IFJ calls for safety of journalists

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 August 2007, 02:04 GMT]
Jacqueline Park, Asia-Pacific Director of International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), said that as long as journalists are continued to be intimidated and attacked in Sri Lanka, a free press in the country cannot be assured, in an IFJ media release Monday. IFJ, which represents over 600,000 journalists in 114 countries, while expressing its concern, called upon the Sri Lanka Government to act immediately to ensure the safety of journalists who serve the public's fundamental right to know, according to the media release.


Full story >>

Tamil film-styled gang fight in Oslo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 August 2007, 02:25 GMT]
At least two persons were seriously injured, one of them struggling for life, as a result of a gang fight that took place in Kalbakken, a suburb of Norway's capital Oslo, on Sunday. Confrontation between local Tamil youth and a few who intruded into Norway in recent months is said to have caused the formation of gangs that fought to settle scores, using handguns and Samurai swords.
Full story >>

Armed men in civil, force entry, search Jaffna Campus

[TamilNet, Saturday, 05 May 2007, 06:41 GMT]
A gang of more than ten armed men in civil clothes, forcibly entered and searched Jaffna University (JU) campus, holding the security officer at gun point, Saturday around 1:00 a.m, sources in Jaffna said. The security officer was severely beaten and held by some of the armed men at gun point while the others searched the campus area for several hours.
Full story >>

Tamil civilian shot dead in Moothoor

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 May 2007, 10:38 GMT]
Unidentified armed men shot dead a fifty-eight year-old civilian at Me:nkaamam, a Tamil village in the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled territory in Moothoor south division in Trincomalee district Tuesday night, Moothoor police sources said.
Full story >>

Labourer abducted, shot dead in Eravur

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 April 2007, 02:17 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen abducted a young Tamil family man from his residence in Vipulanthapuram, Mylampaveli in Eravur police division in Batticaloa District Wednesday night around 7:00 p.m., and shot him dead, sources in Batticaloa said.
Full story >>

Kondavil youth abducted, shot dead

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 04 April 2007, 12:04 GMT]
The bullet ridden body of Theivendiran Sasitharan, 20, a resident of Kondavil was discovered Wednesday morning at 8:30a.m near Station Road in Kondavil, Jaffna. The youth had been forcibly abducted by a group of eight unidentified gun men half an hour earlier near Kondavil Hindu Vidyalayam while returning home after transporting his sister to her school.
Full story >>

Ratnapura attacks spark strike by plantation workers

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 February 2007, 14:02 GMT]
Seven housing units belonging to Tamil plantation workers in Farm Garden Estate in Ratnapura were destroyed by fire Friday night at 8:30 p.m. when a group of unidentified gangsters, allegedly from the neighboring Sinhala village of Navanagara, armed with hand bombs set ablaze more than fifty housing units. The mob kicked the doors open, removed valuables from the units, splashed accelerants before setting fire to the units. The workers at the Farm Garden Estate went on strike Sunday to protest against the violence, and the lethargic response shown by the Estate Management, spokesperson for the workers said.
Full story >>

Jaffna MPCS President assassinated

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 February 2007, 06:59 GMT]
President of the Jaffna Multi Pupose Co-Operative Society (MPCS) and an active social worker in the Jaffna Peninsula, S. T. Gananathan, 64, was shot dead near Mampalam junction Sri Lanka Army camp in Ariyalai, a suburb of Jaffna, around 6:30 a.m., Thursday.
Full story >>

Sinhala civilian slain, Tamils threatened in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 January 2007, 07:42 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army troopers and police personnel Thursday morning threatened Tamil civilians at Mathavadikulam, a suburb located 3 km south of Vavuniya town, after a gang shot and killed a Sinhala civilian Wednesday night. The SLA soldiers warned Tamil residents that they would be chased away from the area, residents complained. The killing follows the slaying of 6 Tamil civilians Tuesday night in Vavuniya. Tension prevails in Mathavadikulam and Moonrumurippu.
Full story >>

Abducted PLOTE members found dead

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 December 2006, 15:48 GMT]
Bodies of two senior members of the Peoples Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) who were abducted on Wednesday night around 8 p.m.at Puttalam area by an unknown armed gang were recovered Friday morning along Kurunagala-Medagama road in Galgamuwa police division with gunshot injuries. Their hands were tied behind their back, sources said.
Full story >>

