan, in the north of the Vanni region.
Full story >>

SLAF jets kill 3 civilians

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
At least three civilians are said to have been killed and nine others wounded when Sri Lankan air force jets bombed Pooneryn in the north of the Vanni on Thursday at noon.
Full story >>

PLOTE claims shot youth was Tiger

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A suspected member of the LTTE was shot dead around 7.30 p.m. by the PLOTE in Koomankulam, a suburb of Vavuniya town.
Full story >>

Civilian movements restricted

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army continued to tighten up travel restrictions at the entry points to the Paduvankarai region (the vast western hinterland) in the Batticaloa district, which is under the LTTE's control for the Maveerar week.
Full story >>

Tiger attacks in Jaffna continue

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers attacked the defences of the Sri Lankan army's 52-4 Brigade in Chavakachcheri around 9.30 p.m. last night. Heavy fighting took place for more than an hour in the area.
Full story >>

SLA detains 3 civilians

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Three civilians who went to see their house and property in Barathipuram near the forward defence localities of the SLA's Kilinochchi base on Tuesday 18. November have been detained by the Sri Lankan Army.
Full story >>

Mail bags ruined

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A large number of mail bags to Mullaithivu containing many letters from abroad with bank drafts were ruined in the rain recently due to prevailing difficulties in transport and the heavy monsoon showers that continue to lash the Vanni.
Full story >>

SLA informant shot dead

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A suspected 'pistol group' of the Liberation Tigers operating in the Vavuniya town struck again yesterday, killing a youth identified as Thurai.
Full story >>

SLA restricts access to temple

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Sri Lankan Army turned back large number of devotees who went to the daily noon pooja (service) at the Maviddapuram Kandaswamy temple today. The SLA officials said that only the priest and two of his assistants would be allowed to conduct the pooja today.
Full story >>

News In Brief

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A time bomb was discovered behind the Batticaloa main post office today, one STF commando was killed in the Ampara district and one civilian was killed and two were wounded in a mine explosion in Jaffna .
Full story >>

VOT anniversary

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The seventh anniversary celebration of the Voice of Tiger (VOT) broadcast began last evening in the Mulliawalai Viththiyananda school in Mullaithivu at 4 p.m. and concluded in the early hours of the morning today around 4 a.m.
Full story >>

News In Brief:

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Four Sri Lankan army officers were arrested in Colombo and an army informant was shot dead Vavuniya.
Full story >>

Batticaloa police post attacked

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers attacked a Sri Lankan Police post in a suburb of the Batticaloa town around 10.50 p.m. last night. One military trained Policeman was killed and two were injured in the attack.
Full story >>

STF cancels ferry service Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Special Task Force (STF) has ordered to cancel a ferry service in the Batticaloa district until further notice, in a bid to curb the movement of civilians between LTTE controlled areas and villages which lie on the Batticaloa - Kalmunai road, which are controlled by the Sri Lankan government troops.
Full story >>

Army suspicious of arrivals

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Ten families which arrived in the Jaffna peninsula from the Vanni by sea on 26 November (Wednesday) were detained by the SLA at the Kurunagar 'CeyNor' camp. They will be held there until everyone in the group is screened by the Sri Lankan army, said sources.
Full story >>

SLA poster campaign in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army's Psychological-operations unit has put up posters in Batticaloa town urging the local Tamils not to support the Liberation Tigers.
Full story >>

Jaffna commander takes punitive steps

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Jaffna town commander Brigadier. Susantha Mendis called all Grama Sevakas (village officers) in the Jaffna town and Nallur Divisional Secretary (D.S, formerly AGA) divisions for a meeting at the 51-2 Brigade HQ at Gnanam's Hotel at 9.30 a.m. this morning.
Full story >>

Tigers plan epic Maveerer week

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers are preparing to observe Maveerar Week in big way this time in all the areas which under their control in the Batticaloa district, said sources in Kokkaddicholai today.
Full story >>

Fierce fighting in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Fierce fighting broke out today around 11.30 a.m. this morning when the Liberation Tigers attacked a large Sri Lankan army patrol from the Vaddukkoddai SLA camp at Sangaraththai in Jaffna.
Full story >>

