STF shoots dead Tamil man in Ampaa'rai

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 April 2008, 09:49 GMT]
Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) commandos Thursday night opened fire and killed a 37-year-old Tamil man at Naavithanve'li in Ampaa'rai district, Police said. Alleging that the slain man was a LTTE member, the STF has claimed to have seized a 9 mm pistol from the victim. Another person had escaped from the site with injuries, Police said adding that it was an ambush by the STF.
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Colombo bars journalists access to wounded soldiers

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 April 2008, 07:04 GMT]
Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) officials have barred photographers from entering hospitals in Colombo where Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers injured in battle are being treated according to complaints received from four journalists, said Colombo based media watchdog Free Media Movement on Friday. Stating that only some foreign wire services and few news websites operating from Colombo reported the battle front casualties independent of government press releases, the FMM said the right of the public to know information and news related to the on going war is severely undermined by the restrictions placed on journalists.
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Tigers seize more arms, ammunition in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 April 2008, 03:12 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Operations Command in Mannaar told media Friday that the Tigers who confronted the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) that launched an offensive push Thursday morning in Mannaar seized further arms and ammunitions in addition to five T-56 assault rifles reported on Thursday.
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47 Tamil civilians arrested at Dehiwela, Chilaw

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 April 2008, 00:29 GMT]
42 Tamils including 4 women were arrested in Dehiwala, and five Tamils including 2 women wre arrested at Chilaw in two separate cordon and search operations conducted by the police and Sri Lanka Army (SLA), and are being detained in police stations in Colombo and Chilaw, reports from Colombo said.
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Army bars Gen. Janaka Perera for criticizing war

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 April 2008, 18:56 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government this week ordered the Army to bar a celebrated former general from henceforth setting foot into its camps. The move comes after Maj. Gen. Janaka Perera criticized the Rajapaksa government’s conduct of the war against the Tamil Tigers. Saying that the government’s self-imposed deadlines “were not realistic”, Gen. Perera last month questioned the wisdom of waging protracted war against the LTTE and warned that battle fatigue would set in and sap the military’s will to fight.
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SLA toll mounts, 'feint' said to have drawn troops into ambush

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 April 2008, 18:51 GMT]
Even before the Tamil Tigers handed back the bodies of 28 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers left behind by their retreating comrades following Wednesday’s pitched battle in the Jaffna peninsula, the bodies of 143 other soldiers had been brought to three funeral parlours in Colombo, a pro-opposition website reported. Meanwhile, CNN quoted 'highly placed' army sources as saying the SLA had been drawn into an ambush when it launched an offensive against LTTE positions Wednesday.
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New Year Grand Fair to be held in Durraiappah Stadium, Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 April 2008, 18:41 GMT]
Jaffna Government Agent (GA) and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) have jointly invited Jaffna peninsula residents to take part in the one day Grand Fair that is to be held in Jaffna Durraiappah Stadium Saturday as a New Year event, the report issued to the media in Jaffna by GA and SLA Thursday night said.
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Gunmen fire at SLA patrol unit in Meesaalai

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 April 2008, 13:14 GMT]
Unidentified armed men opened rapid fire Wednesday around 7:00 p.m on a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) road patrol unit returning to their camp, on Jaffna-Kandy road in Meesaalai area in Thenmaraadchi, sources in Jaffna said. The SLA troops retaliated with gunfire and the duel lasted for more than 10 minutes after which the attackers withdrew from the place. No news on casualties or injuries is available.
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Tigers hand over 28 SLA bodies to ICRC

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 April 2008, 10:52 GMT]
LTTE's NGO and U.N. Liaison Officer M. Pavarasan Thursday afternoon at 12:45 p.m. handed over 28 dead bodies of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers located by the Tigers in the Northern Front on Wednesday to ICRC representative Franche Roy at Ki'linochchi Central Playground. Tigers said there were still body parts and decomposed bodies lying in the no-man zone and provided identification details of 6 SLA soldiers in addition to the details of 14 SLA soldiers identification details provided on Wednesday.
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Sri Lanka police hands over 6 dead bodies to Jaffna Hospital

