Tamil youth killed in STF attack in Murunkan

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 January 2007, 16:55 GMT]
One cadre of Liberation Tigers was killed during retaliatory gunfire by the Special Task Force (STF) soldiers on a group of LTTE cadres who attacked the STF camp located in Murunkan area Saturday early morning, Murunkan Police said. The Police handed over the body of the unidentified Tamil youth, estimated to be 20-years old, to the Mannar base hospital Saturday afternoon.
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Gunfire ambush kills Sub-Inspector in Mannar, civilian killed in Police fire

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 January 2007, 06:29 GMT]
A 19-year-old Sinhala bus passenger was killed when Sri Lankan police opened fire after a group of attackers launched a gunfire-ambush killing a Sub-Inspector of Police at a police post, 27 km southeast of Mannar town, along the Mannar Madawachchi Road around 8:15 a.m. Friday. Two civilians, seated in the Mannar Colombo bus, were wounded.
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Gunmen fire on SLN sailors in Mannar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 January 2007, 13:20 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Navy sailor was injured when unidentified attackers, who were waiting in two boats, fired at the Sri Lanka Navy in Thalvupadu in Mannar district Thursday early morning. Police charged that the attackers were Sea Tigers. A SLN sailor was wounded and rushed to Mannar hospital.
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Court orders release of arrested refugees

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 January 2007, 10:19 GMT]
Twenty-four Sri Lankan Tamils refugees, including men, women and children, who were arrested by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) when they were returning from Tamilnadu were produced in Mannar magistrate's court Saturday morning. Additional Magistrate Mr.T.J.Pirapaharan ordered them to be released.
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Sri Lanka allocates oil exploration in Mannar

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 January 2007, 06:05 GMT]
Sri Lanka has given one of eight blocks to explore for oil in Mannar to India and another to China, reports said this week. Sri Lanka is planning to allocate the rest of the six blocks in three months. A Norway-based company was originally handling the exploration process, but the Sri Lankan government has bought the information off it and passed it to an Australian firm for interpretation instead, the reports said. Colombo has already sold two sets of the available data to India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and British Gas.
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Mannar civilian blindfolded and killed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 January 2007, 12:14 GMT]
A highly decomposed body of a young father of two children was located at Kallikaddaikadu, 13 km southeast of Mannar town, Tuesday evening. The victim, Anthonipillai Sagayanathan, a mason, has been missing since eyewitnesses saw him Friday when Sri Lanka Army soldiers had stopped and interrogated him.
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5 SLA troopers killed in Claymore attack in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 January 2007, 15:24 GMT]
Five Sri Lanka Army soldiers were killed and three wounded in a Claymore attack in on Mannar road around 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, Vavuniya Police said.
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Two brothers shot dead in Mannar

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 January 2007, 09:26 GMT]
The bodies of the two young men found with gun shot injuries at Nanattan-Eruvittan in Mannar district Friday afternoon have been identified as Rajasankar (23) and his brother Theivendran (21). Police recovered the bodies with their hands tied behind, around 3:30 p.m., Friday .
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Northeast, Anuradhapura Bishops meet Rajapakse

[TamilNet, Saturday, 13 January 2007, 03:21 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapksa met with Jaffna Bishop Rev.Thomas Saundranayagam, Mannar Bishop Rev.Rayappu Joseph, and Anuradhapura Bishop Rev.Norbert Andradi at Temple Trees Friday afternoon. The discussions centered on the hardships faced by civilians in the Northeast and steps that can be taken to alleviate the suffering, sources in Colombo said.
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NorthEast demerger, breach of International Treaty- Sampanthan

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 January 2007, 06:53 GMT]
“Not only the Tamil speaking people but also the International Community are unhappy with the de-merger of NorthEastern province. Though the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka told that former President J. R. Jayewardene’s step was defective and invalid, the Sri Lanka's President Mr. Rajapakse who wants to share no powers with Tamils, seized the opportunity quickly and declared the de-merger amidst the opposition from many of his own cabinet ministers and Members of parliament. Mr Rajapakse has not only betrayed the Tamil people, but also breached an international treaty, R. Sampanthan told in the Sri Lankan Parliament Wednesday.
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SLA soldiers shoot dead civilian in Mannar

