Paris assassinations remain unsolved

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 28 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Last Sunday was the first anniversary of the killings of two Eelam activists in Paris. Mr. Kandiah Perinpanathan, head of the LTTE's financial section and Mr. Kandiah Gajendran, the editor of the Tamil weekly "Eelamurasu" were gunned down in cold blood by an unknown assailant on a busy Paris sidewalk. To date, the investigations have not yielded any publicly known results.
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Food supplies to Mullaitivu cut off

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Officials at the district secretariat in Vavuniya confirmed today that food supplies cannot be sent to the eastern part of the Mullaithivu district, as the Sri Lankan army has stopped all supplies from passing on the Mankulam - Ottisuddan - Mullaithivu road.
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Civilians flee SLA shelling

[TamilNet, Monday, 20 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Reports from Vavuniya said today that a large number of displaced persons who had settled in the eastern sector of the Mullaithivu district following Operation Riviresa in early 1996, have begun moving enmasse to the western areas of the Vanni.
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Mullaitivu faces total blockade

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The supply of food and other essential goods to the Mullaitivu district may soon been cut off sources in Vavuniya said today. This is mainly due to the SLA's shelling of the dirt road from Kilinochchi district to Mullaitivu and the effect of the monsoon showers on the access road into the Vanni through Madhu.
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LTTE rolls back Sri Lankan advance

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
In two days of heavy fighting, LTTE units have rolled back Sri Lankan army columns to their former positions in the Periyamadu region, just north of the Nedunkerni-Puliyankulam road. However, the Sri Lankan army claims its forces are 'consolidating' captured positions.
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Tigers keep up Vanni attacks

[TamilNet, Thursday, 09 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The LTTE said today that they had surrounding Sri Lankan troops at Kara Patta Murippu who had been trapped when the rest of the 53rd SLA division had been forced back by LTTE counterattacks. Sources close to the army also said that the LTTE had launched a massive attack southeast of Kankarayan Kulam.
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Heavy fighting continues in Vanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Heavy fighting continued today at Kanakarayan Kulam and on the Mankulam Ottisuddan road as the Liberation Tigers stepped up attacks on columns of Sri Lankan army's Div.53.
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Body count: an illusive index of 'progress'

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 September 1997, 12:00 GMT]
"In a war without battle lines, perhaps the best overall index of progress is that of casualties". This view was delivered as part of the orientation given to newcomers to the US military's Saigon HQ at the height of the conflict in Vietnam. Despite several Sri Lankan offensives against the Tamil Tigers, the LTTE continues to vigorously resist the Sinhalese army in the Tamil homelands. In a bid to show 'progress' in its war, the Sri Lankans have developed a preoccupation with body counts.
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LTTE allays shipping fears

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 September 1997, 00:00 GMT]
On Thursday, the LTTE allayed international concern over its recent attack on a cargo ship. The Tigers said their destruction of the ship, the 'MV Cordiality', which had been hired by the Sri Lankan government, was intended to prevent the stripping of the Tamil people's mineral resources. The Tigers said that the attack should not be considered 'prejudicial to international trade or shipping'.
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Priest protests over bombing

[TamilNet, Friday, 22 August 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Rev. Father Maulis has written to the United Nations protesting over the bombing of his church by Sri Lankan Air Force jets last Friday. Nine Tamil civilians were killed when the SLAF Kfirs dropped four 250kg bombs onto the church premises which also serves as a refugee camp. Copies of Father Maulis' letter to the UNHCR were distributed to other international NGOs operating in the Vanni.
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Civilians are intended SLAF targets

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 19 August 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The recent attacks on Tamil civilians by Sri Lankan Air Force aircraft are not a recent phenomenon. The SLAF has routinely attacked civilians throughout the conflict, hitting villages, schools, places of worship, houses and fishing boats with impunity. The attacks on Tamil civilians are an integral part of the Sri Lankan war strategy designed to induce war weariness in the Tamil populace.
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135 Sri Lankans killed at Omanthai: LTTE

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 August 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The LTTE said that 135 Sri Lankan security personnel were killed and a further 400 wounded in the battle at Omanthai last Friday. The Tigers say they have acquired intelligence reports from the Sri Lankan high command giving the breakdown of these figures. Meanwhile the Red Cross accepted 39 Tamil bodies from the Sri Lankans and refused 70 badly mutilated ones today.
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Colombo plays down Indian deaths

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 July 1997, 23:59 GMT]
On Monday, the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry denied its security forces had fired on Indian fishing craft as described by the Indian High Commission here. According to the Indian government, Sri Lankan gunboats and aircraft had fired on fishermen from Tamil Nadu on July 14 and 17 respectively. Sri Lanka denied what it called 'monstrous allegations'. However, the Foreign Ministry's feigned innocence is in sharp contrast to the regularity of attacks on Tamil and Indian fishermen carried out by the Sri Lankan military.
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TULF MP Briefs US Decision Makers

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 July 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Mr. Joseph Pararajasingam, the MP for Batticaloa district and the Parliamentary Group Leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), is currently in the United States on a three week visit to brief US officials on developments on the island. His visit is being sponsored by a US-based NGO.
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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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Sri Lanka desperate for more troops

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 July 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government is still desperately trying to recruit soldiers for its war in the Tamil homelands. Casualties sustained in the war against the LTTE, natural wastage, and above all, desertions are frustrating Colombo's attempts to wage an all out war against the Tamils. Last Thursday, the Sri Lankan government declared yet another amnesty for deserters.
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Morang Bong's Crewmen Released

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 July 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The 37 North Korean crewmen of the Sri Lankan supply vessel, Morang Bong, captured by the LTTE have been released, according to the Red Cross (ICRC). The crew were detained last Monday night. The captain is said to have been surprised on seeing the other side of the island's ethnic conflict.
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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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Sri Lanka spreads rumours

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 July 1997, 23:59 GMT]
With the Sri Lankan military's Operation 'Jaya Sikuru' bogged down amid fierce Tamil resistance, morale amongst the ranks is slipping. As in previous military crisis,' the Sri Lankan government is fabricating rumours in an effort to shore up morale. The latest claim is that the Tamil national leader, Mr. V. Pirabakaran is about to flee the island.
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