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 April 2008, 10:06 GMT]
Police in Kodikaamam on Thursday handed over six dead bodies, of three males and three females, claiming that the bodies were of Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) combatants, recovered by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) at Mukamaalai in the Northern Front, on Wednesday.
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20 SLA killed, weapons seized in Mannaar fighting - LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 April 2008, 09:40 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan Thursday said that the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) abandoned a fresh attempt to advance in Mannaar from Cheaththukku'lam east of Thirukkeatheeswaram towards Veaddaiyaamu'rippuk-u'lam after heavy resistance from the Tigers. The offensive push was launched by the SLA around 5:45 a.m. with the support of Main Battle Tanks and artillery fire. Upto 20 SLA soldiers were killed, more than 30 SLA wounded in the confrontation. One LTTE fighter was killed in action, according to Mr. Ilanthirayan.
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SLMC headquarters searched by Police in Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 April 2008, 18:42 GMT]
The headquarters of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) located in Colombo was searched by the police Wednesday afternoon. Officer-in-Charge of the Fort Police Station, Jayaratne Manamperi told media persons that the SLMC headquarters had been searched on receipt of information that a member of the underworld criminal gang operating from Slave Island was hiding there.
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Tigers release details of arms, ammunition seized in Northern Front

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 April 2008, 18:15 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan on Wednesday evening told TamilNet that Tige forces under the leadership of Commander Theepan confronted the SLA units for ten-and-a-half hours, from 02:30 a.m. till 12:40 p.m. along a 7 km wide defence line in the large scale operation launched by the Sri Lanka Army. 30 SLA bodies were recovered by the Tigers. Arrangements were being made to hand over the mortal remains of the SLA soldiers killed in action to their parents. 60 guns including tank mounted PKT machine guns, Rocket Propelled Grenade Launchers and forty-five assault rifles were seized by the Tigers.
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SLA announces new amnesty for deserted soldiers

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 April 2008, 14:53 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has announced Wednesday another amnesty for soldiers deserted from the force. The amnesty period is to commence on May 2 till May 16, according to military spokesman, Brigadier Udaya Nanayakara.
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Tamil Nadu Assembly urges India to take steps for Lankan peacetalks

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 April 2008, 14:10 GMT]
Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Friday passed a resolution urging the Indian Government to initiate steps to restore talks between the warring sections in Sri Lanka to find a political solution to the Sri Lankan ethnic crisis after a special calling attention motion was introduced after the question hour.
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150 SLA killed, Tigers locate 30 SLA bodies in Northern Front

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 April 2008, 11:56 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) officials in Ki'linochchi said the Tigers have located more than 30 dead bodies of the SLA soldiers in the clearing mission so far in the Northern Front after a major operation by the SLA was thwarted by them. 28 dead bodies were brought to Ki'linochchi. Meanwhile, a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) source, which didn't wish to be named, verified that 104 dead bodies were initially recovered by the army and more than 400 were wounded. The source further said at least 150 soldiers were killed in action. In the meantime, a Colombo bound passenger said he had seen 12 bus loads of dead and wounded soldiers being rushed to the runway in Palaali military complex.
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LTTE thwarts offensive in Northern Front

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 April 2008, 07:46 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) units that attempted to break the Forward Defence Line of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) in Ki'laali, Mukamaalai and on several other positions were forced to retreat, leaving behind dead bodies of their troopers, according to LTTE's Northern Forces Operations Command. Heavy fighting lasted till 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The SLA has suffered heavy casualties as the Tigers put up stiff resistance.
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Heavy fighting erupts in Northern Front

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 23:17 GMT]
Heavy fighting was reported between the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) along the Forward Defence Line of the Northern Front, in the early hours of Wednesday. LTTE defensive formations were confronting the SLA units that have mounted offensive attacks simulatenously at several locations around 3:30 a.m., according to the initial reports from LTTE's Northern Forces Operations Command. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Army sources in Jaffna confirmed that the SLA had launched an offensive in the Northern Front.
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Remains of Fr. Karunaratnam interred in Vavunikku’lam

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 19:10 GMT]
Thousands of people stood in tearful reverence when the remains of Rev. Father M X Karunaratnam, the chairman of the NorthEast Secretariat on Human Rights (NESoHR), slain in a Claymore attack by a Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) of the Sri Lanka Army on Sunday, were interred in Vavunikku’lam Annai Vea’laangka’n’ni church cemetery Tuesday evening.
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2 young Tamils shot dead in Naanaaddaan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 15:21 GMT]
Armed men shot and killed two young Tamil fishermen at Achangku'lam in Naanaaddaan division, Mannaar district Tuesday around 7:00 p.m., Police said. The fishermen were Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Musali division, displaced last year from Arippu when SLA occupied Chilaavaththu'rai.
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