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 09 January 2007, 06:43 GMT]
A young man who went to purchase panadol tablets for a sick child in his neighbourhood Tuesday at 1:15 a.m. was killed by Sri Lanka Army soldiers who opened fire on him, killing him on the spot and seriously wounding another man, while the victims were returning from a local shop 200 meters away with the medicine. The incident has taken place at Aththikuly village in Nanaddan DS division, 22 km southeast of Mannar town.
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Two young men abducted in Mannar

[TamilNet, Monday, 08 January 2007, 19:34 GMT]
Unidentified persons abducted a father of two children and his young friend 10 days ago in Mannar, their relatives lodged complaint at Mannar Police Monday.
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Policeman killed, one seriously injured in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 January 2007, 08:58 GMT]
Unidentified armed men opened fire Friday around 10:45 a.m at Sector 3, Thalikulam on Mannar road in Vavuniya on policemen staying in a temporary camp, killing one policeman on the spot and seriously injuring another, Officer-in-charge of Vavuniya police, Kumara Chanthanayake said. The injured policeman was rushed to Vavuniya hospital and later transferred to Anuradapura hospital for further treatment.
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Remains of Padahuthurai victims laid to rest

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 January 2007, 01:02 GMT]
Hundreds of civilians, religious leaders and civil representatives bade farewell to 13 of the 16 civilian victims killed Tuesday in Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombardment at the Mother Velankanni Church at Nochchikuda, Wednesday, sources in Mannar said.
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Outstation undergrads demand safe travel to Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 January 2007, 23:16 GMT]
The special meeting, presided by the Jaffna University Acting Vice Chancellor Prof. K. Kumaravadivelu and attended by faculty heads and lecturers held Wednesday at Jaffna campus to explore ways to provide safe travel arrangements to the outstation students back to Jaffna, when the Jaffna University reopens January 22, ended without inconclusively, according to University sources. The Jaffna campus was closed indefinitely when clashes erupted between the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on August 11.
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Kokupadaiyan villagers flee fearing air-strike

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 January 2007, 20:06 GMT]
The entire population of Kokupadaiyan village in Musali divisional secretariat division in Mannar district Wednesday sought refuge in adjacent villages due to fear following the aerial strike on Padahuthurai in Ilupakadaivai by the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) on Tuesday, sources in Mannar said. Kokupadaiyan village is located in the area controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Ilupakadaivai fishing village is also located in the LTTE area.
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UN deeply concerned at civilian casualties in Sri Lankan bombardment

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 03 January 2007, 06:52 GMT]
United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Margareta Wahlström, in a statement issued Tuesday, said the aerial bombardment on Iluppaikadavai in Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam controlled Mannar district, by the Sri Lanka Air Force, killing civilians including children, was a "source of deepest concern." The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also remained concerned about deteriorating livelihoods on the Jaffna Peninsula in northern Sri Lanka as well as all those who have been displaced in the country, the statement said.
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Aerial attack on Padahuthurai, a crime against humanity - Bishop

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 January 2007, 10:22 GMT]
The Bishop of Mannar Diocese, Rt Rev Rayappu Joseph, who visited Padahuthurai hamlet, which was completely destroyed by indiscriminate aerial bombardment by the Sri Lanka Air Force Tuesday morning, has condemned the bombardment and said the attack had destroyed the settlement of the Internally Displaced persons. There was no military installation of the LTTE in the area, the Bishop told media. The Bishop, calling the bombardment "a crime against humanity," urged the International Community to send independent observers to NorthEast. Death toll has risen to 15, including 7 children below age nine , a pregnant woman, her child and husband.
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14 civilians killed, 35 wounded in aerial bombardment

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 January 2007, 05:29 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force bombers Tuesday morning bombed more than 25 houses, killing at least 14 civilians, including 6 children, and seriously wounding 35 civilians at the coastal hamlet of Padahuthurai in Iluppaikadavai, 24 km northwest of Mannar town. Medical staff at two local hospitals in the area, Mulankavil and Pallamadu, were struggling to transport the seriously wounded, as an ambulance rushed from Mannar hospital, was blocked by Sri Lanka Army soldiers manning the Uyilankulam entry point.
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Two Tamil youths abducted in Mannar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 December 2006, 17:07 GMT]
A group of unidentified armed men Thursday early morning around 5.30 a.m. forcibly entered a house at Eluthoor area in Mannar town and abducted four Tamil youths. Two of the abducted, were released shortly. The two persons, still missing, have been identified as Rasanayagam Jeyasekar, 30, a father of one child and Francis Thurairaj, 26.
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