Puliyankulam, Mankulam not captured: SLA

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
SLA spokesman Brigadier. Sarath Munasighe said he had not received any reports about the capture of either Puliyankulam or Mankulam while answering questions by journalists this morning at the weekly cabinet press briefing which began about 10.30 a.m. at Sri Lanka's parliament complex.
Full story >>

Teachers' union divided

[TamilNet, Thursday, 20 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A large section of teachers in Batticaloa's Eastern University accused some members of their teachers' association of whipping up regional sentiments and blocking development after they formed a new union this afternoon.
Full story >>

Nine soldiers missing after Uduvil fire-fight

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The heavy fighting erupted between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan army late last night at Uduvil near Manipay in Jaffna. Sources said that 9 soldiers are reported missing. Several have been wounded.
Full story >>

VOT to celebrate 7th anniversary

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Voice of Tigers (VOT) announced today in it's morning news bulletin that it will be celebrating the seventh anniversary of it establishment tomorrow Thursday Nov. 20 in the Vanni.
Full story >>

Seventeen SLA casualties in Jaffna battles

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers attacked a Sri Lankan army patrol last night around 8 p.m. at Kanakampuliyady, northwest of Chavakachcheri in Jaffna. Full details of the fighting are not yet available.
Full story >>

MoD says LTTE base bombed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence put out a communiqué this afternoon claiming that a major LTTE base northwest of Mankulam was bombed this morning around 10.30 a.m.
Full story >>

Tamil MP protests over budget

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
"Are you treating us as a separate people living in a separate nation or as a people living in a united Sri Lanka" asked Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham addressing Sri Lanka's Deputy Minister for Finance Prof. G.L Pieris while speaking on the budget vote in Parliament today.
Full story >>

STF shoot Tamil youth

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Special Task Force (STF) in Kaluwanchikkudy, about thirty kilometres south of Batticaloa town, shot dead a youth on Monday night Nov. 17 in the lagoon near the Eruvil jetty.
Full story >>

LTTE stems 'Jaya Sikirui'

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The third phase of Operation Jayasikurui is still on square one after six days of this massive multi pronged offensive by the Sri Lankan army to cover more miles on the large swath of jungle terrain which lies between its positions between Kilinochchi and Karippatta Murippu.
Full story >>

SL forces prepare for Heroes Week

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Colombo and its suburbs are placed on security alert following Sri Lankan army and police intelligence indicated that the LTTE might step up military operations during the Maaveerar week which begins on Friday, 21st November.
Full story >>

Fighting reported at Olumadu

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Reports from Vavuniya indicated today that the SLA was attempting to push towards Mankulam from its positions in Olumadu, but was facing fierce resistance from the Liberation Tigers.
Full story >>

SLAF caution disrupts cash supply

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Banks in the Batticaloa town may face a liquidity crisis soon if the Sri Lankan Airforce does not resume flights to Batticaloa said sources in the eastern town today.
Full story >>

Malaria hits Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A severe epidemic of Malaria has hit the Kilinochchi district. Medical officers and foreign aid agencies say that the situation has been further compounded by a severe shortage of medicines and equipment for anti-Malaria campaign.
Full story >>

Slow deliveries - by post

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
More than twenty five thousand Sri Lankan postal workers began a work to rule campaign from today to protest against the proposed measures to convert the department into a public corporation.
Full story >>

Appeal to ICRC over disappeared

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The organisation for the arrested and the disappeared in Jaffna will hand over a petition today to the Sri Lanka desk head of the International Committee for the Red Cross who is currently on a duty tour in Sri Lankan.
Full story >>

SLA troops obstruct petition march

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army blocked a procession by the Organisation for the arrested and disappeared in Jaffna for more than an hour, whilst it was proceeding on its way to the ICRC's Jaffna office at Temple Road, Nallur in Jaffna.
Full story >>

SLA red tape frustrates Jaffna citizens

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Citizens Committee of Vadamaradchi East had a meeting with the Vadamaradchi commander Brigadier. Lal Wijeratne last week to discuss the numerous hardships they face due to severe army restrictions.
Full story >>

