Sri Lanka continues to disrupt education in Tamil areas

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 June 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government's embargo on the Tamil homelands has starved Tamil schools of books and equipment for many years. Recently UNICEF attempted to alleviate the situation by supplying 3,000 floor mats for the Tamil school children to sit on during lessons. According to reports from Vavuniya, the Sri Lankan government has also stopped these from being delivered, continuing the systematic disruption of Tamil youngsters' education.
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119 killed and 190 soldiers wounded say Military officials

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 June 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Reports coming from Vavuniya say that Wednesday's Tiger attack has left more than 150 Sri Lankan soldiers dead and another hundred wounded. A Sri Lankan defense ministry official has however said that they lost only 119 of their soldiers in the attack including a colonel and three other officers. The official also said that some 190 soldiers were also wounded. According to the LTTE, in the five hours offensive, 85 of their cadres were killed.
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Tigers Mount Massive Counter Offensive

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 June 1997, 23:59 GMT]
Reports coming from the town of Omanthai in Northern Wanni region suggest that hundreds of Sri Lankan military personnel were killed or wounded and a number of artillery guns were captured or destroyed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The attack came just a day after, the Sri Lankan military resumed its push against the Tigers in two flanks from Periyamadu and Nedunkerni towards the small village town of Puliyankulam.
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Conscription on the cards?

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 June 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army has extended it's recruitment program, announced two weeks ago, to all sections of the army. However, as usual, only Sinhalese need apply. In the meantime it is understood that conscription is also being considered.
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Colombo journalists challenge government claims

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 18 June 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The LTTE said in a statement last week that during their assault on the Sri Lankan army base at Thandikulum, they had occupied the camp, killed hundreds of soldiers and destroyed vast quantities of equipment. This was promptly denied by the Sri Lankan government. However, a Colombo based newspaper with close ties to the military has revealed that the LTTE claim is not false.
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Sri Lankan MoD plays the numbers game

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 June 1997, 23:59 GMT]
When Tamil Tiger commandos stormed the Sri Lankan Army's Thandikulum base, they clearly caught the Sri Lankan military off guard. Within hours the Tigers had penetrated 10 miles into SLA-held territory, and successfully overran their targets, inflicting severe casualties on the SLA. However, as soon as the assault began, the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defense swung into its public relations exercise.
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Casualties mount as LTTE maintain control of key town

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 11 June 1997, 23:59 GMT]
As the battle for control of a key town in the northern Vanni mainland continued, the casualties are rising. Reports from Thandikulam say Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was still in control of some parts of Nochimoddai and the Sri Lankan military was massing troops for a counter offensive.
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Sri Lanka army launches another recruitment drive

[TamilNet, Saturday, 07 June 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army has launched another recruitment drive, to replace it's losses in the war against the Tamil Tigers, according to the state-owned Daily News. Recruits are being sought for the army's Special Forces Units which have taken severe casualties in the past 12 months.
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