Half Kilinochchi under-5s malnourished

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 January 1999, 19:54 GMT]
Fifty-two percent of children under 5 years of age at the welfare centres in Kilinochchi district are affected by malnutrition according to a survey conducted by officials of the Medical Officer of Health (MOH) division in the area.
Full story >>

Ten Tigers killed

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 January 1999, 19:50 GMT]
(CORRECTED) Ten Liberation Tigers were killed in a confrontation with the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) at Mankerni, 48 km. north of Batticaloa, the LTTE said today in Vanni.
Full story >>

Malaria on the increase

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 January 1999, 19:46 GMT]
An employee of Akkarayankulam hospital died due to Malaria, said sources in the Vanni today. Ramanathan Nagalingam, the acting Supervisor of the hospital, who went on leave to Madhu on January 12, had been suffering from malaria and died on January 24, his relatives told the hospital authorities.
Full story >>

Massacre inquiry delay continues

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 January 1999, 19:45 GMT]
The inquiry into the Tampalakamam murder case in which eight Tamil civilians were killed on February 1 last year, has not begun, even after a year, due to the delay in receiving the Sri Lankan government analyst's report, court sources said.
Full story >>

Four Sea Tigers killed -SLN

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 January 1999, 12:17 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Navy (SLN) in Trincomalee said this morning that its gunboats and Fast Attack Craft on patrol in the seas off Chaalai on the Mullaithivu coast had engaged a Sea Tiger flotilla in the early hours of the morning around 1 a.m. yesterday, January 30, destroying two enemy craft and damaging six.
Full story >>

42 Tiger casualties - SLA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 January 1999, 12:15 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Batticaloa said today that more than 25 Liberation Tigers were killed or wounded in a confrontation at Marnkerni yesterday morning. The SLA says it recovered nine bodies, along with weapons.
Full story >>

SLA repulsed at Mankulam - LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 January 1999, 12:13 GMT]
Two bodies of the Liberation Tigers killed in confrontations with the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Mankulam yesterday have been handed over to Vavuniya hospital by the SLA yesterday around 6.45pm, sources said.
Full story >>

Blasts injure two

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 January 1999, 12:11 GMT]
Two civilians were injured by booby traps yesterday (January 30), while they clearing their plots in Jeyanthinagar, near a Hindu temple in the Kilinochchi district, sources in the Vanni said today.
Full story >>

Census planned for Vanni region

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 January 1999, 20:19 GMT]
A plan to establish the exact number of people living in the Vanni region was formulated at a meeting of Government Agents of the northern districts with the Department of Census and Statistics held in the Vavuniya Kachcheri today.
Full story >>

Three Sea Tigers killed - radio

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 January 1999, 20:17 GMT]
Three Sea Tigers were killed in a sea battle between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan Navy which took place in the seas off the Mullaithivu coast last night, said the Voice of Tigers in its night news bulletin today.
Full story >>

Clashes kill 4

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 January 1999, 20:13 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) head-quarters in Palali, Jaffna said in a press note issued today that troops operating ahead of their Forward Defence Lines northwest of Mankulam, sniped and killed 3 LTTE members on 28 January.
Full story >>

SLA ambush kills 7

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 January 1999, 11:04 GMT]
Sri Lankan military sources said today that seven Liberation Tigers were killed and several were wounded when troops from the Maankerni Sri Lankan Army (SLA) camp, 48 kilometers north of Batticaloa, ambushed them in the jungles by Uppaaru lagoon west of the detachment in the early hours of the morning around 5.30 a.m.
Full story >>

SLMC calls for urgent electoral reforms

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 January 1999, 11:01 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), a partner in the ruling coalition, has called upon the leaders of all political parties to give the highest priority to the implementation of electoral reforms within a system of proportional representation.
Full story >>

Two Tigers killed - VoT

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 January 1999, 03:03 GMT]
The Voice of Tigers (VoT) said that two members of the Liberation Tigers were killed on the 28th (Thursday), in two separate incidents in the Vanni.
Full story >>

Catholic church condemns rigged elections

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 January 1999, 19:05 GMT]
The head of Sri Lanka's Catholic Church, Arch Bishop Nicholas Markus Fernando, lashed out at the PA regime this evening for cheating at the Northwestern provincial council elections which were concluded on Monday January 25. Political observers in Colombo said that the arch bishop's attack is unprecedented and exceptionally harsh.
Full story >>

Boats attacked in Jaffna Lagoon

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 January 1999, 14:16 GMT]
The Operational Head Quarters of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a communiqué issued this afternoon that eleven Tigers had been killed in two separate confrontations in the Jaffna lagoon off Gurunagar.
Full story >>

NEPC to open regional offices

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 January 1999, 14:14 GMT]
The North East Provincial Council (NEPC) will open three regional offices to improve its services to the people of the province, said Maj.Gen. (ret) Asoka Jayawardana, the Governor of the province, addressing a special conference this morning at his office in Colombo.
Full story >>

Kadirgamar shaken up, down under

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 January 1999, 12:23 GMT]
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Laxshman Kadirgamar faced some tough questions during an interview with Peter Mares of Australia's Radio National. Rattled by Mare's probing about the Chemmani mass graves, peace talks and the government's peace package, Mr. Kadirgamar lost his temper, became defensive and accused the former of being an apologist for the LTTE.
Full story >>

Serum ban increases deaths -MO

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 January 1999, 12:11 GMT]
Deaths due to snake bite has increased in Batticaloa's hinterland in recent months due to Sri Lankan Army (SLA) restrictions said medical sources in the eastern town. They said that exact figures were not available for the whole region as yet because few cases are recorded.
Full story >>

Women accuse Islamic fundamentalists of attack

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 January 1999, 12:05 GMT]
Three Muslim women were found tied to lamp posts with their heads completely shaved and stripped to their waists in the early hours of the morning today in the village of Iyankerni, sixteen kilometers north of Batticaloa.
Full story >>

First SLAF passenger flight

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 January 1999, 12:00 GMT]
The first commercial SLAF flight carrying civilian to Jaffna left the Ratmalana base on the southern outskirts of Colombo at 1 p.m. this afternoon and arrived at the Palaly military complex an hour later said sources in Jaffna.
Full story >>

Chavakachcheri library to stay closed

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 January 1999, 11:38 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence (MoD) informed the Chavakachcheri Urban Council (UC) in a letter sent yesterday, that the Army camp at the Chavakachcheri library could not be shifted to another location due to security reasons.
Full story >>

Election Committee stands by findings

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 January 1999, 19:34 GMT]
Key members of three independent election monitoring committees have called upon the Elections Commissioner to hold the North-western Provincial Council election again. The announcement was made during a press conference held at the National Library Association in Colombo this morning.
Full story >>

Orphans recount father's death

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 January 1999, 19:26 GMT]
"Our father did not have any food for three days, and he was weak before he died" said Selvakumari Subramaniam (16) whose father Mathuraiveeran Subramaniam (53) died on their way to the army controlled area from Madhu, on Tuesday (26).
Full story >>

News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 January 1999, 18:08 GMT]
Sixteen Sri Lankan Army (SLA) soldiers were injured this morning, when a tractor carrying troops ran off the road in Omanthai, Chavakachcheri Brigade Commander meets Divisional Secretaries and wounded civilian succumbs to injuries.
Full story >>

