Tamil Parliamentarian Raviraj assassinated in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 November 2006, 03:43 GMT]
Nadarajah Raviraj, 44, Jaffna district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian was shot in Colombo around 8:30 a.m. Friday. The MP succumbed to his wounds at Colombo National Hospital. A lawyer turned politician, former mayor of Jaffna, Mr. Raviraj, elected twice, has been an outspoken parliamentarian who voiced against the extra-judicial killings and forced disapperances in NorthEast and Colombo. The parliamentarian took part in a demonstration Thursday against the Sri Lanka Army shelling in Vaharai where 47 Tamil civilians, Internally Displaced from Trincomalee, were killed, Wednesday.
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ICRC deplores attack on civilians

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 November 2006, 01:56 GMT]
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Thursday in a press release deplored the tragic loss of life and injury to civilians resulting from the Wednesday shelling of the densely populated area of Kathiraveli, a coastal hamlet north of Vaharai, where several thousand internally displaced people had sought shelter.
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Stop genocide against Tamils - TNA appeals to UN

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 November 2006, 01:20 GMT]
19 Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians led by Mr. R. Sampanthan, Leader of the TNA Parliamentary group and Member of Parliament for Trincomalee district, protested Thursday at 11:00 a.m in front of United Nations office in Colombo condemning the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) bombing of Internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Vaharai and Kathiravelli, killing 53 civilians and seriously injuring 127, sources in Colombo said. The protesters urged the United Nations to urgently intervene to stop the "genocide against Tamils let loose by the Sri Lanka government."
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SLA denied transport to Vaharai injured for 3 hours- Elilan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 November 2006, 11:56 GMT]
Sri Lankan Army (SLA) has not only killed 42 civilians and injured more than 122 others in Kathiravely in LTTE controlled Batticaloa district but has violated all humanitarian norms by delaying giving permission to ambulances to take the injured to the hospital, S Elilan, the Political Head of LTTE for Trincomalee district said Wednesday.
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"Civilians are too often the victims"- Britain

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 November 2006, 11:34 GMT]
"This [Vaharai] incident is not unique in the country’s recent history, but it highlights that civilians are too often the victims of this conflict,“ the British High Commission in Colombo said in a press release issued Wednesday.
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Assassination attempts on two civilians fail in Mannar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 November 2006, 08:25 GMT]
Unidentified armed men following a Tamil trader and a youth in the Nanattan division in Mannar fired at them missing hitting the intended victims in two separate incidents , Sunday sources in Mannar said.


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UNP demands inquiry into Vaharai killings

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 November 2006, 02:46 GMT]
Mr.Tissa Attanayake, General Secretary of the UNP, the main opposition United National Party (UNP), in a statement released in Colombo Thursday, condemned the killing of civilians in Vaharai division in Batticaloa district and called on the government to hold immediate proper inquiry into this tragedy, sources said.
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Amnesty condemns "terrible" attack on displaced civilians

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 November 2006, 22:08 GMT]
Amnesty International's Asia Pacific Director Purna Sen, condemning the Sri Lankan military attack on displaced civilian camp in Vaaharai region on Wednesday, in a press statement said it was shocked to see such a large-scale attack on civilians just days after the government's announcement of its Commission of Inquiry into human rights abuses. The Human Rights watchdog has called on the Sri Lankan government to investigate the "terrible attack as a matter of urgency and to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice to signal to the rest of the military that attacking civilians will not be tolerated."
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Sonobo Children’s Home in Vaharai attacked, 12 children injured - TRO

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 November 2006, 11:07 GMT]
Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), engaged in emergency rescue work at the IDP camp in Kathiraveli school Wednesday evening, said TRO’s Sonobo Children’s Home located close to the school was also attacked by SLA artillery. 12 children were wounded. Forty bodies have been recovered including 6 babies between the ages of 3 and 6 months, the TRO statement said. 76 persons have been admitted to the hospital.
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40 civilian refugees killed in Sri Lankan artillery attack

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 November 2006, 08:17 GMT]
Emergency Rescue workers in Vaharai say scores of civilians were killed Wednesday around 11:35 a.m. when Sri Lanka Army fired Multi-Barrel Rockets and artillery shells targeting Kathiraveli, a coastal hamlet 15 km north of Vaaharai, hit a school where five thousand Internally Displaced People had sought refuge. 40 dead bodies have been recovered. Six babies below 6-month were killed, said medical sources stating that 30 dead bodies had been brought to Vaaharai hospital. SLMM officials and the ICRC visited the area where more than 120 houses were severely damaged. An area with 2 km perimeter was indiscriminately bombed. 60 severely wounded civilians were brought to Valaichenai hospital.
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Artillery duel injures four women, hundreds flee Kudumbimalai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 November 2006, 02:05 GMT]
Four women were injured when a mortar shell launched from Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) area targeting the Murkodanchenai Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp fell and exploded on a house near the SLA camp Tuesday around 9:30 a.m., security sources from Batticaloa said. Meanwhile, hundreds of families from LTTE-controlled Kudumbimalai area sought shelter in adjoining jungles seeking safety from SLA fire from Valaichenai Brigade camp Tuesday night, LTTE sources said.
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Governor rejects appeals from trapped Jaffna workers

