SLAF bombs Puthukkudiyiruppu in Vanni

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 October 2007, 21:30 GMT]
Five Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir bombers dropped more than twenty four bombs in two sorties Friday morning, targeting civilian settlements in Vea'naavil and surrounding areas, sources in Vanni said.
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Resettlement of Batticaloa IDPs begins

[TamilNet, Friday, 19 October 2007, 11:23 GMT]
The first stage of resettlement process of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in areas close to Chengkaladi-Badulla main road A5 Highway, Batticaloa district was initiated Thursday morning 10:00a.m.
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Artillery shelling shuts down A9 entry point

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 October 2007, 18:41 GMT]
The entry, exit point between Sri Lanka Army controlled areas and Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) controlled Vanni, has been closed Thursday as the parties exchanged artillery fire, sources in Vavuniyaa said. All traffic through the gateway including ambulances carrying patients in critical condition was blocked as shells exploded close to the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) office in the no-man's land, sources in Vanni said.
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Two children, grandfather killed, SL Navy attacks refugee-boat in the seas off Mannaar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 October 2007, 06:03 GMT]
Two children and their grandfather were killed and the remaining two children with their mother were seriously wounded when Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) gunboats opened fire on them, Thursday early morning at 4:30. The fate of the refugee-family from Ira'naimaatha Nakar in Naachchikkudaa, located 40 km northeast of Mannaar, ended in tragedy in the seas off Peasaalai. Whereabouts of the father, Jim Maximus, is not known, although some reports said he has been handed over to the Police in Thalaimannar.
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SLA mini-camp in Yala overrun - LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 15 October 2007, 14:33 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) have overrun a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp near Yala sanctuary in southern Sri Lanka Monday evening, LTTE field officials in Ampaa'rai told TamilNet. 6 SLA troopers were killed, and many wounded in the raid which took place 40 km south of Poththuvil, the Tigers said, claiming that the camp was under their control for 3 hours during which time they seized arms and ammunitions from the camp. The Yala sanctuary, one of the island's main tourist attractions, lies on the southern end of the Ampaa'rai district.
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LTTE hands over 3 SLA bodies to ICRC

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 October 2007, 21:56 GMT]
LTTE's NGO and U.N. Liaison Officer M. Pavarasan handed over 3 bodies of Sri Lanka Army (SLA ) troopers killed during Saturday clashes in Paasaiyoor-Kurunakar seas to Ms.Katja Lawrence, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) representative in Kilinochchi, Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m.
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UN alarmed by weakness of law, prevalence of impunity in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 October 2007, 08:38 GMT]
Weakness of the rule of law and prevalence of impunity is alarming in Sri Lanka where critical elements for the protection of Human Rights have been undermined or compromised despite the existence of much of the necessary human rights institutional infrastructure, said the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, concluding her five-day mission to Sri Lanka on Saturday. The large number of reported killings, abductions and disappearances, is particularly worrying in a country that had a long, traumatic experience of unresolved disappearances and no shortage of recommendations from past Commissions of Inquiry on how to safeguard against such violations, she said.
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Sea Tigers sink SLA vessel, recover 3 bodies

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 October 2007, 08:04 GMT]
Five Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and three dead bodies of the SLA soldiers were recovered by the Sea Tigers who sunk a SLA Inshore Patrol Vessel (IPV) in the seas off Paasaiyoor in Jaffna Saturday around 10:45 a.m. in a retaliation against an attack by three SLA vessels that entered the LTTE territorial waters, the Tigers said. Sea Tigers have seized weapons from the sinking vessel. Arrangements were underway to hand over the three dead bodies to the ICRC.
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SLA hands over 4 dead bodies to Mannaar hospital

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 October 2007, 16:30 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Friday evening handed over four dead bodies recovered from Maanthai village near Thirukkeatheesvaram, a border area between the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) controlled area and the SLA controlled area in Mannaar. The SLA claimed that the dead were LTTE cadres. However, the victims could be innocent civilians, according to local residents. Two SLA soldiers were killed when a clash erupted in the border area Friday around 4:30 p.m., according to the SLA.
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Strategy behind rights violations said not exposed