SLA death squad spreads terror

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 January 1999, 16:58 GMT]
Aarumugam Kaaththalingam, 51, a poor plumber from Kokkuvil, an impoverished village on the northern outskirts of the Batticaloa town was gruesomely shot dead last night by unknown gunmen, suspected to be members of an SLA terror squad operating from a detachment nearby.
Full story >>

Friendly fire kills one

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 January 1999, 12:56 GMT]
A Sri Lankan Army soldier, H.M.Laksman Ananda, of the 15 Gajaba division on sentry duty at the forward defence line in the Uyrtharasankulam area South of Mannar island was shot dead by a fellow soldier, Jayalath Aarachchige Vasanthakumara, at the sentry post around 1 am yesterday (January 27), sources in Mannar said.
Full story >>

Amnesty says 4 'disappeared' located

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 January 1999, 23:33 GMT]
Amnesty International, the human rights watchdog said it has recently learned that Mylvaganam Jayaseelan, one of those listed as missing after being arrested by the PLOTE was released on 3 January 1999 from the Kovilkulam PLOTE camp. Amnesty says it believes he may have been tortured in custody.
Full story >>

News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 January 1999, 23:21 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army in Jaffna will issue tickets for the flight to Colombo tomorrow and PLOTE's military leader Maanikkadaasan vows revenge for the killing of his group's Jaffna commander.
Full story >>

Father dies of exhaustion

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 January 1999, 23:16 GMT]
A father of five died yesterday of the strain of his journey while coming from Madhu to the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled area said sources. He had been weakened by malnutrition they said. Mathuraiveeran Subramaniam collapsed a mile from the Forward Defence Line at Madhu road junction, they added.
Full story >>

Supreme court rules election postponement illegal

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 January 1999, 16:15 GMT]
The Sri Lankan supreme court decided unanimously today that the postment of elections to five provincial councils by the Sri Lankan government last year was invalid in law. The elections to the Uva, Sabaragamuwa, Western, the North central and the Central provincial councils were scheduled to be held on August 28.
Full story >>

Six hurt in clash

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 January 1999, 16:12 GMT]
A member of the PLOTE, a Tamil para-military group working with the SLA, and a soldier were seriously wounded when a group of Liberation Tigers opened fire on them this afternoon around 12.55 p.m. at Thoonadi, 6.5 kilometres Southwest of Batticaloa. The Tigers has come in a tractor said sources.
Full story >>

PA ministers deny violence charge

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 January 1999, 11:39 GMT]
(CORRECTED) Senior Ministers of the Sri Lankan Government, said today that the People's Alliance (PA) was not responsible for the violence during the North-western Provincial Council elections on January 25. This announcement was made at a press conference held at the Auditorium of the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation at Colpetty (Kollpity) this morning.
Full story >>

Jaffna children undernourished - report

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 January 1999, 11:33 GMT]
Sixty seven percent of the school children in Jaffna are undernourished according to a survey recently carried out in the peninsula by 'Ootru', the research organisation that has been engaged in scientific, social, economic and development studies in the north for almost two decades.
Full story >>

Opposition parties demand poll cancellation

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 January 1999, 13:50 GMT]
All the parties that contested the elections to Sri Lanka's North-western Provincial Council (NWPC), except the ruling PA, issued statements this afternoon demanding that the polls should be declared null and void forthwith.
Full story >>

News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 January 1999, 13:16 GMT]
A Sri Lankan Army soldier (SLA) was killed in a clash with the Liberation Tigers in Irupalai in Jaffna yesterday; Tigers hand over body of a SLA soldier to ICRC; Young woman wounded in army fire; Youth reported missing in Jaffna and released youth detained again in Colombo.
Full story >>

Landslide victory for ruling party

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 January 1999, 10:16 GMT]
Sri Lanka's ruling People's Alliance (PA) won the elections to the Northwestern provincial council elections by a significant margin. The voting at nine polling booths in the province was canceled by the Commissioner of Elections on account of rigging and violence.
Full story >>

Trincomalee UC Chairman submits resignation

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 January 1999, 08:07 GMT]
The Trincomalee Urban council (UC) Chairman Periyapody Sooriyamoorthy announced this morning that he will resign. He told the press in Trincomalee that he has called a special meeting on January 28 to discuss the matter.
Full story >>

Elections not free and fair - PAFFREL

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 January 1999, 22:22 GMT]
Sri Lanka's polls watchdog, the People's Alliance For Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), in a statement issued after polling concluded in the northwestern Provincial Council elections said that reports from its election monitors clearly indicate that the conduct of the elections does not fulfill the criteria of being free and fair.
Full story >>

NWPC polls invalidated - monitors

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 January 1999, 20:50 GMT]
The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) in a statement issued today has said that today's elections for the North-western Provincial Council (NWPC) should be declared null and void due to the scale and magnitude of the violence that has been reported directly to CMEV and through the Police.
Full story >>

Curfew announced in election province

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 January 1999, 16:40 GMT]
Sri Lankan Police announced a curfew to be enforced in the Puttalam and Kurunagale districts in the North-Western Province of the island from 11 p.m. The curfew is in anticipation of a further escalation of violence during the night.
Full story >>

Violence threatens poll cancellation

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 January 1999, 12:09 GMT]
Mr.Vasudeva Nanayakkara, a senior politician and parliamentarian of Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), a constituent of the ruling People's Alliance (PA) called on the Sri Lankan government to cancel the Northwestern Provincial council elections this afternoon, reacting to reports of widespread rigging and violence perpetrated by members and supporters of the main partner of the alliance, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.
Full story >>

Rigging said underway in PC elections

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 January 1999, 08:45 GMT]
Supporters and thugs of the ruling People's Alliance (PA) rigged polls and intimidated Tamil voters in many parts of the northwestern province this morning said election officials in Kurunagala.
Full story >>

Air attack kills one and injures seven

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 January 1999, 07:40 GMT]
One student was killed and 7 others seriously wounded in an air attack by the Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) kfir jet planes on Sunday around 5.30 p.m. in residential areas in Mullaithivu district in the northeast of the island sources in the Vanni said.
Full story >>

SLA advance beaten back - LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 January 1999, 02:54 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers announced in the Vanni last evening that they had beaten back a major thrust by the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) from its positions ahead of Mankulam on Saturday. They said that heavy fighting had raged for three hours in the morning from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Full story >>

Paramilitaries assigned larger role

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 January 1999, 19:56 GMT]
Sri Lanka's army commander, Lt.Gen. Sri Lal Weerasooriya, told the leaders of the Raazeek group and the TELO in Batticaloa that they will have to recruit more Tamil youth from the east to fight the Liberation Tigers and hold areas that would be captured from them soon.
Full story >>

Election violence will affect polling

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 January 1999, 19:34 GMT]
Violence in Sri Lanka's North - western province hit a new high today, on the eve of polls that are crucial for the Government.
Full story >>

Jaffna PLOTE leader shot Dead

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 January 1999, 15:47 GMT]
The District Organiser of the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) in Jaffna, Thillainathan Chandramohan, 31, alias 'Sathees', was shot dead in the heart of Jaffna town this evening around 7 p.m.
Full story >>

Northeast development under military control

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 January 1999, 15:13 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government is expected to resolve soon that all development work in the North-eastern province in 1999 can be undertaken only with the permission of the Sri Lankan Army (SLA).
Full story >>

