STF shoots dead Tamil man in Ampaa'rai

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 April 2008, 09:49 GMT]
Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) commandos Thursday night opened fire and killed a 37-year-old Tamil man at Naavithanve'li in Ampaa'rai district, Police said. Alleging that the slain man was a LTTE member, the STF has claimed to have seized a 9 mm pistol from the victim. Another person had escaped from the site with injuries, Police said adding that it was an ambush by the STF.
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Colombo bars journalists access to wounded soldiers

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 April 2008, 07:04 GMT]
Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) officials have barred photographers from entering hospitals in Colombo where Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers injured in battle are being treated according to complaints received from four journalists, said Colombo based media watchdog Free Media Movement on Friday. Stating that only some foreign wire services and few news websites operating from Colombo reported the battle front casualties independent of government press releases, the FMM said the right of the public to know information and news related to the on going war is severely undermined by the restrictions placed on journalists.
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Tigers seize more arms, ammunition in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 April 2008, 03:12 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Operations Command in Mannaar told media Friday that the Tigers who confronted the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) that launched an offensive push Thursday morning in Mannaar seized further arms and ammunitions in addition to five T-56 assault rifles reported on Thursday.
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Army bars Gen. Janaka Perera for criticizing war

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 April 2008, 18:56 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government this week ordered the Army to bar a celebrated former general from henceforth setting foot into its camps. The move comes after Maj. Gen. Janaka Perera criticized the Rajapaksa government’s conduct of the war against the Tamil Tigers. Saying that the government’s self-imposed deadlines “were not realistic”, Gen. Perera last month questioned the wisdom of waging protracted war against the LTTE and warned that battle fatigue would set in and sap the military’s will to fight.
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SLA toll mounts, 'feint' said to have drawn troops into ambush

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 April 2008, 18:51 GMT]
Even before the Tamil Tigers handed back the bodies of 28 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers left behind by their retreating comrades following Wednesday’s pitched battle in the Jaffna peninsula, the bodies of 143 other soldiers had been brought to three funeral parlours in Colombo, a pro-opposition website reported. Meanwhile, CNN quoted 'highly placed' army sources as saying the SLA had been drawn into an ambush when it launched an offensive against LTTE positions Wednesday.
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Tigers hand over 28 SLA bodies to ICRC

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 April 2008, 10:52 GMT]
LTTE's NGO and U.N. Liaison Officer M. Pavarasan Thursday afternoon at 12:45 p.m. handed over 28 dead bodies of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers located by the Tigers in the Northern Front on Wednesday to ICRC representative Franche Roy at Ki'linochchi Central Playground. Tigers said there were still body parts and decomposed bodies lying in the no-man zone and provided identification details of 6 SLA soldiers in addition to the details of 14 SLA soldiers identification details provided on Wednesday.
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Sri Lanka police hands over 6 dead bodies to Jaffna Hospital

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 April 2008, 10:06 GMT]
Police in Kodikaamam on Thursday handed over six dead bodies, of three males and three females, claiming that the bodies were of Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) combatants, recovered by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) at Mukamaalai in the Northern Front, on Wednesday.
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20 SLA killed, weapons seized in Mannaar fighting - LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 April 2008, 09:40 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan Thursday said that the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) abandoned a fresh attempt to advance in Mannaar from Cheaththukku'lam east of Thirukkeatheeswaram towards Veaddaiyaamu'rippuk-u'lam after heavy resistance from the Tigers. The offensive push was launched by the SLA around 5:45 a.m. with the support of Main Battle Tanks and artillery fire. Upto 20 SLA soldiers were killed, more than 30 SLA wounded in the confrontation. One LTTE fighter was killed in action, according to Mr. Ilanthirayan.
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Tigers release details of arms, ammunition seized in Northern Front

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 April 2008, 18:15 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan on Wednesday evening told TamilNet that Tige forces under the leadership of Commander Theepan confronted the SLA units for ten-and-a-half hours, from 02:30 a.m. till 12:40 p.m. along a 7 km wide defence line in the large scale operation launched by the Sri Lanka Army. 30 SLA bodies were recovered by the Tigers. Arrangements were being made to hand over the mortal remains of the SLA soldiers killed in action to their parents. 60 guns including tank mounted PKT machine guns, Rocket Propelled Grenade Launchers and forty-five assault rifles were seized by the Tigers.
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150 SLA killed, Tigers locate 30 SLA bodies in Northern Front

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 April 2008, 11:56 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) officials in Ki'linochchi said the Tigers have located more than 30 dead bodies of the SLA soldiers in the clearing mission so far in the Northern Front after a major operation by the SLA was thwarted by them. 28 dead bodies were brought to Ki'linochchi. Meanwhile, a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) source, which didn't wish to be named, verified that 104 dead bodies were initially recovered by the army and more than 400 were wounded. The source further said at least 150 soldiers were killed in action. In the meantime, a Colombo bound passenger said he had seen 12 bus loads of dead and wounded soldiers being rushed to the runway in Palaali military complex.
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LTTE thwarts offensive in Northern Front

