Thanthai Chelva's 109th anniversary commemorated

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 March 2007, 16:04 GMT]
Mr. S.J.V.Chelva- nayakam, founder of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK) and fondly called by Tamils as "Thanthai" (father) was remembered on his 109th birthday as Jaffna Bishop of South Indian Diocese Rt Rev.Jebanesan, Thanthai Chelva Trustee, garlanded the statue of late leader Mr.Chelvanayakam located near the Duraiappah stadium in Jaffna within the High Security Zone (HSZ) at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, sources in Jaffna said.
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HC applications filed on behalf detained Tamil fishermen

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 March 2007, 11:03 GMT]
Habeas Corpus (HC) applications have been filed in Sri Lanka's Court of Appeal on behalf of five Tamil fishermen of eastern province arrested in Mannar Sea on 21 March 2006 by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) for allegedly straying into the high security zone (HSZ), legal sources said. The fishermen are currently being kept in detention under the Emergency Regulations (ER) without being charged in court of law since their arrest.
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Armed men rob elderly civilian inside Jaffna HSZ

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 March 2007, 01:53 GMT]
Two unidentified armed men riding a motorbike assaulted an elderly man, held a pistol to his head, and robbed Rs. 500,000 Friday morning on Stanley Road in Jaffna town, in an area within the High Security Zone of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), sources in Jaffna said.
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Civilian shot injured within SLA HSZ

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 March 2007, 01:46 GMT]
Two unidentified armed men on a motorbike followed a family man cycling along Palaly road at Punnalikaduvan area in Valigamam and shot him Friday morning. The seriously injured man was unattended on the roadside and was taken by local residents to Jaffna Teaching Hospital around 12:45 p.m. The incident occurred within the High Security Zone (HSZ) of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and close to Palaly SLA main base, sources in Jaffna said.
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Elderly couple shot dead in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 March 2007, 08:51 GMT]
Unidentified armed men shot dead an elderly couple Wednesday around 8:30 p.m at their house near Urumpirai Katpahapillayar temple, while their 9 year old grandson escaped miraculously. The victims' house is located just 300 meters from Palaly road in the High Security Zone (HSZ), always guarded by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers.


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Medical shop assistant shot dead in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 March 2007, 12:16 GMT]
A woman employee of a pharmacy located in front of Jaffna Teaching Hospital along Hospital road within the High Security Zone (HSZ) demarcated by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) was shot dead at 9:45 a.m. Thursday by two unknown gunmen who arrived in a motor cycle and pretended to buy medicine, sources in Jaffna said.
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SLA blocks Education officials from visiting FDL schools

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 March 2007, 12:24 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) command in Jaffna has blocked from Jaffna district Education Department officials from visiting schools inside the High Security Zones (HSZs) to attend to routine educational matters and to inspect progress in building construction, Valigamam Education officials said. Tellipallai Union College, inside Valigamam North HSZ, and Hartley College and Methodist Girls College, inside Point Pedro HSZ, are the worst affected schools with the new SLA restrictions, Education officials said.
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GA to submit resettlement report to High Court

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 March 2007, 00:11 GMT]
Jaffna Government Agent (GA), K. Ganesh, said he will be submitting a preliminary report prepared regarding the resettlement of displaced persons to residences in High Security Zones (HSZ) of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Valigamam north to the High Court soon, in a press meet convened at the Jaffna District Secretariat Tuesday.
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Female student's body found in Tellipallai well

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 March 2007, 13:15 GMT]
Body of a first year female undergraduate from Jaffna campus was discovered Saturday morning in a direlict well 500 meters outside the High Security Zone (HSZ) in Tellipalai, Valigamam North near Mahajana College, sources from Jaffna said. Mayura Murugaiah, 22, disappeared Friday morning after riding her bicycle from her home in Allaveddy towards Jaffna campus to attend lectures.
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SLA alleges discovery of arms at Kopay Training College

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 February 2007, 18:28 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) at Palaly announced Saturday that troopers conducting a sudden search in the premises of Kopay Training college on Friday found a T-56 type rifle concealed in the roof of the students hostel. Last week the troops claimed that telecommunication equipment and hand grenades were found in a room in a catholic church near the residence of Bishop of Jaffna. Civil society sources, however, suspect that the claims are without substance, and intended to silence the dissenting voices of the Catholic clergy and the Education officials in Jaffna.
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Teacher, 5 students injured in bomb explosion in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 February 2007, 16:33 GMT]
Five students including two girls, and a teacher were injured in a bomb explosion around 4:15 p.m Wednesday, in front of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) sentry post, which guards the Main Office of Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) in the old Srithar theatre, located in the High Security Zone (HSZ) in Jaffna town. SLA said that a hand grenade lobbed into the sentry, missed its mark, landed in front of the sentry and exploded. Eyewitnesses and the injured, however, said that no one had lobbed the hand grenade into the SLA sentry post.
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Education in peril