PLOTE - TELO shootout in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Three members of the TELO were wounded in a shoot out between the organisation and the PLOTE in Vavuniya last night. One of the injured is Kuhan, the TELO's Vavuniya district organiser.
Full story >>

MoD claims highway gains

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) put out a communiqué this afternoon on the third phase of Operation Jayasikurui. It was, however, silent on unconfirmed reports of the capture of Puliyankulam on Saturday.
Full story >>

Tigers strike as SLA braces for Heroes' week

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A confrontation between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan army at Kerudavil near Thondamanar in Jaffna was reported today. The confrontation took place around 11 a.m. in the morning.
Full story >>

Battle for Puliyankulam continues

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Voice of Tigers (VOT) radio said today in its daily news bulletin, broadcast at 9 clock local time (1700 GMT) that heavy fighting had broken out between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri lankan Army yesterday, when the SLA attempted to move out of it positions in Kilinochchi.
Full story >>

Heavy fighting near Puliyankulam

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Amidst claims by the Sri Lankan army that the strategic Puliyankulam junction was captured in a surprise commando attack in the early hours of the morning on Saturday Nov. 15, the Voice of Tiger (VOT) broadcast in the Vanni this morning only spoke of reports that the army is making concerted efforts to take the centre of the Puliyankulam town.
Full story >>

SLA screens thousands of students

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army launched a surprise search operation this afternoon around 2 p.m. to check more than twenty thousand school children in the Batticaloa town and its suburbs in Kottaimunai and Kallady.
Full story >>

Registration to precede Hindu worship

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army has stipulated that all devotees who wish to attend the daily noon pooja at the Maviddapuram Kandasamy Kovil will have to submit their name, address and national identity card number five days before the day on which they wish to visit the temple.
Full story >>

Crime rising in SLA held areas

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Batticaloa town has recently been hit by a spate of daylight robberies. Residents are greatly alarmed that the robbers are operating with absolute immunity in the high security zone of the town.
Full story >>

300 Tamils arrested in Colombo

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
More than three hundred Tamils were arrested this afternoon in Colombo. The arrests are in reaction to the attack on the Kelanitissa power station on Friday.
Full story >>

Vanni's food supplies ruined by exposure

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Twenty nine lorry loads of food, mostly flour and sugar, sent to the Vanni have been ruined due to delays in cross loading at Parayanalankulam on the Vavuniya Mannar road.
Full story >>

Church heavily damaged in SLAF bombing - Radio

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Voice of Tigers (VOT) said this morning that the Sri Lankan Air force Kfir jets had bombarded the areas of Mankulam where civilians live yesterday. A church was heavily damaged and several houses were destroyed in the Kfir attack the radio said.
Full story >>

Heavy shelling amid claims of resumed offensive

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The SLA announced officially this evening that it has begun the third phase of Operation Jaya Sikirui in the Vanni. However, the LTTE said there had been no advance.
Full story >>

Jaffna troops, militia on alert

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
All the ex-Tamil militant groups operating in the Jaffna town were called for a meeting at the Sri Lankan army's 51-2 Brigade headquarters in Jaffna town. They have been told to be on full alert for the Maveerar week.
Full story >>

Portrait of SLFP organiser unveiled

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A portrait of the Jaffna SLFP organiser C. Tharmalingam was officially unveiled at the Sri Lanka Freedom Party Office (SLFP) in Jaffna town today. The SLFP office is located at the Hospital road- Vembady road junction.
Full story >>

Electricity pylons blasted

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Three high power electricity cable towers which supply the Batticaloa district in the eastern province of Sri Lanka were blasted by unknown persons last night.
Full story >>

Police patrol ambushed

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers ambushed a Sri Lankan police patrol yesterday. Three military policemen were killed in the attack which took place near Thoppur.
Full story >>

Police arrested for negligence

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Four Policemen and a home guard were arrested today by the Sri Lankan authorities for negligence of duty at the Kelanitissa power plant today.
Full story >>

Fierce fighting in Vanni

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Heavy fighting is reported in the forward areas of operation 'Jaya Sikirui'('Victory Assured' in Sinhalese), said reports from Vavuniya.
Full story >>