Youth shot dead Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 January 1999, 13:11 GMT]
A youth was killed and another wounded at Nunavil last night around 8 p.m. in an ambush by the Sri Lankan Army (SLA). The injured youth, Sinnarasa Jehan, 18, of Nunavil west, 190 Chavakachcheri, was admitted to the Jaffna hospital. He is under Sri Lankan Police guard.
Full story >>

Shelling hits civilians

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 January 1999, 16:46 GMT]
A civilian was killed and three others were wounded when two shells fired by the Sri Lankan Army stationed in Maankerni camp hit Mathurankerni in Vakarai in the Batticaloa district today around 10 a.m.
Full story >>

News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 January 1999, 14:46 GMT]
'Lanka Muditha' sails from Jaffna; Anuradhapura detainees begin hunger strike; Kilinochchi flood victims yet to receive relief help from the Social Service Department; 75 artificial limbs distributed in the Vanni and Akkarayankulam hospital releases statistics.
Full story >>

SLA-LTTE clash in Mankulam

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 January 1999, 13:52 GMT]
Six Liberation Tigers were killed and at least 12 Sri Lankan Army (SLA) soldiers were wounded in fresh fighting in the Mankulam area this morning, said army sources.
Full story >>

Government announces election security measures

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 January 1999, 13:49 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government announced this morning that special security arrangements have been made to provide protection for the North-western Provincial Council (NWPC) Elections due on Monday.
Full story >>

Three transformers blasted in Colombo

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 January 1999, 05:32 GMT]
Powerful explosion destroyed three transformers in Kotahena in the capital Colombo this morning. The Police said transformers at Vasala Road, Jampettah Street and Ginthupity were destroyed between 4.30 and 4.40 a.m.
Full story >>

Restrictions seen blocking NORAD projects

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 January 1999, 19:55 GMT]
"The concept of the uncleared and cleared areas is irrelevant. Every region has problems. All development work is prepared on the basis of the needs of the people. The economy of the whole district would be affected if there is no development or rehabilitation work in the uncleared areas" said Mr.A.K Pathmanathan, the Government Agent (GA) of Batticaloa today while addressing a meeting arranged for an official visit of the Norwegian Ambassador to the region.
Full story >>

Last UNP rally disrupted

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 January 1999, 19:18 GMT]
The last campaign meeting organised by the main opposition party, the United National Party (UNP), for the Northwestern provincial Council elections, at Kuliyapitiya, northwest of Colombo, had been disrupted by hooligans.
Full story >>

Monument unveiled for police KIA

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 January 1999, 16:03 GMT]
Senior DIG of the Sri Lankan Police, T.E Anantharajah unveiled a monument erected in memory of policemen killed in the ethnic conflict since 1984 at the Trincomalee Headquarters Police Station this morning. The monument has been erected for the 200 policemen who were killed in the Trincomalee police division from August 1984 to September 1998.
Full story >>

Appeals over Oddusuddan displaced

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 January 1999, 10:44 GMT]
The Vanni Citizen Committee has urged the UNHCR officials, in a memorandum, to make arrangements to provide relief assistance to the 15,000 displaced people of Oddusuddan who had sought refuge at Puthukudiyeruppu area in Mullaithivu district.
Full story >>

News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 January 1999, 10:42 GMT]
The final campaign meetings for Monday's North West Provincial Council elections are to be held today; 80 Sri Lankan Naval personnel are being detained at Karainakar base in Jaffna and rains destroy Jaffna crops
Full story >>

Four killed in Trinco roundup

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 January 1999, 10:38 GMT]
Four members of the Liberation Tigers were killed when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops opened fire on a group of youths hiding in a house at 14th mile post along Trincomalee - Pulmoddai Road, yesterday around 6.30 p.m., SLA sources said.
Full story >>

Journalists fired on amid election violence

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 January 1999, 10:36 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen opened fire on the vehicle in which a group of foreign and local journalists and photographers were travelling at Chillaw-Aanamaduwa road last night. However, no one was injured.
Full story >>

Large search operation in Mannar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 January 1999, 18:29 GMT]
More than 500 Sri Lankan Army (SLA) troops from the Thallaadi base and the detachment at the Portuguese fort in the Mannar island cordoned off and searched the suburbs of Moor Street and Uppukkulam in Mannar town from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. today said the TamilNet's Mannar correspondent.
Full story >>

Trinco UC officials transferred

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 January 1999, 18:26 GMT]
Four important officials of the Trincomalee Urban Council (UC) received today sudden notices of their transfer with effect from February 1, 1998. They are the superintendent of works, Mr F.G.A Gnanamuttu, chief clerk of the council N.Sivapalatharmakulasingham, book keeper of the UC, Ms. S.Gnanathevi and Revenue inspector M.R.G Ragunathan.
Full story >>

SLAF Jaffna shuttle from Monday

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 January 1999, 17:29 GMT]
A commercial service to fly civilians between Colombo and Jaffna by the Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) will begin on Monday January 25, the Civil Administration Office of the SLA in Jaffna announced today.
Full story >>

Casualties in Vanni clashes

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 January 1999, 17:24 GMT]
The Operational Head Quarters of the Ministry of Defence said today that five suspected members of the Liberation Tigers were killed in an engagement north west of Mankulam yesterday (January 20).
Full story >>

Four detained in Vadamaradchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 January 1999, 17:19 GMT]
Five persons of a family at Samarabaahu in Valvettithurai in Jaffna were arrested and detained by the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) on suspicion that they harboured a group of Liberation Tigers that had clashed with the army on Monday January 18 in the same area.
Full story >>

Poisonous plants kill two

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 January 1999, 16:40 GMT]
Two women died and two others fell seriously ill after eating the tuber of 'Alli', a local species of the water lily in Mulliyawalai area, sources in Vanni said. They said the women were among the regionís displaced who had not had been able to get any food for a long time, and in desperation had looked for tubers and roots.
Full story >>

Senior Red Cross officials visit Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 January 1999, 16:38 GMT]
Mr. Gert Venghaus, South Asian Regional Delegate of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said that Rs.8 million worth of relief items were being provided to the most vulnerable flood victims in 6 districts in the north east of Sri Lanka on the request of the Sri Lankan Red Cross Society.
Full story >>

ICRC reports 1998 achievements

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 January 1999, 14:46 GMT]
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) located 169 persons in the district of Trincomalee in 1998 whom their families had been searching for. The persons were located after these families opened tracing requests with the ICRC.
Full story >>

10,000 extra Policemen for polls

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 January 1999, 14:45 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Police said today that it will deploy 10,000 additional Policemen in the northwestern province on January 25, the day of the polling. The army will also be put on special alert on the day.
Full story >>

Jaffna posters dissuade paramilitary contact

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 January 1999, 11:30 GMT]
Posters urging people not to associate with the Tamil paramilitary groups working alongside the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) appeared in many parts of the Vadamaradchi division of Jaffna today. A group calling itself 'Freedom Fighters' put up the posters in the Tamil language which were titled "Go no longer to the traitors of the nation".
Full story >>

ARTICLE 19 slams Sri Lankan censorship

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 January 1999, 22:59 GMT]
ARTICLE 19, the London-based international anti-censorship organisation today accused the Sri Lankan government and military of using the emergency regulations “to conceal from the Sri Lankan people the true cost of the continuing war” against the LTTE.
Full story >>

SLAF Hercules to fly passengers

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 January 1999, 22:04 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) will begin its own passenger service to fly civilians between Colombo and Jaffna. This service will be run as a commercial operation sources said. The flights were scheduled to begin this Friday, January 22.
Full story >>

