SLA, LTTE clash in Naakarkoayil FDL areas

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 May 2008, 15:19 GMT]
Heavy clashes between Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Naakarkoayil Northern Front Defence Lines erupted Monday early morning and lasted till evening. Both sides launched artillery shells, Multi-barrel rocket launcher and mortar fire engaging in heavy duel. A Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) helicopter was seen flying between Naakarkoayil FDL area and Palaali SLA Military Base many times and roads from the battle front to Palaali remained blocked by SLA for a long time for public use while vehicles kept transporting injured and killed troops.
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8 SLA killed, 20 wounded in Mukamaalai FDL clash - LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 May 2008, 08:54 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) on Monday said they defeated a fresh attempt by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to break into the LTTE Forward Defence Line, killing 8 SLA soldiers and recovering a dead body of one SLA soldier in Mukamaalai Monday around 10:00 a.m. The LTTE has seized a Light Machine Gun from the SLA in the confrontation where more than 20 SLA soldiers were wounded, the Tigers said.
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Tigers attack SLN point in Mannaar city

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 May 2008, 03:33 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) mounted a raid on a coastal point of the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) in Koanthaippiddi in Mannaar city in the early hours of Monday around 2:00 a.m. and seized arms and ammunitions from the point, killing three SLN personnel, according to LTTE's Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthiarayan. The LTTE unit which engaged in the attack has recovered the body of a slain SLN trooper, he said. Meanwhile, the Tigers also launched an artillery attack on the installations of the Sri Lanka Army and Navy in Mannaar.
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Ethnic divide reflected in Sri Lanka media coverage

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 May 2008, 17:56 GMT]
The polarization between Sri Lanka’s ethnic communities is also reflected in coverage of the island’s protracted conflict and has rendered ‘the truth’ an inevitable casualty of war, several speakers argued last week at the annual conference in London of the International Association of Tamil Journalists (IATAJ). The day-long event at the University of Westminster was attended by one hundred invited participants and was addressed by journalists, academics and media activists, including Mr. Nadesapillai Vithyatharan, editor of the Uthayan newspaper, Mr Chandana Bandara, senior producer with the BBC’s Sinhala service and Mr. Bhagwan Singh of the Deccan Chronicle.
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2,000 Sri Lankan soldiers killed last year – Fonseka

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 May 2008, 01:46 GMT]
Over two thousand Sri Lankan Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and four thousand wounded in the battles of 2007, the commander of the SLA, Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka told a conference at Army Headquarters last week, the Sunday Times reported. He claimed over five thousand Tamil Tigers were also killed last year. Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan government has forbidden military officials from giving interviews and launched a hunt for those leaking details to the media. The government has instructed ambulances transporting wounded soldiers from Ratmalana airport to hospitals in Colombo not to use their sirens, the paper said.
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Northern Front impregnable, say NTT panelists

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 May 2008, 10:49 GMT]
Colombo was forced into staging Mukamaalai offensive to ensure safety to troops in Jaffna which had fallen within the range of artillery, panelists said during a Political Analysis segment of National Television of Tamileelam (NTT), participated by LTTE military spokesperson, Irasiah Ilanthiraiyan, and Chief-Editor of Viduthalaip Pulika'l, LTTE's official organ, S. Ravi, in the programme moderated by K. Veera, this week. Panelists added that Colombo's assertion that LTTE is moving troops between different Northern fronts is a figment of their imagination, and refuted the claim that the Sri Lanka Air Force has caused detrimental impact to LTTE's war machinery.
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Amnesty: Rights abuses flourish in secrecy, denial in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 May 2008, 02:57 GMT]
Noting that in conflict situations "without reports, pictures and film of the fighting and the violence, no-one knows enough to put the pressure on the participants to ensure human rights are respected," Amnesty International, in a media release issued Friday, said the need for such environment is "strong in Sri Lanka, where fatalities on all sides are believed to be very high with large numbers of civilians caught in the crossfire."
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Two SLA soldiers killed in Ampaa'rai - LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 May 2008, 18:18 GMT]
Liberation Tigers officials in Ampaa'rai told media Thursday that two Sri Lanka Army soldiers, including a Sergeant, were killed in a booby trap explosion in Kagnchikudichcha-aa'ru in Ampaa'rai Wednesday around 8:00 p.m. and two soldiers sustained serious injuries when they approached an LTTE position in the jungle.
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US Country Report accuses GoSL, LTTE of terrorist activities

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 May 2008, 11:17 GMT]
Noting that in South and Central Asia, "[t]errorism remained a serious problem in the region, directly and indirectly threatening American interests and lives," the Country Reports on Terrorism 2007, released by the US Department of State Wednesday, blamed the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers for terrorist activities saying, "[t]he LTTE reverted to targeting civilians in bus bombings and claymore mine attacks, while the government used anti-LTTE paramilitaries to terrorize citizens suspected of having ties to the Tigers."
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Medical student of Jaffna University shot dead

