SLA accused of using forced labour

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 April 1999, 23:07 GMT]
Human rights activists in Jaffna expressed concern today that the SLA (Sri Lankan Army) has begun to engage civilians in forced labour for security related tasks and to use them as human shields on the southeastern coast of the peninsula.
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Uyilankulam checkpoint closure leaves civilians stranded

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 April 1999, 18:28 GMT]
More than four thousand civilians from the Liberation Tigers controlled parts of the Vanni who had passed through the Uyilankulam SLA point before it was closed on April 18 are now stranded in Vavuniya and Mannar.
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News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 April 1999, 20:58 GMT]
Batticaloa MP appeals to President; President asked to follow United Nations procedure in mass graves Investigation; Refugees stranded on Jaffna lagoon and two reported missing in Jaffna.
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Jaffna local body opposes Sinhala on buses

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 April 1999, 07:58 GMT]
The Waligamam West Pradeshiya Sabha (PS) in Jaffna passed a resolution yesterday that passenger vans and buses in the peninsula should remove Sinhala from their destination boards. The local government body also passed a resolution that the SLA should immediately stop the census it is currently taking of the population in Jaffna.
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Investigate eastern graves - TULF MP

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 April 1999, 18:21 GMT]
Mr.Joseph Pararajasingham, MP for Batticaloa, called on the government today to investigate and excavate mass grave sites in the east where the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has allgedly massacred and buried hundreds of civilians, including children.
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CID interviews relatives of missing persons

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 April 1999, 15:42 GMT]
Fifteen Police officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrived in Jaffna today to interview parents and relatives of missing persons suspected to be buried in the alleged mass graves in Chemmani.
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Villagers find body in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 April 1999, 14:29 GMT]
The body of a woman, believed to be about 30 years old, was found by local residents in the area between Manatkaadu and Valipuram Aalvar Kovil (temple) in the Vadamaradchi East in the Jaffna peninsula.
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Body found in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 April 1999, 10:31 GMT]
Local residents found a decomposed body yesterday near the Earatpaeriaykulam reservoir, about 4 k.m. south of Vavuniya, said police sources. The police removed the body from the scene this morning and made arrangements for it be identified.
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Jaffna blast kills Lt. Colonel

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 April 1999, 07:36 GMT]
Three Sri Lanka Army personnel, including a Lt. Colonel and a Major, were killed and four others were wounded in a claymore mine explosion near Naakar Kovil in the Vadamaradchi East Jaffna, around 2.30 p.m. yesterday.
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News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 April 1999, 16:13 GMT]
Police post attacked in Eravur; 10 Tigers wounded in mortar attack near Mankulam; Red Cross driver arrested and Jaffna woman stabbed by robbers.
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Tigers fire on SLA camp

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 April 1999, 10:17 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers carried out a brief attack on the Sri Lanka Army detachment at Pillaiyaaradi, four kilometers north of the Batticaloa town, around 2 p.m. this afternoon, wounding a soldier. A woman in a nearby village was wounded by the army's heavy retaliatory fire following the attack.
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Two killed in Kandy bomb

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 April 1999, 03:13 GMT]
Two civilians were killed and three were wounded when a bomb went off in a bus parked in Kandy town this morning around 7.40 a.m.
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Vaakarai delegation meets army officer

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 April 1999, 23:51 GMT]
A two member delegation from Vaakarai North met the Commander Officer of the 23-2 Brigade, Col. A. Alwis, yesterday to discuss the effects of Sri Lankan Army restrictions on food and medicine on the civilians in the northern part of the Batticaloa district.
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Bishops protest SLA's presence in Madhu

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 April 1999, 12:47 GMT]
Deputy Minister of Defense Anuruddha Ratwatte speaking on the extension of emergency in Parliament yesterday said that the Army is in Madhu to clear the LTTE from the area and to make Madhu safe for civilians.
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News in Brief:

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 April 1999, 16:46 GMT]
Van that had been carrying TELO members set alight by armed men and cordon and search operation conducted this morning in Vadamaradchi East.
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Vanni Citizen's Committee requests help

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 April 1999, 23:13 GMT]
The Vanni Citizen's Committee has submitted a memorandum to the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Bishop of Mannar asking them to find out the whereabouts of 14 civilians who went missing after they were arrested by the Ranagosha security forces on March 18.
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Five killed in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 April 1999, 12:49 GMT]
Three SLA soldiers were killed and six were wounded when the Liberation Tigers attacked a group of SLA soldiers returning to their position around 6.10 a.m. this morning at the Puthuvelippaalam in Kaavaththamunai, four km. west of Valaichenai in the Batticaloa district.
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Three policemen killed

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 April 1999, 15:24 GMT]
Three Sri Lankan Policemen were killed in an attack by the Liberation Tigers tonight around 8.10 p.m. in Mutur, south of Trincomalee. Police sources in Trincomalee town said that the Tigers had ambushed a military trained Police patrol in Akkaraichenai, a suburb of the town.
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Quarterly meetings keep Jaffna council alive

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 March 1999, 20:35 GMT]
The Jaffna Municipal council was convened today by the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF). The meeting was held at the office of the EPRLF on Hospital street in the high security zone of Jaffna town following PLOTE's refusal to attend the event at the TULF's office for security reasons.
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Police search PLOTE, TELO camps

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 March 1999, 16:50 GMT]
The offices and camps of the PLOTE and the TELO were searched by the Sri Lankan Police yesterday and this morning. Police sources in Vavuniya said that the search was conducted following complaints by international human rights organisations that the paramilitary groups had arrested, detained and tortured civilians.
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