Bomb blast in front of SLAF HQ in Colombo, airman, civilian killed

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 January 2009, 12:06 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) airman and a civilian were killed and 36 persons, including 16 airmen were wounded in a bomb explosion in front of the SLAF head office in the high security zone in Slave Island, Colombo 2, Friday at 5:15 p.m., while the city was lighting firecrackers celebrating the occupation of Ki'inochchi town by the Sri Lanka Army. The explosion took place 15 minutes after Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa announced, in a televised address, that the SLA had captured the town of Ki'linochchi, 320 kilometres north of Colombo.
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SLA occupies Ki'linochchi town

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 January 2009, 11:20 GMT]
The Sri Lankan military authorities Friday said their forces have occupied the strategic town of Ki'linochchi in Vanni, situated 320 km north of Colombo. The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has entered a virtual ghost town as the whole civilian infrastructure as well as the centre of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) had shifted further northeast. It is the first time after a decade the Sri Lankan forces have been able to take control of the town after several months of fierce fighting that has claimed hundreds of combatants on both sides of the war.
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Colombo Tamils ordered to register with Sri Lanka Police

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 January 2009, 05:18 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Police headquarters Thursday has ordered all Tamil civilians who came after 2003 from NorthEast and residing in Colombo and other parts of the western provinces to register at the nearest police stations on the 4th January, Sunday. Those registered with the police in 2008 have also been asked to register again, media reports said.
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65 Tamil youths arrested after Wattala attack

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 December 2008, 13:11 GMT]
Sixty five Tamil youths were arrested in cordon and search operations conducted by the Sri Lanka Police and Sri Lankan Army (SLA) on Monday and Tuesday following the suicide bomb attack at the Wattala on a camp of the Civil Volunteer Force (CVF). The arrested youths are being detained in several police stations in the Colombo district and are being interrogated, police sources said.
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Negombo Saiva temple administrator shot dead

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 December 2008, 13:06 GMT]
The administrator of Kali Amman Temple in Negombo, who is a Tamil resident in Negombo, was shot Tuesday night around 9.30 p.m. while he was returning home in his motor bike by unidentified armed men. He later succumbed to gunshot injuries Wednesday morning at the Colombo National Hospital, police sources said.
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North and South cannot remain separate, Rajapaksa tells Jaffna people

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 December 2008, 08:57 GMT]
“The people of Jaffna peninsula should forget the tragic past and all people of the north and south should live as one people”, Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of Sri Lanka, said in a special satellite television broadcast Monday night for the people of Jaffna peninsula, which has become an open prison under Sri Lanka Army (SLA) control. Another message, delivered by Mr. Rajapaksa to the people of Jaffna, was that he has taken steps to 'liberate' Ki’linochchi and Mullaiththeevu and very soon the people there will 'live like' the people of Jaffna.
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Batticaloa Muslim trader abducted in Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 December 2008, 03:06 GMT]
A Muslim trader was abducted in Colombo Sunday by unidentified armed persons while he was waiting near a mosque in Maradana. He has been identified as M.A.Abdul Majeed 59, a resident of Oaddamaavadi in Vaazhaichcheanai police division in Batticaloa district.
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6 detainees allowed on bail, in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 December 2008, 18:17 GMT]
Mallaakam magistrate Ms. Sarojini Illankovan allowed bail on surety Tuesday for six persons detained by police arrested during a cordon and search conducted by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police three months ago at the Saiva temples in Maasiyapiddi following a clash in the area, sources in Jaffna said. The eleven taken into custody during the search included Saiva priests, trustee board members and devotees. Five of these had been released on bail earlier, the sources added.
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Teenage SLA soldier mysteriously shot dead in Thenmaraadchi, Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 December 2008, 11:03 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Mukamaalai informed Kodikaamam police that a soldier’s body with gunshot wounds was found in Mukamaalai area Saturday. Chaavakachcheari magistrate on being informed of the death visited the site and conducted the inquest into the death. The 18-year-old soldier had been sent to Mukamaalai FDL from the SLA 52nd Division located at Vara'ni in Thenmaraadchi.
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Tamil trader abducted in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 December 2008, 02:24 GMT]
A 62-year-old Tamil trader was abducted by unidentified persons Monday when the trader was returning to his shop in Pettah from his residence located in Dias Place in Colombo after lunch, according to complaints lodged with the Vaalaiththoddam Police by his relatives.
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Major General Chandrasiri to retire