Military police raid EPDP office

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army's Military Police raided the EPDP office in Jaffna town today. Sources there said that the military Police confiscated fifteen hand guns from the EPDP office.
Full story >>

Tiger attacks in Jaffna continue

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A fire fight broke out between the Liberation Tigers and a Sri Lankan army patrol around 5.30 a.m. in the morning today at Sangaththanai in Chavakachcheri in the Jaffna peninsula.
Full story >>

3 transformers knocked out

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Three high power transformers were blasted with explosives today in Badulla today in Sri Lanka's hill country in the province of Uva.
Full story >>

Jaffna protest fast concludes successfully

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The protest fast by the organisation for the arrested and the missing in Jaffna was successfully concluded this evening in the Perumal Kovil grounds.
Full story >>

Explosion in power station in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Sources said that the suspected commandos of the LTTE had affixed explosives to two of the main diesel storage tanks in the power plant. One of the explosive devise went off.
Full story >>

Tigers hit police patrol

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers attacked a Sri Lankan Police patrol this morning around 7.30 a.m. in the central camp area in the Ampara district near the Batticaloa border.
Full story >>

SLN plundering Tamil catches

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The culinary and business inclinations of the Sri Lankan navy have hit the poor fishermen of Eluvaithivu below the belt as it were. Each of the hundred and fifty fishermen in this small island which lies south west of the Jaffna peninsula have to regularly supply the Sri Lankan navy 10 kilograms of lobster.
Full story >>

Explosives found in power station

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Three suspected commandos of the Liberation Tigers infilterated the Sri Lankan capital city's well defended main power station in the early hours of the morning today and got away after fixing powerful plastic explosives to the installation's vital interiors.
Full story >>

University student found shot dead

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
An external BA student of the Jaffna University was found shot dead under mysterious circumstances this morning at the Durga temple near the Kanakampuliyadi junction in the Thenmaradchi sector in Jaffna.
Full story >>

New SLA commander in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Major General Lionel Balagalle who took over duties this morning as Sri Lankan security forces commander in Jaffna called on the Liberation Tigers to extend their co-operation to resolve the ethnic conflict and bring about peace.
Full story >>

MoD attempts to play down daring raid

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence tried to explain away the daring attack on the Kelanitissa power station as a fire caused by a leaking fuel tank, in a communique it put out this morning. MoD spokesman, Brig. Sarath Munasinghe denied an attack had taken even place till late in the morning.
Full story >>

New Jaffna commander arriving today

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Major General Lionel Balagalla will formally take over duties as security forces commander of the Jaffna peninsula today. He was earlier in charge of Div.51 which controls part of the Waligamam sector of the Jaffna peninsula.
Full story >>

Tamils denied employment generation projects

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The massive unemployment problem among the Tamil youth in the war ravaged North-eastern province of Sri Lanka was brought into focus again today as applications piled up for seventy five vacancies for minor staff in the schools of the Batticaloa district.
Full story >>

EPDP members arrested in Colombo

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Sri Lankan Police arrested three members of the EPDP and seized a Toyota Land cruiser belonging to the group in Colombo this afternoon in connection with assault and robbery.
Full story >>

ICRC receive 4 Tiger bodies

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army handed over through the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society the bodies of four Tigers who had been killed in two separate incidents to the LTTE yesterday.
Full story >>

SLA on alert in Jaffna, intense activity

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers attacked the Sri Lankan army in two places in Jaffna today. No details of casualties on either side are known.
Full story >>

Fox makes its mark on villagers

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Two foxes from the jungles have been preying on people living in the coastal villages of Alampil and Semmalai in Mullaithivu since last Saturday according to reports from the area.
Full story >>

Student unrest over Uthayan article continues

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The tension between the Uthayan news paper and the students of the Jaffna university continues. The undergraduates' union decided to boycott lectures today until the university administration gives them an undertaking that it will take action if the paper were to publish any incorrect report about them in the future.
Full story >>

Nervous Mannar troops run amok

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A shop was destroyed and civilians were beaten up by Sri Lankan soldiers who ran berserk in Mannar town this morning. The incident started around 11.30 a.m. today when a soldier's gun went off by accident in one corner of the town.
Full story >>