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 February 2007, 00:33 GMT]
More than 7% of school-aged children in Jaffna, amounting to 10201 students, dropped out of schools in 2006, most of the dropouts occurring following the fresh outbreak of violence from 11 August 2006, say education officials in Jaffna. The schools in the district that boasted highest literacy rates 3 decades ago, and produced nearly 40% of the medical and engineering freshmen, now are gripped with fear of student abductions, and with high school education crippled with lack of school supplies and scarcity of books.
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Jaffna journalists fearful amid threats, killings

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 February 2007, 02:27 GMT]
The campaign of intimidation backed up by deadly violence has compelled Sri Lankan journalists of all ethnicities to flee Sri Lanka. But unlike their southern colleagues, journalists in the Jaffna have no easy escape and media institutions in the northern peninsula are appealing for international support in the face of threats by Army-backed paramilitaries.
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Youth seeks safety at Jaffna Police station

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 January 2007, 16:47 GMT]
A youth from Kokuvil west in Jaffna surrendered at the Jaffna police station Monday fearing danger to his life by unknown armed men. The police produced the youth Monday before Jaffna district magistrate Mr. R. T. Wicknarajah who ordered the youth to be placed in Jaffna prison under the protective custody of the courts until February 9, legal sources in Jaffna said.
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Valikamam North displaced to be re-settled

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 January 2007, 20:45 GMT]
Consequeny to the recent ruling by the Supreme Court of Sri lanka, civilians displaced from their residences in High Security Zone (HSZ) in Valikamam North would be permitted to return their residences based on certain court- imposed conditions, K.Ganesh, the Government agent of Jaffna said on Friday.
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Four grenade attacks on SLA troopers in Vadamaradchi

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 January 2007, 01:04 GMT]
Four hand grenade attacks were targetted towards Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers at four different places in Vadamaradchi Monday, sources in Point Pedro said. No SLA soldiers were injured in the attacks. However, SLA sources said that in one of the attacks at Alayady are in Polikandy, a member of the Liberation Tigers was killed.
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One killed, three injured, three missing in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 January 2007, 22:48 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen shot dead a young woman around 7:00 a.m. Wednesday at Pt. Pedro, sources in Vadamaradchy said. In three other separate incidents in Jaffna three civilians were seriously injured in gunfire and knife attacks by unknown gunmen. Three youths were also reported missing in Kulappitty junction after being questioned by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers.
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Two civilians killed, one policeman shot, injured in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 12 December 2006, 13:04 GMT]
A 50 year old civilian, caught in the cross fire in a clash between unidentified armed men and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) road patrol unit at Kokuvil in Jaffna Monday night, was killed on the spot. Jaffna police recovered the body around 8:45 p.m and handed it over to Jaffna Teaching hospital. In a separate incident at Udupiddy in Vadamaradchi, two unidentified armed men shot dead an employee of the Jaffna Teaching hospital at his house Tuesday around 7:00 a.m, sources in Jaffna said.
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Sinhala nationalist movement demands ban on LTTE, abrogation of CFA

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 December 2006, 15:25 GMT]
The National Patriotic Movement (NPM), a broad coalition of extreme Sinhala Buddhist nationalists, held a protest meeting at Lipton Circle Monday at 3:00 p.m. demanding the Sri Lanka government to proscribe the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and to abrogate the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) entered into with the LTTE. Wimal Weerawanse, parliamentary group leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), a constituent of the NPM, warned that failure to meet the demands would result in a public agitation against the government, sources in Colombo said.


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13 Jaffna civilians abducted after reinstatement of PTA

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 December 2006, 12:07 GMT]
Thirteen civilians, including a former Halo Trust personnel, in Jaffna district were abducted Wednesday night after the Government of Sri Lanka reinstated the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) Wednesday. Nine civilians from Kalviyankadu, Kadaipirai, Dutch road areas in Valigamam east were abducted Wednesday night by armed men alleged to be Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police, residents in these areas said. The same night four civilians in Valigamam north were abducted by SLA, according to complaints made by the relatives of the abducted, at the Jaffna office of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (SLHRC).
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