SLA, LTTE exchange rocket fire in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 September 2006, 13:47 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and Liberation Tigers exchanged rocket fire in the eastern Batticaloa at 4:30 a.m. Sunday lasting twon hours, LTTE sources in Batticaloa said. Fighting broke out when Sri Lankan government troops attempted to move from Pulipainthakal Bridge in Kiran, through Tharavai Road, into areas held by the Liberation Tigers.
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"White van" squad kills TNA MP's bodyguard

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 September 2006, 09:21 GMT]
Amparai District Tamil National Alliance Parliamentarian K. Pathmanathan's security official was shot and killed Sunday morning by gunmen riding in a white van at Vinayagapuram in Thirukkovil in Amparai District, Police said. Sri Lankan counter-insurgency Special Task Force (STF) checkpost is located 100 meters from the site where the bodyguard was slain, according to civilian sources at Vinayakapuaram.
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Bodies of five civilians given decent burial in Thenmaradchy

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 September 2006, 13:07 GMT]
Bodies of five displace civilians from Thenmaradchy, killed following the 11 August clashes between Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Liberation Tigers and unclaimed by their relatives, were given decent burials after postmortem examinations and death inquiries were conducted Saturday, legal sources in Jaffna said.
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Elections to 42 local bodies in NE postponed

[TamilNet, Saturday, 23 September 2006, 11:48 GMT]
The elections to forty two local bodies in the NorthEast fixed for September 30 this year have been put off for June next year due to the unsettled situation in the province, Department of Elections in Colombo said.
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12 young men arrested in Jaffna, 3 reported "missing"

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 September 2006, 18:12 GMT]
Twelve young men were arrested when Sri Lanka Army soldiers cordoned off St.Patrics College and St. Charles Maha Vidyalam in Jaffna town in the early hours of Friday and thorughly searched civilians who were staying overnight in the schools for security reasons, according to complaints with Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission in Jaffna.
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India-bound refugees detained

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 September 2006, 17:36 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) detained three boats with 40 Tamil civilians, including women and children, in Mannar sea, while fleeing to Tamilnadu in South India, Thursday evening. Navy fired warning shots to stop the boats when the boatmen failed to obey the orders of the SLN patrol craft.
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Civilian shot dead in Thalavai, Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 September 2006, 11:37 GMT]
A body of a young man with gunshot wounds was recovered from a garden in Thalavai region in the Eravur police division in Batticaloa on Friday around 7 a.m.


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IRAP commemorates International Peace Day in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 September 2006, 05:10 GMT]
The International Peace Day was held in Batticaloa Thursday organized by the Inter-Religious Association for Peace (IRAP) of the district. Rt. Rev. Dr. Kingsley Swampillai, the Bishop of Batticaloa- Trincomalee Diocese, Rev. Mahendran of Methodist Ministry, Swami Ajaratmanandaji, the Head of Ramakrishna Mission, Batticaloa branch, Moulavi Al-Hajj I.L.M. Mustafa Bahiji, Ven. Ampitiya Sumanaratne Thero, the chief monk of the Mangalaramaya in Batticaloa. Hundreds of civilians participated in this event.
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5 civilians killed in Jaffna Thursday

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 September 2006, 04:44 GMT]
The bodies of 3 family men who were abducted by unidentified persons, Thursday morning, were found with gun shot injuries near Sri Lanka Army's Forward Defence Lines (FDL) at Pariyavilan in the Valikamam sector of the Jaffna pensula, Thursday evening. Gunmen riding in motorbike shot and killed a postal employee in Chankanai Thursday morning and a 59-year-old man was shot dead in Valvettithurai in Vadamaradchi.
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Tamil woman shot dead in Valaichchenai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 September 2006, 21:14 GMT]
A Tamil women was shot dead by unidentified men at Pillayar Kovil Junction in Peththalai, about 32 km. north of Batticaloa, around 4:30 p.m., Thursday.
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SLN arrests Trinco Tamil civilians in Mannar coast

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 September 2006, 12:23 GMT]
34 Tamil civilians, all are residents of coastal villages in Trincomalee district waiting for a boat in the Mannar coast to flee to South India to seek refuge were arrested by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) Wednesday evening. Later they were handed over to the Talaimannar Police.
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Two civilians shot dead in Jaffna peninsula