Tigers continue to press Jaffna SLA

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers attacked the Sri Lankan army at Vathiri, in Jaffna this evening at 6.30. Initial reports from Jaffna say that 4 Sri Lankan troops were wounded in the fighting.
Full story >>

SLA commander moonlights as motorcycle salesman

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Brigadier. S. I. S Dassanayaka has written letters to several traders in Jaffna asking them to buy motorcycles from his brother's firm. The Brigadiers brother Upali Dassanayaka has a vehicle dealership in Narehenpita in Colombo.
Full story >>

Lion Air plane overshoots Colombo runway

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A Lion Air flight with forty four people from Jaffna on board ran off the run way last evening. The Lion Air is a private airline on contract with the Ministry of defence to transport civilians to and from Jaffna.
Full story >>

Token fast planed in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The organisation for the arrested and disappeared in Jaffna will hold a Satyagraha at Perumal Kovil in Jaffna town on Friday Nov. 14 said one of its spokesman today.
Full story >>

Jaffna troops turn on each other

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A Corporal in the SLA base at Thallady in the Mannar district shot and killed two of his colleagues today - one is a Corporal and the other is a soldier. The reason for the murders was not available immediately but military analysts say that it reflects a trend in the SLA camps in the war zones of the island's northeast.
Full story >>

Floods may trap Mullaitivu civilians

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Reports from the Vanni said today that the only route that is open to civilians between Mullaithivu and the western parts of the Vanni might be completely cut if the heavy rains which ravaged the region for almost a week were to continue unabated.
Full story >>

Sinister data gathering program underway

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
All Tamil employees of Sri Lanka's ports authority from the Batticaloa and Ampara districts have come under Police scrutiny through a curious system of investigation which has alarmed many in these parts.
Full story >>

SLA patrol ambushed - Radio

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Voice of Tigers broadcast in the Vanni said this morning that an attack group of the LTTE ambushed route clearing patrol of the Sri Lankan army around noon yesterday in north Trincomalee, between Pulmoddai and the 13th mile post.
Full story >>

Jaffna university students riot over newspaper report

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A large group of about three hundred students from the University of Jaffna demonstrated in front of the Uthayan newspaper office in Kasturiyar road this morning around 11 a.m.
Full story >>

Tamil civilians assaulted

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
All civilians who went past the Muththirai junction in Jaffna after 7 p.m. last night were severely assaulted by the SL army.
Full story >>

SLA to control urea supplies

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Jaffna farmers will be able to buy urea now after a gap of seven years. The army told the Jaffna GA today to send lorries to collect 500 metric tons of urea which have been lying at the KKS harbour since June this year.
Full story >>

Police sabotage rape trial, threaten MP

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Koneswary rape and murder case was postponed again today at the Kalmunai courts this afternoon as an Assistant superintendent of Police failed to turn up due to "unavoidable circumstances".
Full story >>

Jaffna Tigers destroy SLA bunkers

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Fighting broke out between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan army at Varani in Jaffna in the early hours of the morning today around 4.30 a.m.
Full story >>

SLA stops bus stand expansion

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The officer in charge of the Jaffna main bus stand met the town commander Brig. Susantha Mendis today to request permission to expand the perimeter of the place to accommodate the growing number of buses in service and to ease the congestion in parking space created by some buildings that have expanded in the vicinity.
Full story >>

SLAF gunship crashes

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A helicopter gun ship of the Sri Lankan Airforce crashed into the Kokkilai lagoon south of Mullaithivu about 11 a.m. this morning.
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Sri Lanka strips east to bolster north

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The government has reduced the number of STF personnel in its camps in Arugambay and Panama on the Pottuvil - Yala coastal road according to reports from the area.
Full story >>

STF using Tamil children as human shields

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Vigneswara Vithiyalayam is a small school in the 13th colony near the Batticaloa- Ampara border. Children from poor farming families who study here have been forced by the Special Task Force which occupies part of the school to be its human shield.
Full story >>

Jaffna still in the dark

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Deputy General Manager (northern province) Mr.V. Rajendran revealed today the deplorable truth about the present state of the government's much publicised re-electrification program for the Jaffna peninsula.
Full story >>