News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 January 1999, 22:03 GMT]
Tamil political detainees in Kalutara prison begin a hunger strike and logistic difficulties hinder the hand over of the bodies of five Liberation Tigers killed in Jaffna.
Full story >>

Fishing prohibited to prevent infiltration

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 January 1999, 14:34 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) has prohibited fisherman in Southern Thenmaradchi in Jaffna from fishing in the Jaffna lagoon since Monday. This order follows the clash between the LTTE and the SLA in Koilakkandy on Monday in which five Tigers were killed.
Full story >>

Second election death

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 January 1999, 12:48 GMT]
Gamini Weerasinghe, the brother of a People's Alliance (PA) member of a Puttalam district Pradeshiya Sabah, was killed in a shoot out at Paalavi Junction in Aanamauwa last night. The crime division of the Puttalam Police said that they are investigating the killing.
Full story >>

False bomb alarm prompts evacuation

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 January 1999, 10:17 GMT]
Students and staff at two schools in Colombo were evacuated following a false bomb alarm this morning. Anonymous callers had told the authorities at Ananda College in Maradana, close to downtown Colombo and another school at Muttuwal that powerful bombs were planted in the premises of their schools and could go off at any time.
Full story >>

News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 January 1999, 23:48 GMT]
Ponnambalam to be interrogated tomorrow; Two arrested in Jaffna; Ex-EPDP cadre commits suicide and Varatharaajapperumal meets EPRLF leaders.
Full story >>

Nine LTTE casualties - VoT

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 January 1999, 23:42 GMT]
Six members of the LTTE were killed in two separate clashes with the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) yesterday (January 18), in the north, the Voice of Tigers (VoT) radio said in its night transmission.
Full story >>

PA supporters attack JVP meeting

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 January 1999, 19:57 GMT]
Eleven members and sympathisers of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) were injured when a large group of PA supporters and thugs attacked the party's meeting this afternoon at Pannala, about sixty five kilometers northwest of Colombo. The wounded have been admitted to the Kurunagala hospital.
Full story >>

One killed, three wounded

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 January 1999, 19:53 GMT]
Four civilians from the hamlet of Vammivettuvaan near Vaakarai, 56 kilometers north of Batticaloa, who have been missing since January 13 when they had gone into the jungles to collect honey were traced today.
Full story >>

PA-Srimani deal?

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 January 1999, 13:06 GMT]
The General Secretary of the People's Alliance (PA) Minister, D.M.Jayaratne, today informed the secretary General of Parliament that Parliamentarian Ravi Karunanayake is deemed to have vacated his seat in Parliament as he was expelled from the Lalith faction of the Democratic United National Front (DUNLF) with effect from Sunday 17.
Full story >>

Grenade wounds Raazeek member

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 January 1999, 13:04 GMT]
A member of the Raazeek group operating with the Sri Lankan army in Batticaloa was critically wounded when an unidentified person lobbed a grenade at him today around 12.45 p.m. in Puthoor, a suburb of the Batticaloa town.
Full story >>

News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 January 1999, 12:39 GMT]
Search operation in Pt.Pedro, the Pt.Pedro jetty SLA camp relocated; a house built of bamboo washed ashore in Jaffna and Jaffna displaced get spoilt milk powder.
Full story >>

Mannar exit limited to fifty

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 January 1999, 20:26 GMT]
Only fifty civilians are now allowed to travel from Mannar to districts outside the northern province each day due to a new regulation introduced this week by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) says TamilNet's Mannar correspondent. The SLA has issued its own special identity cards to permanent residents who live in those areas of the Mannar district which are under its control.
Full story >>

'Shot pair smugglers' - SLA

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 January 1999, 20:24 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops at Uyilankulam in Mannar shot dead a person after midnight at 12.30 a.m. today near the entry point to the Vanni that is under the control of the Liberation Tigers, said sources. Another person was critically injured in the firing.
Full story >>

Minister inaugurates welfare unit for disabled soldiers

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 January 1999, 20:11 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Minister of Post Telecommunication and Media, Mangala Samaraweera, today inaugurated a welfare unit for the disabled soldiers at Kurunegala.
Full story >>

Postponed PC polls to be held

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 January 1999, 20:09 GMT]
Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunge has advised the Elections Commissioner to fix a date for the Councils polls in the Uva, Central, North Central, Sabaragamuwa and Western Provinces, sources in Colombo said today.
Full story >>

Bank, SLA investigate theft attempt

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 January 1999, 15:14 GMT]
Officials from the head office of the Bank of Ceylon in Colombo and from the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) went to Mannar today to probe an attempt to rob fifty million Sri Lankan rupees sent by the bank's Mannar branch to the Thallaady army camp on Thursday for safe keeping.
Full story >>

Many mediation offers are not genuine - Kadirgamar

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 January 1999, 14:03 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar said that sixteen countries are keen to mediate in the island's ethnic conflict. But only a few of these are genuine Mr. Kadirgamar added while speaking to journalists at a press conference in his ministry this afternoon.
Full story >>

Five bodies handed over

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 January 1999, 13:51 GMT]
The bodies of five youth, suspected to be members of the Liberation Tigers, were handed over by the Sri Lankan Police at Chavakachcheri to the Jaffna hospital this afternoon.
Full story >>

Troops accused of killing

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 January 1999, 11:35 GMT]
"Ananathrajah is my elder sister's son and he came to my house everyday in the evening to spend the night as my two daughters and I have no male guardian. My husband was shot dead eight years ago" said Kaathamuththu Amaravathi, 31, in her evidence at the inquest into the death of the Myilambaveli youth who was found shot through his head last evening at Saththurukkondaan, four kilometers north of Batticaloa town.
Full story >>

Police intimidate Muslim villagers

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 January 1999, 11:32 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Police and home-guards have been intimidating the residents of a small farming village in Aaleemsenai, in the eastern district of Ampara, said villagers.
Full story >>

Blasts disrupt businesses' electricity

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 January 1999, 11:29 GMT]
Powerful blasts destroyed two large electricity supply transformers in the heart of Colombo's business district in the early hours of the morning today.
Full story >>

Youth shot dead

[TamilNet, Monday, 18 January 1999, 08:46 GMT]
A body of youth identified as Ekambaram Anantharajah, 17, was found shot twice through the head at the Saththurukkondaan cemetery, four kilometers north of Batticaloa last evening said Sri Lankan Police sources.
Full story >>

Houses damaged in rampage

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 January 1999, 22:40 GMT]
Several houses in the village of Kudaththanai south east of Jaffna were smashed up by a gang of youth that had abducted a girl from the area yesterday. The Sri Lankan Police at Pt.Pedro arrested seven youth who were in the gang today and remanded them until January 28. Others are absconding sources said.
Full story >>

NGO's demand negotiated settlement

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 January 1999, 13:23 GMT]
"There is no respect for the lives of people today, human values are denied, human lives continue to be sacrificed and particularly little regard is shown for the lives of the Tamil people; it is said that sixty thousand people have been killed so far. The actual figure could be much higher" said Jaffna's Bishop, Rt. Rev. Thomas Savundaranayagam.
Full story >>