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 September 2006, 12:05 GMT]
Two unidentified gunmen riding a motor cycle shot dead a postal employee on Karainagar road at Chankanai in Valigamam on Thursday around 7.30 a.m. and in a separate incident on Thursday morning another civilian was shot and killed on Valvettithurai-Pt. Pedro road at Vembady in Valvettithurai.
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Clashes erupt at Nagarkovil, SLAF bombs Palai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 September 2006, 09:12 GMT]
Artillery attacks from Sri Lanka Army (SLA) positions towards Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Forward Defence Line in Vadamaradchi East intensified Thursday noon after exchange of mortar and gunfire in Nagarkovil. Earlier, around 10:0 a.m., Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir bombers dropped at least 9 bombs in Pachchilaippalli village in Pallai in Thenmaradchi, destroying at least five civilian houses. Meanwhile, informed military circles in Colombo said some SLA coastal sentries near Nagarkovil camp were destroyed by the Sea Tigers in the fighting that ensued.
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More civilians brave Mannar seas to reach Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 September 2006, 07:19 GMT]
A group of 33 civilians of the many stranded people in Vavuniya by the shutting of A9 road to Jaffna, reached the Jaffna islet of Delft in three hired boats from Thalai Mannar Wednesday evening, Police sources in Kayts said. A group of 13 civilians arrived at Delft earlier in the week in a hired boat from Thalai Mannar risking their lives on the seas. More than 3500 civilians from Jaffna are stranded in Vavuniya and elsewhere following the closure of the A9 Road to Jaffna.
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Allaipiddy land route closure obstructs relief work in islets

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 September 2006, 06:22 GMT]
Allaipiddy land route connecting Jaffna with the entire islets of the peninsula was closed for all traffic on Wednesday morning for the third time in the past week, causing the return of hundreds of government officials and many lorries loaded with relief supplies to the islets.
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Elderly woman dies in the turmoil in military transport arrangement from Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 September 2006, 15:18 GMT]
As all land routes from the Jaffna to the mainland being closed by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL), an elderly woman among the huge crowd of Jaffna residents vying for seats in 'Shakthi', the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) ship transporting civilians along with military personnel from Kankesanturai to Trincomalee died Tuesday due to rough handling by the SLA troopers at the Jaffna Sinhala Maha Vidyala where residents had to assemble for being selected for the sea journey by the SLA. Large numbers of Muslims too were among the many who are desperate to leave the peninsula where living has become dangerous because of the continuing extra-judicial killings, abductions and a severe shortage of food.
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TNA MP condemns Pottuvil massacre

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 September 2006, 12:31 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian K. Pathmanathan, Wednesday condemned the massacre of 10 Muslim youths alleged to have been carried out by the counter-insurgency Special Task Force (STF) stationed close to the site of massacre at Rattal Kulam.
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Hospital employees, driver shot dead in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 September 2006, 09:37 GMT]
Three civilians-two Tamils and one Muslim were shot dead by unidentified men in separate incidents Tuesday evening in Trincomalee district. Of them two had been employed in the Kantalai government hospital and the third person, private heavy vehicle driver, civil sources said.
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STF shoots Muslim protestors in Ullai, 14 wounded

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 20 September 2006, 05:39 GMT]
Fourteen Muslim protestors were wounded when Sri Lankan counter-insurgency Special Task Force (STF) troopers opened fire on Muslim protestors who turned violent as the STF personnel started attacking the Muslim shop owners to open the shops, disregarding the shut-down protest. 4 protestors, with serious injuries, were rushed to Kalmunai hospital. 10 protestors were admitted at Pottuvil hospital. STF has clamped down a curfew in Pottuvil and suburbs till further notice. Sinhalese civilians were seen fleeing Pottuvil area in boats towards Paanama in the south.
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Massacre survivor dies, Amparai shuts down

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 September 2006, 03:46 GMT]
Muslim community leaders were summoned in Pottuvil Tuesday morning as the only survivor and the eyewitness to the massacre was reported dead Monday night. The eyewitness, M. Meeramohideen, 55, was blocked by the Sri Lankan armed forces at a checkpost and redirected elsewhere "on orders from Colombo," from being transferred to Kalmunai Ashraf Memorial Hospital for treatment by Muslim doctors, the community leaders charged. Meanwhile, Tamil speaking people in Amparai district were observing a shut down protest over the massacre where 10 Muslim youths were butchered to death Monday early morning.
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