Jaffna artillery duels continue

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 September 2000, 07:32 GMT]
Hundreds of civilians fled their homes near Jaffna town fearing heavy barrages by the Sri Lanka army since Saturday night towards areas held by the Liberation Tigers. More than fifty soldiers were wounded in a limited operation conducted by the army in the eastern and northeastern sectors of the Jaffna town against the positions of the LTTE sources in the north said. The operation commenced last night.
Full story >>

Artillery exchange in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 September 2000, 17:04 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army and the Liberation Tigers fought heavy artillery duels Friday in Meesalai sector of the Thenmaradchi Division in the Jaffna peninsula said sources. Meesalai is about 3 km. from Chavakachcheri on the Jaffna highway towards SLA-held Kodikamam. Chavakachcheri was captured by the Tigers in May this year.
Full story >>

EPDP regrets 'grave' blunder

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 August 2000, 10:30 GMT]
The pro-government Tamil group, Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) Monday said it regretted a major blunder in an election ad it published yesterday in the Jaffna dailies Uthayan and Valampuri which may have cost it the patronage of the Sri Lankan President. "Chemmani exposed the Lady" ('Ammaniyai ambalappaduthiathu Chemmani) ran the EPDP's election ad in the Sunday edition of the papers, implicating the Sri Lankan President in the massacre of more than 600 Jaffna civilians arrested by the Sri Lankan security forces in 1996.
Full story >>

Grenade kills three, wounds six

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 August 2000, 20:54 GMT]
Two civilians were killed and 6 others wounded when a grenade carried by a Sri Lanka Army soldier exploded at Kangeyan Oodai, about 10 k.m south of Batticaloa, around 3.30 p.m. Friday. The soldier was also killed in the blast, police sources said.
Full story >>

Civilians move, fearing barrage

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 August 2000, 15:38 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army opened up a heavy artillery barrage towards areas held by the Liberation Tigers, east and south-east of Jaffna town from around 8.10 p.m. Sunday night. Hundreds of civilians in Jaffna town's coastal suburbs of Paashaiyoor and Gurunagar sought refuge in temples and churches fearing the barrage.
Full story >>

SLA troops kill student, wound another

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 August 2000, 11:25 GMT]
"The army shoots civilians whenever it comes into Kaluwankerny. This is why innocent civilians in the village run for their life when they know the army is entering the area. My son went behind the house when he saw people running on the road, shouting "the army is coming into the village". He was killed there by soldiers who shot him and his friend" said Vairamuthu Manikkavel, 48, at the inquest into the death of his son the M.Vijayatharsan, 20, before Batticaloa district judge J. Viswanathan at the Eravur hospital Saturday.
Full story >>

Another two skeletons in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 August 2000, 15:30 GMT]
Two more human skeletons were recovered in Kilinochchi this week bringing the total number of skeletons recovered in this area recently to 55, the Voice of Tigers (VoT) radio said Thursday evening.
Full story >>

Farming abandoned due to STF action - MP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 August 2000, 06:08 GMT]
Mr. Pon Selvarasa, Tamil United Liberation Front MP for Batticaloa said Thursday that farmers in Vaalaikkaalai, about 25 kilometers southwest of Batticaloa, have been compelled to abandon cultivation due to the activities of the Special Task Force (STF) commandos in the area.
Full story >>

Vavuniya blast kills 2, wounds 2

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 August 2000, 12:44 GMT]
Two Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers, including an officer, were seriously wounded in an explosion in the high security zone of Vavuniya town around 5.30 p.m. Wednesday, security sources said. SLA sources in Vavuniya said that the explosion was caused by a suicide bomber, who was also killed in the incident. A civilian bystander, Thiruvaathirai Pushpalatha (12), was killed in the blast, sources said.
Full story >>

Ambush kills 2 civilians

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 August 2000, 12:30 GMT]
Special Task Force (STF) troops lying in ambush fired at two farmers at Vaalakkaalai in the boarder between Batticaloa and Ampara around 5 p.m. Tuesday, killing one them on the spot. The other farmer succumbed to his injuries at the Batticaloa hospital, according to medical sources.
Full story >>