SLAF say missile brought gunship down

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The SLAF confirmed that a missile fired by the Liberation Tigers brought down the Mi 24 helicopter gunship over the Kokkilai lagoon.
Full story >>

Tigers ambush SLA patrols

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers attacked a Sri Lankan army patrol near Vathiri junction in Jaffna around 10 a.m this morning killing four soldiers.
Full story >>

Tamil youth reported missing

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Eelanatham, the only Tamil daily published in the LTTE controlled Vanni region said today that a youth who went to see the house and garden of his family in Konthakkaran Kulam two kilometers west of Omanthai on Thursday Nov. 6 has been reported missing since then.
Full story >>

Love affair ends in suicides and arrests

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A love affair ended in the suicide of a Tamil girl and a Sri Lankan soldier this morning in Velanai in Jaffna.
Full story >>

Tamils seeking help gets political lecture

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The EPDP held a public meeting in Paashaiyur to explain their stand on the government's devolution package to the people.
Full story >>

Bunds breached as monsoon rains continue

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Monsoon rains continue to mercilessly lash the Vanni region. Sources there said that the rainfall average since last week has been 40mm low and 102 mm high. In Mullaithivu, three tanks including the Udayarkattukkulam have breached their bunds.
Full story >>

High Tamil infant mortality rate being induced?

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Colombo based Tamil groups have protested against the preference shown by the government to Sinhalese candidates in the appointment of midwives to the northeast.
Full story >>

Parents fear for missing Tamil youth

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Pathmanathan Sri Kumaran, 22, of Thinnevely in Jaffna has been reported missing since last evening.
Full story >>

10 Sri Lankan policemen killed - Radio

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Voice of Tigers broadcast in the Vanni said this morning quoting the Liberation Tigers, that ten bunkers on the Vavuniya Parayanalankulam road manned by military trained Sri Lankan Police personal were attacked and destroyed by LTTE troops in the early hours of dawn yesterday.
Full story >>

Sinhala colonisation threatens Muslims

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Irakkamam, an old Muslim settlement in the Ampara district is threatened with Sinhala colonisation backed by the Sri Lankan army which has been encroaching into its environs since 1990. Several community leaders and educated youth of the village have spoken against this and written to the Tamil press about the imminent danger they face from Singha Gama - the Sinhala settlement that has sprung up nearby in recent years.
Full story >>

President will avoid critic

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
President Chandrika Kumaratunge Bandaranaike told the SLFP central committee this week that she will boycott functions to which Mr. Vasudeva Nanayakkara MP is invited.
Full story >>

SLA opening alternative supply route?

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Sources in Vavuniya said today that the Operation Jayasikurui is now aimed at securing the old Kandy road to Kilinochchi. They said that the army is currently building a highway which begins from the Sinhala village east of Vavuniya called Maamaduwa.
Full story >>

Three boys suffocate in temple

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Three boys were found dead in the chariot chamber of the Selvachannithi temple in Vadamaradchi in Jaffna this morning. The boys T. Suseenthiran, T. Karthikeyan and K.Kajanthan had stayed awake at the temple for the all night Kanthasashti rituals which follows a traditional fast.
Full story >>

Tigers kill five Sri Lankan Policemen

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers attacked a bunker line on the Mannar Vavuniya road this morning killing five policemen and wounded seven.
Full story >>

SLA harassing Jaffna official

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
One of Jaffna's Divisional Secretaries (formerly Assistant Government Agents) has handed over a written complaint to the Jaffna GA that he is being harassed and intimidated by the Sri Lankan army over a transfer.
Full story >>

Two hour fire-fight in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Heavy fighting erupted in Nagar Kovil in Vadamaradchi east around 9.30 a.m. in the morning yesterday when the Liberation Tigers confronted a Sri Lankan army patrol that had entered the area.
Full story >>

Batticaloa Council demands use of Tamil

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Batticaloa Municipal Council passed a resolution that all entries made at the Sri Lankan Police stations in the Batticaloa district should be recorded in Tamil.
Full story >>

Tigers supplies by air?