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 December 2008, 13:17 GMT]
Major General Chandrasiri is to retire from his current position as Military Commander of the Northern district effective from 6th of January. Promotion to Sri Lanka's Highest Army post eluded Mr Chandrasiri due to the extensions provided to his friend Lt.Gen. Sarath Fonseka. Meanwhile, Maj.Gen. Mendega Samarasinghe is expected to become the new SLA commander for Jaffna, military sources in Jaffna said.
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Bomb blast in Colombo suburb kills SLA officer, 6 home guards

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 December 2008, 10:17 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army officer, six homeguards and a male whom the police alleged was a human bomb were killed in a bomb explosion at a military post at Wattala, a suburb of Colombo around 9:00 a.m. Sunday. More than 10 home guards and a few civilians sustained injuries in the explosion, Police said. The explosion has taken place in front of the Civil Defence Force (home guards office).
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Large scale search in Colombo, several taken into custody

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 December 2008, 12:14 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA), Sri Lanka Police and Special Task Force (STF) Thursday and Friday conducted cordon and search operations covering Muhathuwaaram, Kotahena, Wellawatte, Rajagiriya, Dehiwala, Kohuwela and Nugegoda in the western province. Several civilians, majority of them Tamil upcountry residents, were taken into custody. Police headquarters did not reveal till Friday evening the number of civilians under custody, civil sources said.
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Accidental blast kills SLA soldier, injures 2 in Jaffna FDL

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 December 2008, 07:12 GMT]
An accidental explosion occurring Wednesday in one of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camps in Ki’laali in Notthern Front Defence Line (FDL) area killed a soldier and seriously injured two. Chaavakachcheari Acting Magistrate, S. Kanapathipillai, conducted the inquest into the death at the site.
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SLA strengthens security measures in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 December 2008, 15:47 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Jaffna strengthened security arrangements in and around Jaffna town Friday due to the presence of V. Anandasangari, the leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) and Minister Douglas Devananda in Jaffna and in view of the Industrial Exhibition that is to take place in Jaffna town from Saturday until Monday, organized by Government Commercial sector in Colombo, sources in Jaffna said.
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Slain ICRC worker’s funeral held in Vadamaraadchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 December 2008, 00:05 GMT]
Sri Lanka International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) Jaffna closed the offices Wednesday to enable ICRC staff to participate in the funeral of Suntharalingam Gengatharan, their fellow staff slain Tuesday, sources in Vadamaraadchi said. Hundreds of people and employees of local SLRC attended the funeral to pay their last respects.
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Colombo instructs Vanni GAs to refrain from requesting aid from UN Agencies, INGOs

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 December 2008, 05:55 GMT]
The Sri Lankan Commissioner General of Essential Services, S.B. Divaratne, in a letter issued to the Government Agents of Vavuniyaa, Mullaiththeevu and Ki'linochchi last month has instructed the GAs to refrain from making any requests for food and non food assistance from INGOs and UN Agencies. "All your requirements should be processed throgh the Commissioner General of Essential Services, even in the event of any urgent necessity," the letter states. The content of the letter, which is interpreted as a threat to the Tamil GAs, is also document of evidence for how a structural genocide is being inflicted upon the Tamil people, an official serving under one of the GAs told TamilNet.
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Tamil civilian reported missing in Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 December 2008, 05:48 GMT]
A 26-year-old Tamil civilian has been reported missing since he left home in Wellawatte to Fort in Colombo on business purpose on December 16, according to complaints lodged by his wife to the Wellawatte Police and human rights organizations.
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Northbound train passengers face severe checks at Madawachchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 December 2008, 05:43 GMT]
Passengers traveling from Colombo to Vavuniyaa by Yaazhtheavi (Yaldevi) train are subjected to severe checks at Madawachchi railway station for more than an hour.
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Tamil civilian reported missing in Wellawatte

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 December 2008, 12:23 GMT]
Sinnakili Nimalakaran, 26, father of four month old child, has been reported missing since he left home in Wellawatte to Fort, Colombo, for business purposes on December 16, according to complaints lodged by his wife to the Wellawatte Police and human rights organizations.
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