Three SLA casualties in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 January 1999, 13:19 GMT]
Three Sri Lankan Army (SLA) troops were killed and several others were wounded on January 15, Friday night around 11.30 p.m. during a skirmish with the Liberation Tigers at Vembaday in Uduththurai on the southeastern coast of Jaffna said sources in the peninsula. There were no casualties among the Tigers they claimed.
Full story >>

Many disappearances still unaccounted for

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 January 1999, 13:10 GMT]
Kachcheri sources in Kilinochchi said today that 164 persons of the district were reported missing in 1998. The fate of 109 of these persons is not known they said. Eight of these were arrested and killed by the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) and forty seven were released by the Sri Lankan security forces.
Full story >>

Heavy fighting in Mankulam

[TamilNet, Sunday, 17 January 1999, 04:21 GMT]
15 SLA soldiers were killed and more than 50 wounded when the Liberation Tigers intercepted and attacked an attempt by the army to thrust north of its positions in Mankulam on Friday said sources in the Vanni this morning.
Full story >>

Attack on UNP kills one

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 January 1999, 20:08 GMT]
A Tamil youth campaigning for the United National Party (UNP) was shot dead when gunmen suspected to be members of Sri Lanka's ruling People's Allaiance (PA) fired at the house of UNP candiadte, Mr.Gamini Dissanayaka, last night at Kuliyapitiya northwest of Colombo.
Full story >>

Varatharajapperumaal back in Sri Lanka ?

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 January 1999, 20:04 GMT]
The EPRLF leader Suresh Premachandran denied reports in Colombo today that Varatharajapperumaal, the former chief minister of the Northeastern Provincial Council is in Sri Lanka.
Full story >>

Banner marks Tiger anniversary

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 January 1999, 20:02 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers put up banners by the road all over Jaffna to commemorate Col.Kittu (Sathasivam Krishnakumar), one of their senior leaders who was killed in January 1993 in mid sea when he ordered the ship he was sailing in to be blown up rather than surrender to the Indian Navy that had intercepted his vessel and was demanding his surrender.
Full story >>

Mankulam shelling kills 3

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 January 1999, 19:56 GMT]
Three soldiers were killed and twelve were wounded when the Liberation Tigers fired mortars on Sri Lankan (SLA) positions at Mankulam this morning said army sources in Vavuniya this afternoon.
Full story >>

CID recovers arms cache

[TamilNet, Saturday, 16 January 1999, 19:54 GMT]
The Criminal Investigation Division's unit in Batticaloa raided the house of an ex- Muslim homeguard in the Ampara district today and recovered a stock of lethal material today. Police sources in the eastern town said that the detection and arrest was made on information provided by the public in the village of Saaintha Maruthu.
Full story >>

UNP convoy ambushed

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 January 1999, 22:39 GMT]
Violence in Sri Lanka's Northwestern Provincial polls continued as armed persons suspected to be members of the ruling People's Alliance (PA) shot at and stoned a convoy of campaign vehicles in which opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and UNP's general secretary Gamini Athukorala were travelling at Marawila this morning.
Full story >>

Fresh fighting in Mankulam

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 January 1999, 14:09 GMT]
Sri Lankan Army (SLA) sources in Vavuniya said this afternoon that three soldiers and eighteen Tigers were killed in a major confrontation between its troops and the Liberation Tigers north of Mankulam this morning.
Full story >>

PLOTE detainees' relatives visit -Amnesty

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 January 1999, 13:24 GMT]
Amnesty International says it has learned that relatives of Subramaniam Atpudarasa (17)and Selvarasa Tamilchelvam (16), who "disappeared" last year after being arrested by the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) were allowed to visit them at one of the ex-militant group's camps.
Full story >>

Puliyankulam clash kills 7

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 January 1999, 12:10 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) said in a press note today that it had killed seven Liberation Tigers in fresh clashes that erupted in the Vanni on 13 January.
Full story >>

Five Tigers killed in sea battle

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 January 1999, 04:11 GMT]
The Voice of Tigers said last night that five Tigers, including two Lt.Colonels, were killed in a four hour mid sea battle with the Sri Lankan Navy (SLN)on Tuesday, January 12.
Full story >>

Governor passes verdict on the market

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 January 1999, 22:18 GMT]
(News Feature) Hopes that the impasse over the opening of the new Trincomalee market might be resolved by the recently appointed North-eastern Province Governor, Maj.Gen..Asoka Jayawardana, were dashed today. The market was built by the Trincomalee Urban Council (UC). The project ran into problems when it was obstructed by senior Army officials and other Sri Lanka Government servants.
Full story >>

ACTC Leader to be questioned again

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 January 1999, 22:14 GMT]
The CID's interrogation of Mr.Kumar Ponnambalam was concluded at 7.45 p.m. this evening, said Sri Lankan Police sources in Colombo. The ACTC leader will be questioned again next Wednesday, January 20, they said.
Full story >>

CID interrogates Ponnampalam

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 January 1999, 12:50 GMT]
Mr.Kumar Ponnambalam, the general secretary of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), is being interrogated at his residence by sleuths from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) over allegations that he is a self proclaimed supporter of the Liberation Tigers.
Full story >>

Government must negotiate - TULF

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 January 1999, 12:47 GMT]
The Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) Parliamentarian for the Batticaloa district, Mr. Joseph Pararajasingham, said that the denial of the legitimate rights of the Tamil people by Sri Lankan Governments has resulted in the current upsurge of violence on the island.
Full story >>

NLF chief candidate assaulted

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 January 1999, 08:46 GMT]
The chief candidate of the New Left Front (NLF) which is contesting elections to Sri Lanka's Northwestern Provincial Council was seriously injured last night when they were severely assaulted by group PA members and supporters near Waariyapola in the Kurunagala district.
Full story >>

News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 January 1999, 00:34 GMT]
Sri Lanka sets aside jobs and school places for relatives of members of its security forces as telecom workers strike over assault on Union leader.
Full story >>

Appeal for peaceful election

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 January 1999, 00:32 GMT]
The National Committee for Peace And Economic Development, in a letter addressed to leaders of the political parties participating in the North West Provincial Council polls appealed to the to "desist from violence and ensure a free and fair election".
Full story >>

Brigadier holds security meeting

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 January 1999, 20:00 GMT]
Brigadier Marambe, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 51 division in Jaffna convened a meeting this morning for all the elected heads of the local government bodies in peninsula to discuss their personal and official security.
Full story >>

Red Cross driver released

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 January 1999, 17:51 GMT]
Thuraisamy Pathmanathan, the driver of the Sri Lanka Red Cross (SLRC), Vavuniya branch, who was arrested and detained by Sri Lankan Police sleuths on June 7 last year for taking an opposition MP to the Liberation Tigers controlled areas of the Vanni was released without charges this morning at the Colombo magistrate's court.
Full story >>

Jaffna curfew to be relaxed tomorrow

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 January 1999, 17:39 GMT]
The Sri Lankan security forces headquarters in Jaffna said today in a communiqué that it will relax the daily curfew in the peninsula for the Tamil harvest festival of Thaipongal tomorrow, January 14 and on Friday, January 15.
Full story >>

Batticaloa electricity supply to resume-CEB

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 January 1999, 17:37 GMT]
Work will begin tomorrow for restoring the supply of electricity to the Batticaloa district said Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) officials in the eastern town this evening.
Full story >>

Arrest warrant for MP issued

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 13 January 1999, 15:14 GMT]
The Puttalam district court issued an arrest warrant today on a ruling party Member of Parliament for not appearing before it in connection with three cases against him on several occasions. The People's Alliance (PA) MP for Puttlalam Mr.D.M Dissanayaka has been accused in many cases involving violence and arson.
Full story >>