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 April 2008, 07:46 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) units that attempted to break the Forward Defence Line of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) in Ki'laali, Mukamaalai and on several other positions were forced to retreat, leaving behind dead bodies of their troopers, according to LTTE's Northern Forces Operations Command. Heavy fighting lasted till 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The SLA has suffered heavy casualties as the Tigers put up stiff resistance.
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Heavy fighting erupts in Northern Front

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 23:17 GMT]
Heavy fighting was reported between the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) along the Forward Defence Line of the Northern Front, in the early hours of Wednesday. LTTE defensive formations were confronting the SLA units that have mounted offensive attacks simulatenously at several locations around 3:30 a.m., according to the initial reports from LTTE's Northern Forces Operations Command. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Army sources in Jaffna confirmed that the SLA had launched an offensive in the Northern Front.
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SLA Tank destroyed in Mukamaalai - LTTE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 04:13 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army Tank was destroyed at Mukamaalai Forward Defence Line (FDL) Tuesday around 7:30 a.m. when Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) anti-tank unit confronted the SLA soldiers who attempted to break the Tiger FDL, according to LTTE's Northern Front Operations Command. Meanwhile, an SLA artillery and mortar launchpad caught fire as the Tigers targeted the installation, the Tigers said.
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Confrontations stepped up in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 April 2008, 18:49 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Operations Command in Mannaar told media in Ki'linochchi that the LTTE defensive formations confronted two offensive thrusts by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Mannaar on two fronts Monday morning and that the LTTE mounted an attack on SLA stationed in Koayilmoaddai. 7 SLA soldiers were killed and 21 wounded in the first confrontation at Kaaththaangku'lam between 5:30 and 10:00 a.m. and another confrontation lasted for 2 hours when SLA launched an offensive push from Thirukkeatheesvaram towards Paappaamoaddai.
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NPC condemns Rev Fr Karunaratnam assassination

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 April 2008, 12:08 GMT]
The assassination of Rev. Father M X Karunaratnam, Chairman of the North East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESoHR), who succumbed to injuries sustained in a remote controlled claymore mine attack that had targeted him within the LTTE controlled territory where he lived and worked is a shocking and callous act. Fr Karunaratnam died in close proximity to his residential prayer and counseling centre which was a haven to those who suffered the travails of the ongoing war. As head of NESoHR which was set up in July 2004, as part of the 2002 Peace Process, Fr Karunaratnam worked tirelessly to strengthen the human rights protection mechanisms in the North East of Sri Lanka, the NPC said.
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Silence is eloquence: last remarks of Rev Fr Karunaratnam

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 April 2008, 11:32 GMT]
Barely two weeks before he was killed in a Claymore attack, allegedly carried out by a Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) of the Sri Lanka Army, Rev M X Karunaratnam was interviewed by the National Television of Tamileelam (NTT). While answering questions on the Madu Shrine controversy, he said, the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) was entirely responsible for politicizing the issue of the Shrine as it had attempted to achieve a militarily favourable situation by choosing to launch its offensive drive through Madu, a greatly revered Catholic holy pilgrim center. The Reverend Father also explained the silence of Vatican and the Sinhala bishops.
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Condemn Colombo for targeting Human Rights defenders: LTTE urges IC

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 April 2008, 06:51 GMT]
"The Sri Lankan State has targeted a human rights defender who worked for the welfare of the people," Political Division of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE), charged in a statement issued on Monday, and urged the international human rights bodies and the international community to condemn the continued gross human rights violations of the Sri Lankan state, and take actions without further delay to bring an end to the continuing human rights violations by the State.
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Court places 12 Tamil Nadu fishermen, 6 civilians in remand

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 April 2008, 16:59 GMT]
Kayts Court Magistrate, Joy Mahatheva, directed Kayts police Thursday to continue to detain the 12 Tamil Nadu fishermen arrested in Kachchaitheevu seas and the 6 civilians arrested in Neduntheevu seas on their way to Tamil Nadu as refugees, in Jaffna Prison, atleast until the law enforcement authorities receive instructions from Attorney General’s office in Colombo, legal sources in Kayts said.
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Tamil woman arrested at politico's funeral in Ratnapura

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 April 2008, 05:15 GMT]
Ratnapura police Thursday arrested a Tamil woman attending a funeral event of a leading member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). Police said she was taken in for questioning on suspicion that she being a member of the LTTE, reports from Ratnapura said.
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LTTE, SLA exchange artillery fire in Thenmaraadchi

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 April 2008, 00:47 GMT]
A large number of artillery shells believed to have been launched by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Thursday morning towards the Forward Defence Lines (FDLs) in Thenmaraadchi fell in the vicinity of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) bases in Va'ra'ni, Mirusuvil Educated Women’s Scheme and Usan.
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