SLAF steps up bombing in Vanni

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 August 2000, 10:50 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) has stepped up bombing raids in the Vanni said sources in the northern border town Vavuniya. The said SLAF jets flew several sorties today towards the northern Vanni region they said.
Full story >>

Civilians near Jaffna firing range wounded

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 August 2000, 10:49 GMT]
Two civilians near an army firing range on the southeastern coast of Jaffna were wounded by gunfire this week. Vallipuram Pakiyaraj, 63 was admitted to the Manthikai hospital in Pt.Pedro with gunshot injury last evening and Kristhurajah Kennedy, 19 was wounded in the leg on 12 August. Both are from the village of Kudaththanai.
Full story >>

Santhiramohan pleaded to spare life

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 August 2000, 11:51 GMT]
"I heard Santhiramohan pleading with the soldiers to spare his life. He was telling them he was poor and was married to a poor girl. Then there was silence. I came out of the thicket where I was hiding after some time when it appeared that the army had left the place.
Full story >>

Three civilians wounded in SLA shelling

[TamilNet, Thursday, 10 August 2000, 15:10 GMT]
Three civilians, including a Grama Sevaka Officer, were wounded when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers fired artillery shells towards Kaddaiparichchan in the Trincomalee District Thursday morning, residents said.
Full story >>

Civilian beheaded in SLA reprisal

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 August 2000, 10:31 GMT]
Two civilians were killed in reprisal by Sri Lanka army troops around noon Wednesday following a fire-fight in Sithaandy, 24 kilometers north of Batticaloa. Soldiers of the Morokkoddaanchenai SLA camp beheaded one of the civilians, Arunasalam Santhiramohan, 20 and shot dead the other, identified as Thiyagarajah Gnanarajah, 29, father of four. The SLA has taken Santhiramohan's body to the Morokkoddaanchenai camp.
Full story >>

Over 40 casualties in clashes

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 August 2000, 05:51 GMT]
Five military trained policemen, including an officer, were killed and 20 Sri Lanka Navy personnel, nine police men and two Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were wounded in three separate attacks by the Liberation Tigers Wednesday morning, security sources said. 16 civilians were also wounded.
Full story >>

City of Trinco sails under ICRC flag

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 August 2000, 15:55 GMT]
The passenger ferry "City of Trinco" sailed from Trincomalee Monday evening under the protection of the International Committee of the Red Cross transporting 350 civilians to the Jaffna peninsula. Mr.Harasha Gunewardene, Information Officer of the ICRC said that the organisation has received written security assurances from the Liberation Tigers and the Government for safe passage during the voyages.
Full story >>

SLA searches for deserters in Valaichenai

[TamilNet, Monday, 31 July 2000, 16:21 GMT]
Units of the SLA's 23-2 Brigade in Valaichenai searched the villages of Kalmadhu, Kannankiramam, Karuwakerni, Sungaankerni and Kinnaiyadi, 30 kilometers north of Batticaloa Monday for two soldiers who had deserted their positions Sunday evening. Sources in Valaichenai said that the army had come by information that the two deserters had run away from the kalkudah SLA camp through the villages that were searched today. The SLA has grounds to believe that the two soldiers may have escaped across the lagoon to the hinterland controlled by the Liberation Tigers, a source said.
Full story >>

Key witness in Batticaloa massacre threatened

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 July 2000, 12:28 GMT]
Father Joseph Ignatius Chandra, the key witness in the massacre of civilians in Batticaloa town by a section of the Sri Lanka army on May 17 has been threatened by armed persons suspected to be members of the Sri Lankan security forces and cadres of Tamil para-military groups operating with the Sri Lanka army in the east.
Full story >>

SLA needs undermine Jaffna public transport

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 July 2000, 21:10 GMT]
Public transport in the Sri Lanka army held parts of Jaffna is in dire straits due to a shortage of buses, a government official said Friday.
Full story >>