Tigers dismayed over ICRC, UNHCR inaction

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 June 2000, 07:16 GMT]
The political section of the Liberation Tigers has issued a statement expressing deep regret and dismay over the inaction of the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Commission of the Red Cross (ICRC) in helping to evacuate Tamil civilians trapped in the combat zones of the Thenmaradchchi sector of the Jaffna peninsula , according to the night broadcast of the Voice of Tigers.
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STF officer killed in claymore attack

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 June 2000, 12:48 GMT]
The officer in charge of the elite Special Task Force (STF) commando camp in Thirukkovil, 77 kilometers south of Batticaloa, was killed Sunday morning around 11.30 a.m. when a claymore mine fixed to a bicycle exploded.
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More casualties due to SLA shelling

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 June 2000, 15:16 GMT]
One civilian died and two suffered severe injuries whenthe Sri Lankan Army (SLA) intensified their shelling inthe Thenmaradchi sector of the Jaffna Peninsula.
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'City of Trinco' trip cancelled

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 June 2000, 08:29 GMT]
Due to a confrontation between the Sri Lanka Navy and the Liberation Tigers in the seas of Mullaitivu, in the north-east of the island, the naval authorities suspended the sailing of the vessel 'City of Trinco' to Jaffna from Trincomalee Thursday morning. Informed sources said a SLN gunboat was damaged in the confrontation that took place on Wednesday night.
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Civilians hit by SLA shelling

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 June 2000, 11:22 GMT]
A civilian was killed and two others were wounded when shells fired by the Sri Lanka Army hit the Madduvil area in the Thenmaradchi sector of the Jaffna peninsula Sunday, the Voice of Tigers (VoT) radio said.
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Bishop says 500 civilian casualties in Madduvil

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 June 2000, 19:41 GMT]
The Bishop of the Catholic Church in Mannar Rt.Rev.Dr. Rayappu Joseph said in appeal sent to the heads of foreign missions in Colombo that there were more than five hundred civilian casualties due to bombing and shelling by Sri Lankan security forces in the Madduvil area, close to Chavakachcheri in Jaffna. "I am given to understand that the attitude of the armed forces is that 'it is better to kill the people than allow them to go into the LTTE controlled areas' the Bishop states in the appeal.
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Indian FM meets minority parties

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 June 2000, 12:00 GMT]
The Indian Foreign Minister Mr.Jaswant Singh held separate meetings with the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), a group comprising representatives of three hill country Tamil parties and five ex-Tamil militant groups at India House, the official residence of the Indian High Commissioner in Colombo Monday Afternoon. The brief discussions mainly centered around India's role as a mediator, devolution, the plight of civilians in the war zone and the need for a ceasefire. Mr. Singh reaffirmed India's stand on the unity, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Sri Lanka to the Tamil and Muslim delegations during his discussions with the minority parties this afternoon.
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Casualties from Jaffna fighting

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 June 2000, 12:08 GMT]
Twenty-five Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers, including a senior officer, were killed and about 50 others were wounded in the heavy fighting that erupted at Sarasalai in the Jaffna peninsula yesterday, SLA sources in Colombo said.
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ICRC, UNHCR urged over ceasefire for civilians

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 June 2000, 16:29 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers said Friday they had urged the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to help arrange a temporary ceasefire between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan armed forces to facilitate the evacuation of civilians trapped in the battle zones of the thenmaradchi division in the Jaffna peninsula. The civilians are unable to leave as the Sri Lankan armed forces are pounding the possible routes of evacuation, the Tigers said in a statement from their London offices.
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SLA assault repulsed -LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 June 2000, 15:21 GMT]
An offensive assault by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in the Sarasalai area of the Jaffna peninsula was repulsed Friday with heavy casualties, the Liberation Tigers said in a statement from their London offices. Civilian settlements in Maduvil and Sarasalai had been hit by artillery and rocket fire, killing six civilians and wounding scores, the statement added.
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One killed and five wounded in attacks

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 June 2000, 20:00 GMT]
Three military trained Policemen were wounded in the high security zone of Trincomalee town Tuesday night around 8.40 p.m. when a grenade was lobbed at their checkpoint by persons suspected to be Liberation Tigers. Meanwhile, a military trained Policeman was killed and two were wounded in another attack Monday night by the LTTE on a bunker at Poolavady near the border between the Ampara and Batticaloa districts.
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'Behaviour in combat' booklets for SLA