Fund to support soldiers' families

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 January 1999, 14:48 GMT]
The Sri Lankan President has established a fund and an authority to look after the welfare of the families of Sri Lankan security personnel that are said to be living in poverty.
Full story >>

Twenty LTTE Casualties - SLN

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 January 1999, 11:22 GMT]
Sri Lankan Navy (SLN) sources said that two Tiger boats were destroyed and 20 Tigers were believed to have been killed when the SLN patrol crafts attacked LTTE boats in the seas off Pulmoddai, in eastern Trincomalee last night.
Full story >>

Two civilians wounded in shelling

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 January 1999, 11:18 GMT]
Two civilians, K.Tharumaratnam, 47 and his daughter T.Asoka, were injured when a shell fired by the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) stationed at the Usanaar Eththam, hit their house at Kaayaankerni yesterday morning around 4.30 a.m.
Full story >>

EPDP complains to Harassment Committee

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 January 1999, 11:16 GMT]
The leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), Mr. Devananda, informed the Anti-Harassment Committee that Government Forces should be able to identify themselves and that their vehicles should carry registration numbers when conducting search operations in the capitol Colombo.
Full story >>

Six drowned in Ampara lake

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 January 1999, 18:06 GMT]
Five Sri Lankan Policemen and their boatman met their watery death last evening in the Kondawattawan lake in the Ampara district.
Full story >>

TELO councillor killed

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 January 1999, 17:58 GMT]
A member of the Valvettithurai Town Council, representing Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO), Mr. Jacob Anthony, was shot dead in Nelliyadi, this evening around 7.30 said sources.
Full story >>

Missing remain "unaccounted for" - Amnesty

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 January 1999, 15:19 GMT]
Amnesty International has issued an update to its earlier urgent action appeal over the disappearances of eight people in Vavuniya allegedly after being taken into custody by the People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and the Sri Lankan Army (SLA). Amnesty says the missing are still unaccounted for and has added another name to the list.
Full story >>

Missing fisherman found in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 January 1999, 12:23 GMT]
Sellar Kandasamy (35), father of two children and one of the two fishermen who went missing last Thursday (7), in seas off Kallappaadu in Mullaithivu district was found at the Kutchaveli coast in Trincomalee district on Thursday evening, sources in Trincomalee said.
Full story >>

Eighty percent support the proposals - President

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 January 1999, 12:10 GMT]
The Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Bandaranayaike Kumaratunge, while speaking at a rally at Makkunuwewa, in the Hiriyala electorate, yesterday (January 10), said that an ethnic conflict could not be resolved by military means though it is possible to find a military solution to a war.
Full story >>

News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 January 1999, 12:00 GMT]
Electricity supply to several Sri Lankan Army camps in Vanni was disrupted after an electricity pylon was blasted last night; Sri Lankan Customs arrest two Indian nationals at Colombo airport; Five policemen and civilian feared drowned in boat accident.
Full story >>

Journalists protest at intimidation

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 January 1999, 20:03 GMT]
Journalists in the Puttalam district of the North-Western Province staged a demonstration today near the clock tower in the town, protesting that they were being threatened and prevented from reporting independently.
Full story >>

Aid distribution politically manipulated

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 January 1999, 20:01 GMT]
Samurdhi appointments have not been given to areas in Batticaloa that are not controlled by the Sri Lankan Government, said sources. They said that 509 appointments were made in 1996 while 189 vacancies remain unfilled.
Full story >>

Restrictions cause maternal mortality

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 January 1999, 14:14 GMT]
Hospital sources in Batticaloa said today that the district had the highest mortality rate among pregnant women in the island. The island average is 1000:6 but in the Batticaloa district fourteen women out of every thousand who are pregnant die, mainly due to the difficulties in finding medical attention on time.
Full story >>

MoD delays relief funds to NE districts

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 January 1999, 14:11 GMT]
Relief Funds released by the Social Service Department to areas affected by the recent floods have not been allocated to the Kilinochchi, Mullaithivu and Mannar districts said sources at the Districts Secretariats.
Full story >>

Appoint Election Monitoring Committee - Opposition

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 January 1999, 14:09 GMT]
If the Government has a genuine intention to hold a free and fair election it should appoint an independent committee to monitor the forthcoming North-Western Provincial Council elections, said the Sri Lankan Opposition leader, Mr. Ranil Wickramasinghe, at a campaign rally held in Vennappuwa yesterday.
Full story >>

Four Tigers killed

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 January 1999, 14:02 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers said that four of their members died in two separate incidents in the Vanni on 7 and 8 January.
Full story >>

Flood victims, displaced students get assistance

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 January 1999, 22:18 GMT]
The Lions Club has donated 10,000 US dollars to provide additional relief to the flood victims in Vavuniya, government officials said today. According to K.Ganesh, the Government Agent Vavuniya, 25,000 people were displaced due to torrential rains and floods in the area.
Full story >>

Mallavi OPD treats 180 thousand patients

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 January 1999, 22:15 GMT]
Officials of the Department of Health said that 179,880 patients have been treated in the OPD (Out Patients Department) in Mallavi hospital in Mullaithivu district last year.
Full story >>

Land mine attack kills three

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 January 1999, 19:16 GMT]
Three civilians were killed and two home guards were wounded in a mine attack by the Liberation Tigers around 3.00 p.m. today at Mahakachchakodiya about 7 miles north east of Vavuniya town, off Maamaduwa, sources said.
Full story >>

Explosion at Batticaloa Telecom building

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 January 1999, 17:38 GMT]
A bomb exploded at the Telecom building in Mamankam in the Batticaloa district this evening around 7.15 said Police sources in the eastern town.
Full story >>

Landmines wreck heavy toll on cattle

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 January 1999, 17:03 GMT]
At least two cattle belonging to civilians are killed every day by Anti-personnel land mines planted by the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) in the villages of Maasaar and Soranpattu in the Pachchilaippalli division south east of Jaffna said a Sri Lankan government official in the area today.
Full story >>

Aptitude tests to determine GS promotions?

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 January 1999, 16:25 GMT]
The Minster of Administration and Local Governments, Ratnasree Wickramanayake, has sought advice from the Attorney General (AG) whether promotions of 'Grama Sevakas' (GS) can be based on specially conducted aptitude tests.
Full story >>

Detained Indian fishermen to be released

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 January 1999, 16:22 GMT]
Sri Lankan Army sources in Jaffna said that investigation of the 16 Indian fishermen detained by them last month has been completed and that they will be released soon. They said that the Sri Lankan Navy will escort them to the Indian waters when weather conditions improve.
Full story >>

News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 January 1999, 14:35 GMT]
Rain spoils Vanni relief supply; two fishermen feared killed in Mannar and the death
Full story >>

Vanni students said facing hardships

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 January 1999, 01:23 GMT]
The North-Eastern Provincial Council (NEPC) is unable to transport school equipment to the Vanni said the Secretary of the Educational Ministry of the Council. He was speaking at a ceremony held at the Uvarmalai Vivekanantha College in Trincomalee in connection with the inauguration of educational reform there.
Full story >>