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Sri Lankan intelligence sources have told the Sunday Lankadeepa, one of the largest selling Sinhala papers in the island that they have reliable information that the Liberation Tigers are preparing to bring in their arms supplies by air to Mullaithivu.
Full story >>

Tigers hit Arayampathi TELO camp

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers fired mortar shells at the TELO camp at Arayampathi, at 9.30 last night. The TELO had fortified the camp after an attack by the LTTE a few weeks ago and most TELO members had taken cover in a bunker soon after the shelling started.
Full story >>

LTTE challenges US designation

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The LTTE has challenged the US State department's designation as a 'terrorist' organization, according to one of its lawyers. The LTTE has formally filed an appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington,D.C. said Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran.
Full story >>

Search operation in eastern province

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army and police conducted a joint cordon and search operation in the Tamil villages in Vallaichenai in the eastern province from 1.30 this afternoon. The operation continued for several hours.
Full story >>

Jaya Sukuri defences breached

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Sources close to SLA in Vavuniya said today that LTTE units broke through the forward defences of the "Jaya Sukuri" troops, east of Mankulam, last Wednesday (5th November) and that heavy fighting had followed in the area.
Full story >>

Grenade explodes near EPDP office

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
There was a grenade blast near the EPDP office which is situated close to the Sreethar theater in Jaffna.
Full story >>

Tigers intended ship as bait - paper

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Thinamurasu, the Tamil weekly with the largest circulation in Sri Lanka, said in this week's issue which hit the news stands in Colombo this morning, that the LTTE ship that was bombed and sunk by the Sri Lankan airforce on Sunday appears to be the vessel that went missing with the cargo of 81mm mortar shells meant for the Sri Lankan army from the Zimbabwe Defence Industries.
Full story >>

Tigers lose seven fighters - radio

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Voice of Tigers (VOT) announced in the Vanni today that another member of the LTTE called Capt. Mathan also died in the attack on the organisation's ship in the Mullaithivu sea on sunday.
Full story >>

SLA facing cas-evac problems

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Reports from Vavuniya revealed today that the Sri Lankan Army is faced with serious casualty evacuation problems in the forward areas of Operation Jayasikurui in the Vanni due to concentrated LTTE mortar fire and stormy monsoon weather.
Full story >>

Jaffna reconstruction projects cancelled

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Jaffna GA turned down a request by the NGO Consortium of Jaffna for large reconstruction project in Waligaman north saying that he had no funds from the government for such work.
Full story >>

Five SLA troops killed in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
There was a fire-fight between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan Army at Navalady in Koddikamam in the Jaffna peninsula at around 7.30 p.m last night.
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Ratwatte takes umbrage at criticism

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Gen. Anuruddha Ratwatte Sri Lanka's Deputy Minister for Defence attacked sections of the press for criticising the government's war effort while opening the debate on the extension of the Emergency in Parliament today.
Full story >>

Thousands flee monsoon floods

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Thousands of people began moving out of Thunukkai, Mankulam west and Mallavi as three irrigation tanks burst their bunds yesterday following heavy, unceasing monsoon downpours in the Vanni which began lashing the northern province since last week.
Full story >>

Main street not secure enough for prison

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army in Jaffna told prison officials that the Main street areain Jaffna town was not secure enough to maintain the newly built prison.
Full story >>

Jaffna mine toll rises

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The students and teachers of Stanley college in Jaffna town have found 33 anti-personnel land mines in their play ground. The college principal Mr. Manikkam says that there more APLMs lie undetected in the school grounds, posing a great risk to the children.
Full story >>

Budget meant to woo Sinhala electorate

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Tamil MPs said this evening that the PA's budget presented in the Sri Lankan Parliament today by Deputy minister for finance Prof. G.L Pieris appeared to have been prepared with the next general election or at the non-binding referendum in mind.
Full story >>

Sports kit for bored Sinhala doctors

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Jaffna Government Agent has been asked to provide funding for sports goodsto the Sinhala doctors who are working in the peninsula now.
Full story >>

Lion Air flights cancelled

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
All Lion Air flights to and from Jaffna were cancelled today. Travellers who were taken to Palaly at 8.30 a.m. to catch the daily flight to Colombo at 11.30 were turned back.
Full story >>