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 June 2000, 23:12 GMT]
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Thursday handed over to the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) 20,000 booklets and 6000 posters depicting basic rules for Behaviour in Combat. Ms. Isabelle Barras, Head of Delegation, ICRC Colombo, stressed that such publications, produced with the assistance of the ICRC, are principally designed as support material for instruction of the Law of Armed Conflict within the SLA.
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Passengers say Jaffna situation grim

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 31 May 2000, 11:05 GMT]
Students, government officers and Tamil expatriates from Jaffna who arrived in Trincomalee Wednesday on the passenger ship 'City of Trinco' said that civilians continue to live in fear and uncertainty in the peninsula. A group of university students and officers who spoke to TamilNet this morning said that the Jaffna municipal area is generally deserted and that the curfew imposed by the Sri Lankan army is lifted for only three hours from morning 9 a.m. to 12 noon during the day.
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MSF brings Jaffna wounded to Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 May 2000, 17:19 GMT]
Four civilians wounded in shelling in the Thenmaradchi division of Jaffna were transferred from Mallavi to Vavuniya hospital Monday by Medicins Sans Frontiers. The four are from the village of Madduvil south which was captured by the Liberation Tigers when they advanced on Chavakachcheri and its environs on May 19-20. They were brought overland through the Vanni from LTTE held sectors of Jaffna by the MSF.
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SLA silence stymies UNHCR effort

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 May 2000, 15:32 GMT]
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a press release issued in Colombo Sunday that it did not receive a response to a request it had made to the Sri Lankan government on May 6 that "military actions be suspended for the period of the LTTE declared cease-fire" on May 27 Saturday, "in the interest of the civilians, who may be moving during that time". The UNHCR had also asked the Sri Lankan government to indicate a safe route to areas held by the army but had got no reply from the Ministry of Defence according to the press release.
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Shelling thwarts civilian evacuation

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 May 2000, 18:12 GMT]
The evacuation of an estimated 15,000 civilians from the embattled Chavakachcheri sector failed Saturday, as heavy shelling by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) prevented them moving to designated points where UNHCR officials were waiting, following the declaration of a ceasefire by the Liberation Tigers, the LTTE said in a statement. The LTTE urged international governments to "prevail on the Sri Lankan armed forces to desist from using civilians as human shields and subjecting them to indiscriminate artillery and aerial bombardment".
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Shell kills one

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 May 2000, 17:42 GMT]
A civilian was killed and another wounded when the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) shelled Madduvil South, a village northwest of Chavakachcheri, this evening around 6.30 p.m., according to the Voice of Tigers radio.
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No response to ceasefire offer

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 May 2000, 16:29 GMT]
There was no official reaction from the Sri Lankan government to the ceasefire declared unilaterally by the Liberation Tigers Friday to enable civilians in the Thenmaradchi division and other sectors of the Jaffna peninsula to move out, with the assistance of the UNHCR, to designated safer areas. Sri Lankan army headquarters sources in Colombo peremptorily dismissed the LTTE ceasefire.
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Ceasefire to evacuate civilians - LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 May 2000, 17:16 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers will observe a temporary ceasefire between 10am and 10pm Saturday May 27 to facilitate the evacuation of civilians to safe areas from battlezeones of the Thenmarachchi division of the Jaffna peninsula, the LTTE said Friday in a statement from its London offices. The UNHCR is to assist the evacuation, the Tigers said. Over 40 civilians have been killed and 150 wounded by indiscriminate shelling and bombing by the Sri Lankan armed forces, the LTTE statement said, adding that the Sri Lankan military was also preventing civilians from moving to areas of safety.
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Radio says civilians killed in bombing

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 May 2000, 16:05 GMT]
Two civilians identified as Viswalingam and Ariyanayagam were killed and eighteen wounded in heavy bombing by Kfirs this morning on the village of Maravanpulavu, southwest of Chavakachcheri, this morning around 11 a.m. according to night news broadcast of the Voice of Tigers Friday. A young mother, Sivanesan Annaimary, and her infant son were killed when shells fired by the Sri Lanka army hit their house in Madduvil Sivankovilady this morning the VoT said.
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