Gunmen abduct Red Cross driver

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 April 1999, 11:38 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen abducted Naakamani Deivendranathan, 36, a driver with the Vavuniya branch of the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRC), last night around 11 p.m. said Police sources in the northern border town.
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Missing fisherman found in Mullaithivu

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 April 1999, 09:06 GMT]
Six Muslim fishermen of Valaichenai who were reported missing since March 23 have been located in Mullaithivu their relatives said today. The two boats in which they had set out had been pulled by powerful deep sea current towards the Mullaithivu coast.
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News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 April 1999, 16:46 GMT]
Van that had been carrying TELO members set alight by armed men and cordon and search operation conducted this morning in Vadamaradchi East.
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New SLA promotions

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 April 1999, 17:01 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) promoted five of its senior officers this week. The Vanni Security Forces Commander Major General Lionel Balagalle will be appointed the chief of staff of the army this week said Sri Lankan government sources today.
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Murunkan ambush toll rises

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 April 1999, 05:58 GMT]
Five Sri Lankan Policemen were killed and six reported missing after an LTTE attack near Murunkan in the Mannar district at around 12.30 a.m. this morning. The LTTE attacked a bunker on the Mannar-Vavuniya road at Kattaiadampan, manned by military trained Police constables.
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PLOTE condemns NATO attack

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 March 1999, 09:43 GMT]
Hundreds of protestors marched under the PLOTE banner this afternoon in Vavuniya shouting slogans and bearing placards condemning the NATO attack on Yugaslavia.
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Bus stolen to transport UAV?

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 March 1999, 20:49 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers took a bus from the Sri Lankan Army controlled village of Kunchikulam late last night close to the area where the UAV fell yesterday said sources in Vavuniya today.
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Police search PLOTE, TELO camps

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 March 1999, 16:50 GMT]
The offices and camps of the PLOTE and the TELO were searched by the Sri Lankan Police yesterday and this morning. Police sources in Vavuniya said that the search was conducted following complaints by international human rights organisations that the paramilitary groups had arrested, detained and tortured civilians.
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Tiger ambush kills seven

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 March 1999, 10:37 GMT]
Seven Sri Lankan Army (SLA) soldiers were killed last night around 7.15 p.m. in an attack by the Liberation Tigers in Weli Oya. Army sources in Vavuniya said that the tractor in which they were travelling was hit by a claymore mine.
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Technical problems caused UAV landing

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 March 1999, 16:21 GMT]
The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) that was reported missing was forced to land due to a tehnical failure at Pampaimadhu around 3 p.m. today said Sri Lankan Army (SLA) spokesman Brig. Thennekoon in a statement issued this evening.
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Land mine attack kills four

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 March 1999, 07:00 GMT]
Four Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) personnel were killed yesterday around 2.50 p.m. when the tractor in which they were travelling was hit by a claymore mine activated by the Liberation Tigers near the Moondumurippu junction, northwest of Vavuniya said SLA headquarters sources in Colombo today.
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Tamil parties to protest Trinco colonisation

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 March 1999, 18:10 GMT]
The TULF, PLOTE, EPDP, TELO and the EPRLF resolved this evening in Colombo to ask the Sri Lankan government to stop colonisation of Sinhalese in Trincomalee and to evict the Sinhala settlers.
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No elections in North or East

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 March 1999, 20:45 GMT]
The Sri Lankan President announced today that elections to local government bodies in the Eastern province and the Vavuniya district which are to be dissolved on April 3 will not be held until "conditions improve" in these areas.
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30,000 newly displaced in Mannar

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 March 1999, 12:38 GMT]
More than than thirty thousand people have been displaced in the western sector of mainland Mannar due to shelling and the recent army operation to take Madhu said sources in the area today.
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Refugees arrive in hope of food

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 March 1999, 01:26 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) took journalists on a conducted tour of its newly captured areas in Madhu yesterday. Rev.Devasagayam of the Madhu church told journalists that civilians were moving into the SLA controlled area, drawn by reports of food handouts.
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Operation Rana Gosa II takes Madhu

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 March 1999, 03:33 GMT]
The population in the general area of Madhu taken by Sri Lankan Army (SLA) yesterday remained in their villages and refugees camps during 'Rana Gosa II' said sources in Vavuniya today. The army is currently camped in the Madhu school.
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SLA says captures Madhu

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 March 1999, 12:59 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) said that it had captured Madhu this evening. Government troops also brought under their control Thadchanamaruthamadu, four kilometers north of Madhu, where thousands of refugees are camped under the supervision of international aid agencies.
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SLA takes new ground

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 March 1999, 11:51 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) said that it has brought a section of Aandaankulam, six kilometers north of Uyilankulam junction under its control by 4 p.m. this afternoon. The Uyilankulam junction is on the Mannar-Vavuniya highway and is currently the entry point for civilians to the LTTE controlled parts of the Vanni.
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Seven killed in Tiger ambush

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 March 1999, 11:18 GMT]
Seven Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and 15 wounded when the Liberation Tigers attacked an Army tractor with rocket propelled grenades (RPG) after activating a claymore mine at Madukulam on the 2nd mile post along Poovarasankulam-Iranai Iluppaikulam road around 5.30 p.m. yesterday, sources said.
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TELO activist's brother shot dead

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 March 1999, 12:16 GMT]
The brother of an area organiser for the paramilitary group TELO was shot dead last night in Vavuniya, said the Police. Saravanamuththu Rasanayakam, 33, (Rajadurai), was a timber trader living in Pattakaadu. His body, eyes tied with a black piece of cloth, was found near the Pattakaadu nursery school, close to the place where a female PLOTE activist was shot dead a few days ago.
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