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 October 2007, 06:55 GMT]
The gross statistics on death and disappearances in Jaffna is known to everyone, and they paint a picture of military rule, but "the real reason behind the violations, the Sri Lankan military machine conducting the death theatre, and the depth of fear instilled into the civilians in Jaffna to witness against the perpetrators, are not exposed to the world," said Liberation Tigers Human Rights Spokesperson N. Selvy as hundreds of crying family members of the victims were blocked in Jaffna by the Sri Lanka Army from seeing the visiting High Commissioner Louise Arbour, on Friday. The SLA blocked journalists from entering the UNHCR office, GA's office, UN office and the Bishop's House.
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"Separation inevitable if power continues to polarize with ethnic hegemony" - Mano Ganesan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 October 2007, 13:07 GMT]
Mano Ganesan MP, the leader of the Western Province People's Front (WPPF) and the convener of the Civil Monitoring Committee (CMC), engaged in monitoring abductions, addressing the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, at the UN office in Colombo, on Thursday, said that the Tamils would be forced to seek separation as the only alternative if the Sri Lankan government failed to satisfy the "Sri Lankan dream," which he described as a dreamland with political power sharing between all the ethnic communities, where there are no places for war, abductions, extra judicial killings and where there is no room for polarization of political power with ethnic hegemony.
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Tigers urge UN Human Rights Commissioner to visit Vanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 October 2007, 22:57 GMT]
Welcoming the "timely mission" by United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights, Louise Arbour, to investigate human rights violations in Sri Lanka, Liberation Tigers Human Rights spokesperson N. Selvy, Tuesday said the Tamils were expecting the UN High Commissioner to visit the LTTE administered Vanni to get an absolute assessment of the Human Rights violations perpetrated by the Sri Lankan military and its paramilitaries in the Tamil homeland. Tamils, as a people, were disappointed as "the main violator, the Sri Lankan government itself," was exercising control over the itinerary of the visiting High Commissioner, Ms. Selvy said.
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6 STF commandos killed, 10 injured in Ampaa'rai - LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 October 2007, 16:53 GMT]
Six Special Task Force (STF) elite commandos were killed and 10 others were injured in two separate attacks by the Liberation Tigers in the south-eastern Ampaa'rai district, Monday evening, LTTE's political head for the region, Kaviyarasan told TamilNet.
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Jaffna fishermen suspicious of SLN's easing of restrictions

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 October 2007, 03:48 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN), while stepping up naval operations, has suddenly relaxed its restrictions imposed on Jaffna fishermen by extending the distance to 3 km and the number of fishermen allowed to fish in these areas has been raised from 600 to 700. The fishermen are suspicious that this action has been taken with the hidden aim to exploit them as pawns in an attempt to launch camouflage offensives on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held areas across Jaffna lagoon, causing fear among the fishermen, Jaffna Fishermen Society representatives said.
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SLA intelligence officer, soldier shot in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 October 2007, 17:10 GMT]
An unknown armed person shot and wounded a Sri Lanka Army intelligence officer and a soldier at Maligawatte in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo Friday around 2:40 p.m., police said. The two military personnel in plain-cloth were riding in a three-wheeler along Jumma Masjeed road.
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2 SLA intelligence operatives shot in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 October 2007, 15:17 GMT]
Unidentified men shot two intelligence operatives of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) at Maligawatte, a suburb in the Colombo city Friday evening around 3.30 p.m. They were immediately admitted to the Colombo national hospital with gunshot wounds. One of them is reported be in a critical condition, media sources in Colombo reported.
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SLA blocks SLMM officials at Oamanthai border

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 October 2007, 06:58 GMT]
Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Northern Region officials scheduled to meet Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) officials in Ki'linochchi Thursday noon were blocked from crossing the Oamanthai entry point by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) due to new instructions from Colombo, General Secretary of Liberation Tigers Peace Secretariat, S. Puleedevan, told TamilNet. By refusing entry to the SLMM, Colombo was trying to block the information flow between the SLMM and the LTTE, he charged. Meanwhile, SLMM sources said the monitors had returned after being informed of new routines that involved going through a body check, inspection of vehicles and early enlistment of travelers.
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Allaippiddi massacre witnesses fear travel to Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 October 2007, 14:55 GMT]
Witnesses to identify Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) personnel alleged to have massacred 13 civilians at Allaipiddy last year did not appear at Kayts Court Tuesday for fear of their lives, Attorney-at-law, S. Remedias, appearing on their behalf, informed Additional Magistrate R. T. Vignarajah at the inquiry into Allaipiddy massacre case. The witnesses, presently living in Ki'linochchi in Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) controlled area, fear to travel through Vavuniyaa and then sail from Trincomalee to Jaffna as they are afforded security only in Jaffna peninsula, the lawyer told the courts.
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IFJ condemns SL defence ministry attack on Journalist Athas

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 October 2007, 14:42 GMT]
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), on Wednesday said it was concerned for the safety of Iqbal Athas, associate editor and defense correspondent for the Sunday Times in Colombo. Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence, in a web-posting, on Tuesday alleged that the recent work of Mr. Iqbal Athas, "raised doubts whether he has been assisting in the psy-ops of Liberation Tigers" and warned: "whoever attempts to reduce public support to the security forces or attempts to damage the loyalty of the soldiers towards their commanders at this moment can only be considered as those who serve the cause of the terrorists."
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WFP welcomes food shipment to Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 October 2007, 14:32 GMT]
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed the shipment of 3,500 tons of food for Jaffna that will be distributed to the families among the most vulnerable populations in the isolated peninsula. "I am very pleased with these recent positive developments but I am concerned about our resourcing situations as we will be running out of food in November" said Jean-Yves Lequime, Acting Country Director of the World Food Programme in Colombo, adding "this is the moment to mobilize food for the vulnerable people."
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