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 08 November 2006, 01:07 GMT]
Rear Admiral (Retd) Mohan Wijeyawickrema, Governor of the North East Province (NEP), rejected Tuesday an appeal made by government employees including teachers from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held areas, now trapped in the Jaffna peninsula with the closure of A9 route since August 11, to let them stay in the peninsula due to unsafe conditions in their places of work, said civil sources from Jaffna.
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SLA shoots dead two youths, civilian killed in Araly

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 November 2006, 11:13 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers shot dead two youths in Thirunelveli area in Jaffna at 8:30 p.m. Monday, sources in Jaffna said. SLA alleged that the youths were cadres of Liberation Tigers and that they recovered weapons from the youths. Meanwhile, a civilian was shot dead in Araly at 5:30 p.m. Monday by unknown gunmen.
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Three civilians killed in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 November 2006, 16:59 GMT]
Three Tamil civilians including two women were killed in Jaffna peninsula within the 24 hour period between 6:00 p.m Sunday and 6:00 p.m Monday, sources in Jaffna said.
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LTTE reiterates SLMM access to Northern FDL, Vaharai region

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 November 2006, 15:01 GMT]
Colombo should allow the neutral Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) officials to inspect the forward defence line (FDL) areas and provide the SLMM access Vaharai region to undertake independent verification of the ground situation, instead of producing "baseless allegations of LTTE attacks," in Colombo media, LTTE's Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan said Monday night. Sri Lankan armed forces have intensified the attacks with a "military intention" of launching another offensive aiming to escalate the armed hostilities, the Tigers spokesman told media from Kilinochchi.
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Critically injured baby awaits ambulance in Vaharai, 5 wounded in SLA shelling

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 November 2006, 14:38 GMT]
A six-month-old baby girl, critically injured in indiscriminate Sri Lanka Army artillery shelling that targeted a transit camp of Internally Displaced Persons in Palchenai School in Vaharai region Monday, is waiting for ambulance transportation from Vaharai hospital to Batticaloa, medical sources in Vaharai said. The only ambulance of the hospital is yet to return from Batticaloa after a trip Sunday and the shelling was continuing, the sources added. Five civilians were wounded in SLA shelling, three of them, including the baby were criticially injured.
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Court allows investigation of Sinhalese suspected of spying for LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 November 2006, 13:41 GMT]
The Colombo Magistrate Court granted permission to the Sri Lanka forces on Monday to commence extensive inquiries into the activities of two Sinhala civilians arrested on suspicion of passing information to the Intelligence Division of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE ).The Sri Lanka forces allege that they have been collecting information about the movements of the Tamil minister Douglas Devananda, sources in Colombo said.
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SLAF bombs Vaharai, IDPs flee SLA shelling

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 November 2006, 11:42 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched artillery attacks from Valaichenai SLA camp and Karadikulam SLA camp towards Vaharai intensified since Sunday night amid troop deployment at Gajuwatte SLA camp. LTTE's Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan Monday said Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) carried out 2 sorties of aerial bombardment in Paalchenai and Vammivedduvan in Vaharai region in Batticaloa district Monday noon. "All communication and transportation facilities towards Vaharai has been cut off. Even the small amount of humanitarian supplies reaching the region twice a week, has been blocked by the Sri Lankan military," Mr. Ilanthirayan told TamilNet.
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Vaharai residents face severe food shortage- MP

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 November 2006, 01:14 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops of Mankerni Camp have refused permission to transport food items beyond their check point into LTTE- controlled Vaharai Region for more than a week, resulting in 43,000 civilians of the area facing acute shortage of essential food items, P.Ariyanenthiran, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Member of Parliament, Batticaloa District said in a communiqué issued to the press on Sunday.
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A9 closure is ‘breach of CFA’ – SLMM

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 November 2006, 19:37 GMT]
International monitors overseesing Sri Lanka’s truce have criticized the Sri Lankan government for closing the A9 highway at Muhamalai, The Sunday Leader reported. "The government is clearly violating the Ceasefire Agreement and they have trapped more than half a million civilians within the Jaffna Peninsula. The A9 should be opened immediately," acting spokesperson for the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), Helen Olafsdottir, said.


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