20 youths abducted in 2 days in Amparai

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 October 2006, 05:22 GMT]
More than 20 Tamil youths were reported abducted in Akkaraippattu and Thirukkovil area in Amparai district by unidentified armed gang traveling in white vans on Sunday and Monday, civil society sources said. Relatives of abducted filed four complaints, two in Akkaraippattu and two in Thirukkovil, sources added.
Full story >>

Terrorised Tamil traders flee to India - report

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 September 2006, 12:20 GMT]
Several Tamil traders and businessmen have fled Sri Lanka following a spate of killings and abductions, IANS reported Thursday quoting officials and refugees. Sinhalese gangs in Trincomalee are targeting prominent Tamils and many ordinary Tamils in the capital were gripped by a "fear psychosis" the agency reported, quoting activists as saying the recent violence has led to one of the most traumatic periods for the island's Tamil community.
Full story >>

Unidentified men shot and injured EPDP members in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 September 2006, 10:26 GMT]
Two members of a paramilitary group Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) were shot and injured at Kurumankadu area in Vavuniya by unidentified persons. The injured cadres were first admitted to the Vavuniya general hospital and later transferred to Anuradhapura hospital. The shooting had taken place close to the EPDP office in Kurumankadu, Vavuniya Police said.
Full story >>

Armed gang breaks into ten houses in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 September 2006, 13:02 GMT]
A twenty-member armed gang had forcibly entered ten houses in Kurumankadu area and robbed more than 300 sovereigns worth gold jewellery, several hundred thousand rupees cash and cellular phones during early hours on Saturday, according to complaints to Vavuniya Police by victims.


Full story >>

Sampoor threatens Trinco Harbour - Rajapakse

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 August 2006, 09:20 GMT]
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Monday told the representatives of the Co-Chairs of Tokyo Donors’ Conference for the Sri Lankan Peace Process, that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled Sampoor posed a threat to Trincomalee Harbour and justified the Sri Lankan armed forces offensive as "preventing" or "responding" to Tigers. However, informed sources in Colombo said the humanitarian crisis escalated by the Maavilaru offensive, initiated by Colombo and the targeting of civilians in air-strikes and the slaying of NGO workers in Muthur, were discussed at the meeting between the Sri Lankan President and the diplomats representing the Co-Chairs.
Full story >>

Three men hacked to death in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 July 2006, 16:11 GMT]
Three men were hacked to death by a gang armed with knives and macheties near Sithivinayagar tempel in Ariyalai, a suburb of Jaffna town, around 3 p.m., Sunday, police said.
Full story >>

Sinhala village attacked in Morawewa, 5 killed, 6 reported missing

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 April 2006, 16:43 GMT]
Five persons were killed, four injured and six others were reported missing, all Sinhalese, when a group of gangsters attacked a suburb Kallampathai in Gomarankadawela village in Morawewa police division along Trincomalee-Anuradhapura main road, 33 km northwest of Trincomalee town Sunday evening.
Full story >>

Armed robberies rise in Eravur

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 April 2006, 13:49 GMT]
Two armed robberies by masked men in Vantharumoolai and motocycle and bicycle thefts in Rameshpuram, Thalavai and Armugathankudiyiruppu in the Eravur police division in Batticaloa have been reported to Eravur police Saturday.
Full story >>

Pre-planned element behind Trinco violence - fact finding report

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 April 2006, 12:52 GMT]
The 15-minutes speed, with which the violence in Trincomalee town was triggered on 12th April, after a bomb explosion that killed five persons, indicate that there was an "element of pre-planning," said a report issued by Colombo based civil society representatives Friday. The report said over 20 civilians were killed, over 30 shops and 100 homes destroyed and more than 3000 persons are displaced seeking refuge in schools and places of worship in Trincomalee.
Full story >>

Death toll in Trinco violence rises to 19, fifteen identified

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 April 2006, 12:18 GMT]
15 of 19 civilians killed in Trincomalee violence on Wednesday were identified Thursday. 7 victims were Sinhalese civilians, 6 were Tamils and 2 Muslims. The bodies of another three Tamil persons, burnt alive inside a three-wheeler in Linganagar, were not in identifiable state, medical sources said. Another dead body is yet to be identified.
Full story >>