Lanka Muditha Jaffna trip delayed

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 January 1999, 01:17 GMT]
The Lanka Muditha, a cargo vessel that is used for shuttling passengers between the eastern port of Trincomalee and Kankesanthurai in Jaffna will not sail to the northern peninsula in the next 15 days according to the Divisional Secretary in Trincomalee, Mr. V.Velummaiylum.
Full story >>

News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 January 1999, 01:14 GMT]
Political violence continue as elections for the North-Western Provincial Council approaches, Mulankavil hospital releases statistics, vegetable prices go up following heavy rains.
Full story >>

Two Tigers killed in Jaffna - SLA

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 January 1999, 01:12 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army in Jaffna said that two Liberation Tigers were killed in a clash in Chavakachcheri Jaffna, yesterday morning. They said that troops cordoned off a house in which the Tigers were staying.
Full story >>

Chemmani cover up suspected

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 January 1999, 20:05 GMT]
Jaffna district judge, A.E Ekanaathan, today told the Sri Lankan Criminial Investigation Division (CID) Superintendant of Police, Nanda Munasinghe, that a soil expert has to examine the site of the alleged mass grave in Chemmani in Jaffna before excavation could begin.
Full story >>

Pact is safe - Indian High Commissioner

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 January 1999, 19:17 GMT]
Mr.Shiv Shankar Menon, India's High Commissioner for Sri Lanka, addressing the National Chamber of Commerce yesterday said that the Indo Lankan trade agreement has to be implemented to see whether the fear that it might be harmful to Sri Lanka is justified.
Full story >>

PA discusses package with India

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 January 1999, 18:26 GMT]
The consultant to Sri Lanka's ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Dr.Jayampathy Wickremaratna, is currently in Delhi to discuss with Indian officials , the devolution package of the People's Alliance government in Colombo said sources close to him.
Full story >>

Six Tiger boats destroyed

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 January 1999, 14:04 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Navy (SLN) said today that naval boats patrolling in the seas off the eastern Trincomalee attacked a flotilla of Tiger boats last night and destroyed 6 of them. They said 9 Tigers were killed and 20 wounded.
Full story >>

Council protests SLA influence

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 January 1999, 23:46 GMT]
The Trincomalee Town Council decided at a special assembly today to meet the recently appointed Governor of the NorthEastern Provincial Council (NEPC), Maj. Gen. Ashoka Jeyawardene, regarding the increasing involvement of the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) in the council's activities.
Full story >>

Rain displaced 25,000 in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 January 1999, 18:24 GMT]
Twenty five thousand people belonging to 6781 families have been affected in the Vavuniya district by the recent torrential rains and resultant floods, K.Ganesh the Government Agent (GA) in Vavuniya said today.
Full story >>

MoD spells out JOB mandate

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 January 1999, 17:19 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Ministry of Defence (MoD) issued a press communiqué this afternoon outlining the functions and duties of the Joint Operations Bureau (JOB) which was established under the chairmanship of Gen. Rohan de S Daluwatte by the Sri Lankan President with a view to prosecuting the war against the Liberation Tigers on a greater professional footing.
Full story >>

Razeek cadres on assault charge

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 January 1999, 17:06 GMT]
Two members of the Razeek group, a section of the EPRLF that operates as an arm of the SLA in the Batticaloa district were produced in court before district judge Mr.J.Viswanathan today by the Police for assaulting a woman in Mandoor, 26 kilometers south west of Batticaloa.
Full story >>

Peace through war continues

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 January 1999, 10:23 GMT]
Peace will be restored to the country only by defeating the Tigers and therefore it is necessary to extend the state of Emergency in the island, said the Deputy Minister of Defence, Gen. Anurudha Ratwatte, in the Parliament this morning.
Full story >>

Floods recede

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 January 1999, 10:14 GMT]
Flood waters are reported to be receding in several areas in the north and east, said a spokesman of Ministry of Social Services today. He said that incessant rains in the Trincomalee, Ampara, Vavuniya and Batticaloa districts had caused heavy flooding and left 28,000 people homeless.
Full story >>

President warns rumour mongers

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 January 1999, 22:21 GMT]
The Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunge while addressing a public meeting in Nathandiya today said that the government troops will end this war soon and they would then be allowed to return to their homes.
Full story >>

Help sought identifying body

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 January 1999, 22:19 GMT]
Professor Raveendra Fernando of the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology at the Faculty of Medicine in Colombo has requested help from relatives of the passengers who died when a Lion Air plane came down last year to identify a body. The body, which was in highly decomposed stage, was washed ashore in Mannar few days ago.
Full story >>

Land mine accident kills one

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 January 1999, 14:18 GMT]
A Sri Lankan Police man was killed and five were wounded when a 'Jonny' anti-personal land mine (APLM) exploded today during a lecture on explosives and landmines at the Police district headquarters complex in Batticaloa.
Full story >>

JOB starts functioning

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 January 1999, 11:53 GMT]
A press release issued by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence today said that the Joint Operations Bereau (JOB) commenced functioning today, after a simple ceremony, under the chairmanship of the former Army Commander, General Roahan De S Daluwatte.
Full story >>

Floods render 20,000 homeless

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 January 1999, 11:47 GMT]
Heavy showers in the north and the east in Sri Lanka have caused severe flooding and have made several thousands homeless. A spokesman for the Ministry of Social Services said that 22,848 have been rendered homeless in the Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Vavuniya, Polannaruwa and Ampara districts.
Full story >>

Jaffna Hospital functions despite shortages

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 January 1999, 11:42 GMT]
Despite a shortage of surgical instruments and medical staff, over 1600 surgeries, including nearly 150 major operations are carried out monthly at the Jaffna hospital, said sources there.
Full story >>

Rain displaces war refugees

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 January 1999, 19:53 GMT]
More than 200 families are affected by torrential rains experienced in the Vanni region, said sources in the Vanni. One hundred and twenty-eight families in the Mulankaavil area were displaced as their makeshift huts were flooded and damaged by the continuing rains.
Full story >>

News in Brief

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 January 1999, 19:50 GMT]
One SLA soldier killed in Ampakamam in the Vanni; over ten thousand detained for smuggling heroin; civilian wounded in Jaffna shooting.
Full story >>

Torrential rain destroys homes

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 January 1999, 19:43 GMT]
Over 15,500 families have been affected by the torrential rains in Sri Lanka. The worst affected districts are Batticaloa and Tricomalee in the east of the island. Reports from these areas said that heavy rains continue to cause floods in these areas.
Full story >>

News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 January 1999, 19:38 GMT]
A Japanese delegation will arrive in Sri Lankan tomorrow; Sri Lankan state radio said that the courts in Jaffna resumed functioning and postal voting for the North-Western Provincial Council begins on January 8.
Full story >>

Disappearances continue in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 January 1999, 19:16 GMT]
An official from the Human Rights Commission (HRC) in Jaffna said that 201 people were arrested during the last year. In 67 of the cases the relatives of the detained were not given any confirmation of the arrest. These arrests were made by both the security forces and the Eelam People's Democratic Party.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka is becoming developed - President

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 January 1999, 19:12 GMT]
President Chandrika Bandarananayake Kumaratunge says there are signs that Sri Lanka will soon become a developed country, when considering the benefits that are being achieved due to the streamlined economical policies of the present government.
Full story >>

Two FACs damaged, 3 sailors killed

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 January 1999, 12:32 GMT]
Three Sri Lankan Navy (SLN) sailors were killed and two SLN fast attack craft (FAC) were damaged in the battle yesterday with the Sea Tigers, the naval wing of the Liberation Tigers, in the seas off the Mannar island.
Full story >>

