SLA forced to change plan.

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 August 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The twin prongs of the Sri Lankan military's Operation 'Jaya Sikiru' are said to have linked up, the SLA spokesman, Brig. S. Munasinghe, said on Thursday. However, the troops have still not been able to overrun the small town of Puliyankulum, due to continuing Tamil resistance around the town. LTTE units are said to be continuing to launch mortar attacks on the SLA troops 2kms south of the town.
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Sri Lanka Army push stalled

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 August 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A renewed Sri Lankan attempt to capture the town of Puliyankulum was stopped on Thursday night, the LTTE said Friday. The sudden lunge towards Puliyankulum comes several weeks after the Sri Lankan operation 'Jaya Sikuru' stalled following two fierce LTTE counter attacks. The Sri Lankans said there had been fighting in the area, but did not admit to a renewed push being stopped.
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Wishful thinking - or simply deceptive lies?

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 July 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Last Thursday, the Sri Lankan army spokesman, Brigadier Sarath Munasinghe, claimed that the Tigers were being defeated and that victory was in sight. Paradoxically, his comments were made as the SLA's biggest offensive remained stalled following fierce LTTE counter attacks. However, the moral boosting claims also come at a time when the SLA is desperately trying to recruit more troops and to coax thousands of deserters back into service.
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Tigers target sea bridge

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 July 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The LTTE confirmed yesterday that they had detained a Sri Lankan supply ship off the Jaffna peninsula on Monday and had taken it to Mullaitivu. The Tigers also said that one of the 38 North Korean crewmen was killed when the ship ignored orders to stop and was fired on. This second attack on a Sri Lankan supply ship within a week could indicate that having drastically reduced Sri Lankans' aerial supply capability, the Tigers are now turning their attention to the sea lines.
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Public anger breaks out over food siege

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 July 1997, 23:59 GMT]
As the Sri Lankan government's restriction on food and medicine into the Vanni causes untold suffering in the Vanni, frustration is building within the Tamil populace. A series of mass demonstrations are taking place in the area. Aid workers are also condemning the deliberate starvation of a people and government interference in their work.
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Trincomalee TULF MP assassinated

[TamilNet, Sunday, 06 July 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Mr. A. Thangathurai, MP and four other people died when a grenade was thrown at them yesterday, as they were leaving a meeting held at a school in Trincomalee. The Sri Lankan government, as always, has immediately blamed the Tamil Tigers. However, there are other parties who may benefit significantly from the MP's death, including the local organised crime and political rivals.
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Sinhalese reporters aid war effort

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 July 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The predominantly Sinhalese Sri Lankan government is manipulating information about the war in the Tamil homelands by banning reporters from the area and issuing false reports about events occurring there. The government is assisted by the fact that most agency reporters are Colombo based, Sinhalese and on its side.
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Sri Lankan police desert combat posts

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 July 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Sri Lankan policemen, pressed into combat duty in the island's north are deserting their posts en-masse, according to local newspapers and travelers from the area. The desperate shortage of troops is forcing the Sri Lankan military to use unwilling policemen to protect the operation's rear.
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Sri Lanka continues to disrupt education in Tamil areas

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 June 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government's embargo on the Tamil homelands has starved Tamil schools of books and equipment for many years. Recently UNICEF attempted to alleviate the situation by supplying 3,000 floor mats for the Tamil school children to sit on during lessons. According to reports from Vavuniya, the Sri Lankan government has also stopped these from being delivered, continuing the systematic disruption of Tamil youngsters' education.
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119 killed and 190 soldiers wounded say Military officials

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 June 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Reports coming from Vavuniya say that Wednesday's Tiger attack has left more than 150 Sri Lankan soldiers dead and another hundred wounded. A Sri Lankan defense ministry official has however said that they lost only 119 of their soldiers in the attack including a colonel and three other officers. The official also said that some 190 soldiers were also wounded. According to the LTTE, in the five hours offensive, 85 of their cadres were killed.
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Tigers Mount Massive Counter Offensive

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 June 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Reports coming from the town of Omanthai in Northern Wanni region suggest that hundreds of Sri Lankan military personnel were killed or wounded and a number of artillery guns were captured or destroyed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The attack came just a day after, the Sri Lankan military resumed its push against the Tigers in two flanks from Periyamadu and Nedunkerni towards the small village town of Puliyankulam.
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Will War bring Peace?

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 June 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Sri Lankan troops backed by heavy artillery, tanks and air cover, resumed their march from the towns of Periyamadu and Nedunkerni towards the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held town of Puliyankulam in northern part of the island. Military reports say that 13 Sri Lankan soldiers and an officer were killed while more than 60 were seriously wounded in the battle on Monday.
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A Great Embarrassment for the Sri Lankan Military

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 June 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A Sri Lankan member of parliament, in a recent report, says that the food stock discovered by the military in the cooperative stores in the town of Nedunkerni in fact belonged to the cooperative stores and not to the LTTE as the Sri Lankan military had earlier claimed. The report states that the food was stored there for distribution to the displaced people and requests the military to the return the food to the cooperative stores.
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Sri Lankan MoD plays the numbers game

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 June 1997, 23:59 GMT]
When Tamil Tiger commandos stormed the Sri Lankan Army's Thandikulum base, they clearly caught the Sri Lankan military off guard. Within hours the Tigers had penetrated 10 miles into SLA-held territory, and successfully overran their targets, inflicting severe casualties on the SLA. However, as soon as the assault began, the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defense swung into its public relations exercise.
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Casualties mount as LTTE maintain control of key town

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 June 1997, 23:59 GMT]
As the battle for control of a key town in the northern Vanni mainland continued, the casualties are rising. Reports from Thandikulam say Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was still in control of some parts of Nochimoddai and the Sri Lankan military was massing troops for a counter offensive.
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LTTE blasts bridge, ammunition dumps and shoots down Helicopter Gunship

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 10 June 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Latest reports coming from Thandikulam in the northern Vanni mainland, 260 kilometres north of Colombo, suggest that hundreds of soldiers killed and many more wounded. According to Colombo sources the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has destroyed at least 5 battle tanks and two ammunition dumps that were located at Thandikulam and Samayapuram five kilometres north of the government held town of Vavuniya.
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