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 April 2008, 05:35 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen shot and killed a former medical student of Jaffna University from Pottpathi Veethi, Kokkuvil, in Jaffna at his house on Tuesday around 7:00 p.m, sources in Jaffna said. The victim is alleged to have been working for the Intelligence Unit of Sri Lanka Army (SLA), and said to have collaborated in the killings, and abductions in Jaffna peninsula, the sources added.
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British police arrests 3 persons for alleged 'support and fundraising' to LTTE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 April 2008, 11:38 GMT]
Three men were arrested at separate addresses in Wales, south east England and Greater London Tuesday morning when British police officers from the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command, supported by members of the Welsh police service, carried out searches under the Terrorism Act 2000 at a number of residential and business addresses, according to a press release issued by the British High Commission in Colombo on Tuesday.
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SLA killed, 4 soldiers lose legs in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 April 2008, 16:54 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) defensive units confronted the Sri Lanka Army in Paalamoaddai and Naavatku'lam in Vavuniyaa district on Sunday. At Paalamoaddai one SLA soldier was killed at 12:30 p.m. when the SLA attempted to advance, the Tigers said. Three SLA soldiers were wounded, two of them lost their legs. At Naavatku'lam Tigers seized a T-56 assault rifle, the Tigers said.
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Re-negotiate Kachchatheevu: CPI urges Indian Government

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 April 2008, 09:41 GMT]
Communist Party of India (CPI) National Secretary D Raja urged the Indian Government to intervene in Sri Lanka's prolonged ethnic strife in view of the escalation of human rights abuses in the island nation. "Finding a solution to the ethnic crisis alone can bring about a solution to the problems of Tamil Nadu fishermen," he said. Recalling that the state Government of Tamil Nadu had protested when India ceded Kadchaththeevu to Sri Lanka in 1974, he urged upon the Indian Government to renegotiate the Kadchaththeevu Accord and facilitate Tamil Nadu fisherment to catch fish without any hindrance whatsoever.
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Mannaar Bishop demands open declaration of Madu as Peace Zone

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 April 2008, 09:09 GMT]
Bishop of Mannaar, Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph, on Saturday told media that the warring parties should openly declare the Madu Shrine and its environs as Peace Zone in order to bring back Our Lady of Madu statue to the Holy Shrine. Meanwhile Sri Lankan Defence ministry in its official news on Sunday quoted Sri Lanka Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka as saying: "those who were in charge of the statue have the responsibility of bringing it back". The SL defence ministry added that Madu "would be declared as a security zone," without specifying what it meant with the term, 'security zone.' Vicar General Rev. A. Victor Soosai on Saturday visited the Shrine for an inspection.
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Abandoned parcel causes panic in Fort station

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 April 2008, 01:28 GMT]
A fake parcel found abandoned at the Fort railway station Saturday morning caused panic among the passengers and employees. All were asked to vacate the area. All incoming trains were directed to stop away from the station till clearance was given by security forces.
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Tigers launch air attack in Ma'nalaa'ru - SLA

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 April 2008, 21:46 GMT]
Sri Lankan military officials in Colombo said Sunday that Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) had launched air attack on Sri Lanka Army (SLA) positions in Ma'nalaa'ru (Weli Oya) in the early hours of Sunday around 1:45. This is the second time, after the Black Tiger raid on Anuradhapura airbase in October 2007, the Tigers have deployed their air wing combined with the their ground forces.
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Rae assails Canada's indifference to unfolding tragedy in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 April 2008, 20:29 GMT]
Pointing out the "continuing fighting and terrible loss of life in Sri Lanka," Mr Rae, former Ontario Premier and an advisor to an earlier round of peace talks, said in a media release issued in Canada's Liberal party website that “[t]he world can't just sit back and let this death and destruction happen. This is a humanitarian disaster and must be met with a concerted response,” and that “Canada should put conflict prevention at the top of its foreign policy agenda. We can't be indifferent to this tragedy.”
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Batticaloa Assistant commissioner of local government arrested

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 April 2008, 12:27 GMT]
Officials from Terrorism Prevention Unit (TPI) of Criminial Investigations department (CID) arrested V.Sathyananthy, the Assistant Commissioner of local government for Batticaloa district, Friday morning, sources in Batticaloa said.
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SLA launches offensive in Ma'nalaa'ru

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 April 2008, 07:32 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) defensive units were confronting Sri Lanka Army (SLA) units that have launched a large-scale offensive push in Ma'nalaa'ru (Weli Oya) Saturday morning around 6:00, according to LTTE Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan.
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SLA enters Madu shrine

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 April 2008, 11:55 GMT]
Government of Sri Lanka on Friday officially admitted that the Sri Lanka Army had entered the Madu Shrine. Analysts in Colombo observed that the move, which comes in the wake of the SLA debacle in the Northern Front, was timed to divert increasing focus on recent SLA casualties prior to the provincial elections in the east. Meanwhile, Informed sources in Vanni told TamilNet that the SLA had been stationed 1.5 km away from the Shrine for weeks and it could have entered the Shrine at any time as LTTE defensive units were strictly kept away from the peace zone.
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