Tigers name troops killed in ship attack

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Voice of Tigers, the official radio of the LTTE announced today in the Vanni that fourteen Liberation Tigers were killed in the SLAF attack on a cargo ship off the Mullaithivu coast on Sunday.
Full story >>

Young thieves grow bold

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Several cases of daylight robberies by children have been registered by the Sri Lankan Police in Jaffna last week.
Full story >>

SLA clears verges over ambush fears

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army has asked residents in Kokkuvil and Kalviankaadu to cut down trees along the road side and inside lanes. The people in these areas have also been ordered not to thatch the lower side of their fences by the lanes and roads.
Full story >>

Tiger ambush behind SLA lines

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers ambushed a group of Special Forces Commandos travelling in a tractor at Nayinamadu killing five and wounding several others last evening around 5.30 p.m.
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Tamil man dies in police custody

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Seevarathnam Sivarasa who was arrested in Vavuniya and detained at the Mt. Lavinia Police station in Colombo in connection with the discovery of weapons allegedly belonging to the LTTE in Ratmalana died last night in the Colombo general hospital.
Full story >>

High winds hit Chavakachcheri

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Chavakachcheri and its environs were hit by a mini cyclone today around 3. 30 p.m. Trees were uprooted by the sudden thunderstorm and high speed winds.
Full story >>

Brain fever compells SL Police to pull out

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A large number of camps and sentry points established by the Sri Lankan government on the forest covered border between the Puttlalam and Mannar districts were abandoned this week.
Full story >>

SLAF Bombed Abandoned Ship - Paper

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Voice of Tigers, the official radio of the LTTE, quoting Eelanatham, the Tamil daily published in the Vanni, announced this morning that the vessel which the Sri Lankan airforce hit and sunk yesterday was a cargo ship that lay abandoned off the Mullaithivu coast for some time.
Full story >>

News In Brief

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers ambushed a Sri Lankan military vehicle in the North and the Sri Lankan security forces in the Jaffna town went on full alert after an attack on the Jaffna Prison.
Full story >>

SLAF claims it hit Tiger arms vessel

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Airforce claimed today that they detected and desroyed a large ship which it suspected of belonging to the Liberation Tigers off the coast of Mullaithivu in the early hours of the morning today.
Full story >>

TULF leader defends Chandrika

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
TULF leader Mr. M. Sivasithamparam came under fire for attempting to justify the actions of President Chandrika Kumaranatunge in a television program in which he appeared this afternoon.
Full story >>

War-front bound soldier commits suicide

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
An SLA soldier manning a sentry point at Mulli in Columbuthurai committed suicide late last night after he was asked by his unit to pack up for battle front duty in the Vanni.
Full story >>

SL navy disrupts temple opening

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Kumbaphishekam of the reconstructed Shiva temple in Karainagar has been postponed due to the restrictions imposed on the transport of goods and because of the severe checking to which the Sri Lanka Navy subjects outsiders entering the island.
Full story >>

SLA-Police firefight in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army and Police engaged in a firefight with each other at Ottumadam junction in Jaffna town last night.
Full story >>

Tigers beat back army in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The liberation Tigers claimed in the Vanni last evening that they beat back yesterday a major attempt by the Sri Lankan army to thrust south out of its positions in Kilinochchi.
Full story >>

Lorries banned from entering Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government today banned all lorries and trucks from entering the city of Colombo. This follows high level discussions on Colombo's security arrangements following the Galadari bomb blast.
Full story >>

More News in Brief

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
UN team to remove Jaffna land mines? and last doctor told to quit.
Full story >>

Jaffna SLA commander sent to Vanni

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government made changes in the army's command structure in the Jaffna peninsula this week.
Full story >>

News in Brief

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
SLA shell kills teacher and daughter, Jaffna traders want free TV discussion on package and SLA barricade removed in Jaffna
Full story >>

Jaffna SLA demand money for IDs

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Fishermen setting out to sea this morning from the coastal villages near the Jaffna town were asked by the Sri Lankan army to pay up hundred fifty SL rupees for the issuance new special identity cards.
Full story >>