"SLA must quit temples"

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 January 1999, 11:47 GMT]
The Hindu youth organisations of Vadamaradchi and Thenmaradchi sent a memorandum to the Divisional Secretaries (DS) of Pt.Pedro, Palai and Maruthankerni today urging them to take steps to move out the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) that is encamped in the premises of several temples in these parts.
Full story >>

LTTE attack repulsed -SLA

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 January 1999, 08:29 GMT]
Sri Lankan Army (SLA) sources said that its troops had repulsed an attack by the Liberation Tigers on the SLA detachment at Oddusuddan in the north-east of the island around midnight yesterday (January 4).
Full story >>

TULF slams hostile Tamil press

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 January 1999, 23:54 GMT]
"The Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) has never acted against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). We have been asking the Sri Lankan Government to hold talks with them to resolve the conflict. Therefore the LTTE has the moral duty to give us security for us to function with out any hindrance", said Mr. V. Anandasangari, the Vice president of the TULF, at a press conference held at the party's office in Stanley road, Jaffna Sunday (January 3).
Full story >>

Madhu church gets telephone

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 January 1999, 23:45 GMT]
A telephone link was given to Madhu church in Mannar on January 2, said sources. This is the first time telephone facilities has been given to an area that is not controlled by the Sri Lankan Government.
Full story >>

For sake of a chicken

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 January 1999, 19:29 GMT]
A civilian identified as S. Pathmanathan was shot dead by the Special Task Force (STF) last night around 7.30 a.m. at Mahiloor Munai, about 30 kilometers south of Batticaloa, Sri Lankan Police sources said today.
Full story >>

Floods isolate Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 January 1999, 19:23 GMT]
Traffic between Colombo and Batticaloa came to a halt today as heavy rains completely inundated the Mannampiddi causeway, about eighty kilometers north of the eastern town.
Full story >>

Interim report on disappearances submitted

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 January 1999, 18:25 GMT]
The Presidential Commission on Disappearances submitted an interim report to the President, giving its observations and recommendations based on its investigations since June last year.
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"Seek high land" - villagers told

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 January 1999, 18:12 GMT]
The Irrigation Engineer in charge of Muththayankaddu, in the Vanni region, has requested families living along Paeraaru banks to move to areas in higher land to safeguard their lives.
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Two Tiger boats destroyed - SLN

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 January 1999, 17:59 GMT]
Sri Lankan Navy (SLN) sources said that two boats of the Sea Tigers were sunk and two damaged, killing 6 tigers, at 6.30 am today, when the patrolling units of the Navy opened fire at 6 tiger boats speeding towards Mannar from the direction of Kalpity.
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Large cocaine shipment seized

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 January 1999, 17:55 GMT]
A passenger on an Air Lanka Flight from Trivendram in India, arriving at Katunayake Air Port was taken into custody by customs when he was detected trying to smuggle in 4 * kgms of cocaine. Customs officials said that the smuggled drugs was concealed in the false bottom of one of his bags.
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Injured in a booby trap

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 January 1999, 17:20 GMT]
S.Anton (41), a displaced refugee from Jaffna, who had sought refuge at Kalmadu, in the Kilinochchi district, was seriously injured when a booby trap exploded near the Pannankandy bridge in Kilinochchi, on Saturday.
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Police fire kills one

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 January 1999, 15:15 GMT]
A civilian was killed and another seriously wounded in the early hours of the morning today around 12.30 a.m. when the Sri Lankan Police at Eravur, 16 km. north of Batticaloa opened fire on a cart carrying a sick woman.
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Dvora destroyed in harbour

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 January 1999, 08:06 GMT]
A Dvora gun boat belonging to the Sri Lankan Navy (SLN) was destroyed in an explosion at the naval base in Thalaimannar in the north-western coast of the island, last night said navy sources.
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"Presidentship will be abolished"

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 January 1999, 18:14 GMT]
The Sri Lankan President said that she will resolve the ethnic conflict and abolish the executive presidential system before the next elections by bringing about changes somehow to the country's constitution while addressing her first campaign meeting for the northwestern provincial council elections last night in the electorate of Yaapaahuwa, about 100 kilometers northeast of Colombo.
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Monsoon rains block roads

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 January 1999, 18:11 GMT]
Food supplies to the villages on Jaffna's southeastern coast have been completely cut off since Friday, January 1, due to the inundation of the road to Naagar Kovil from Eluthumattuvaal said sources from Jaffna.
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Busy 1998 for Mullaithivu hospital

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 January 1999, 12:31 GMT]
About three hundred and eleven thousand patients have been treated in the Mullaithivu hospital, during the last year ending December 20 said sources at the Department of Health. The hospital was relocated to the Peripheral Unit hospital building at Puthukudiyeruppu in the district several years ago.
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Soldiers suspected of assault

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 January 1999, 12:25 GMT]
Four unidentified men, believed to be members of the Sri Lankan security forces, severely assaulted the Treasurer of the Mannar Citizen’s Committee, Sam Ratnarajah (60), at his textile shop in the town last evening around 4 pm, said sources.
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SLA commando soldier killed

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 January 1999, 17:22 GMT]
A Special Forces (SF) commando of the SLA's motorcycle unit that was riding ahead of an army convoy was killed this afternoon around 1.15 p.m. at Saththurukkondaan, six kilometers north of Batticaloa town, on the main road when he was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED).
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Direct dialing from Vanni?

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 January 1999, 14:40 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers are making arrangements for people living in the parts of the Vanni contolled by them, to make international telephone calls claimed sources there.
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Buddhist organisations demand eviction

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 January 1999, 14:37 GMT]
A demonstration and a public meeting has been organised by two Buddhist organisations to demand the eviction of the Muslim villagers of Aaleemsenai in the eastern Amparai district. On December 28, the Sri Lankan Police had already ordered the residents of the village to vacate.
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SLA amnesty marks new year

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 January 1999, 14:28 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) announced yet another amnesty for more than fifteen thousand soldiers who have deserted their units and are still at large. The blanket amnesty came into effect yesterday and will on until midnight January 5, 1999.
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Anandasangari says threatened

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 January 1999, 14:24 GMT]
TULF Vice President Mr. V. Anandasangari who is currently in the northern peninsula in connection with resuscitating the party's role in running the Jaffna Municipal Council said that he received two phone calls yesterday threatening his life.
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LTTE intercepts SLA advance

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 January 1999, 17:42 GMT]
The advance by the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) into the Tharavai-Vadamunai hinterland yesterday was intercepted by the Liberation Tigers at Pulipaaintha Kal junction, about 30 kilometers north of Batticaloa, sources in Valaichenai said.
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Girl's body handed over

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 January 1999, 13:06 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Police handed over a woman's body with gun shot wounds to the Jaffna Hospital this afternoon around 12.30. The Police said they found the body in Palai, a village 40 km. south of Jaffna town.
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News In Brief

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 January 1999, 13:03 GMT]
The Iranimadu reservoir water level rises too high and Jaffna officials report a decline in the number of displaced people returning there.
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Gunfire marks New Year

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 January 1999, 12:00 GMT]
Gunfire by the Sri Lankan Government troops and Tamil paramilitary groups in the northern Vavuniya marked the birth of the New Year while midnight prayers were held in the churches and songs were played over loud speakers said sources there.
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