Mihin Lanka flies into turbulance

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 March 2008, 23:41 GMT]
Eleven months after beginning operations, Mihin Lanka, a low cost Air Lines fully owned and funded by the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL), is facing a loss of Rs.300 million, and if the economic performance does not improve soon, the airline may face bankruptcy, airline industry observers in Colombo said.
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Stray cattle beat SLA cordon in Thenmaraadchi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 March 2008, 17:50 GMT]
The cattle-roundup-day organized by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Saturday when the SLA allowed displaced Tamil families from the Thenamaraadchy High Security Zone (HSZ) including Thananki'lappu and Maravanpulo areas to take back the cattle left behind, ended in failure as only five cows out of the more than 6000 were caught in the "net," residents of Thenmaraadchi who followed the event told TamilNet.
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15 SLA soldiers killed in Ma'nalaa'ru

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 March 2008, 07:23 GMT]
At least 15 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and 18 wounded when the Liberation Tigers counter attacked and repulsed an SLA offensive in the Ma'nalaa'ru sector, Friday, Liberation Tigers operations command in Ma'nalaa'ru said Saturday morning.
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LTTE: 3 SLA attempts thwarted, weapons seized

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 March 2008, 07:01 GMT]
22 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed Friday when Tigers confronted 3 different SLA attempts to advance into Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) territory in Vanni, the Tigers said. The LTTE Ma'nalaa'ru Operations Command said that the Tigers have seized two AK LMGs, two Law rockets, two T-56 assault rifles, communication equipment and ammunitions after defeating the SLA in Kokkuththoduvaay in Ma'nalaa'ru (Weli Oya) region where 15 SLA soldiers were killed. Meanwhile, Mannaar Operations Command of the Tigers claimed 7 SLA soldiers were killed and 18 wounded when the Tigers thwarted SLA attempt to break into LTTE territory on two fronts Friday morning.
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India should not collaborate in genocide of Tamils: Tamil Protection Movement

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 March 2008, 22:19 GMT]
The Tamil Protection Movement (TPM), an umbrella organization consisting of pro-Eelam political parties, NGOs, members of the film fraternity and Tamil associations, condemned the Indian state for extending military support to the genocidal Sri Lankan Government. In a joint statement issued on behalf of the TPM, Paaddaa'li Makka'l Kadchi (PMK, Toilers' Party) founder-leader S Ramadoss and Viduthalai Chi'ruththaika'l Kadchi (VCK, Liberation Panthers Party) President Thol Thirumavalavan, demanded the "Indian Government to radically change its approach and actions in the Sri Lankan Tamils issue" and warned the union government not to be seen as collaborating in Sri Lanka's genocide of Tamils.
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SLA Major succumbs to wounds from Tiger booby trap in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 March 2008, 16:58 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army (SLA) commander in the 58 division, Major Keerthi Ranawaka, who hit a booby trap set by the Tigers 3-days ago and seriously wounded in the explosion when he went to inspect the Forward Defence Line of the fighting formations of the SLA in Mannaar, succumbed to his wounds Friday, informed military sources said. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
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Public Transport crisis feared in Jaffna peninsula

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 March 2008, 16:26 GMT]
Sri Lanka Electricity Board (SLEB) which supplies fuel and oil to Jaffna Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) has informed that it may have to suspend supplies to Jaffna SLTB if the arrears of 51 million rupees due is not paid, Koa’ndaavil SLTB head office sources said. Already 40 buses in the three depots of Jaffna SLTB are not functioning due to lack of spare tires, and if SLEB suspends supply the entire bus service may ground to a halt, the sources added.
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8 days, 35 explosions, SLA suffers casualties in Mannaar: LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 March 2008, 16:03 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Operations Command Mannaar on Wednesday said that 35 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops have been either wounded or killed in booby trap explosions in no-go zones between the LTTE and SLA FDLs in Mannaar from 02 March to 10 March in 35 separate incidents. Members of SLA Deep Penetration Units (DPU) and troops deployed in attempts to break into LTTE FDLs are the ones who were caught in Tiger booby traps according to the LTTE.
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Stop Indian military aid to Sri Lanka: Tamil Nadu leaders

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 March 2008, 14:44 GMT]
New Delhi unabashedly rolling the red carpet to Sri Lankan military chief Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka has caused a furore among Tamil Nadu politicians who have urged the Indian Central Government to "stop all military aid to the genocidal government of Sri Lanka." Paddali Makkal Kadchi (PMK, Toilers' Party) founder-leader S Ramadoss and Viduthalai Chiruththaikal Kadchi (VCK, Liberation Panthers Party) President Thol Thirumavalavan accused the Central Government of sabotaging Tamil aspirations on the Sri Lankan issue by lending support to the military-backed genocide of the Eelam Tamils.
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SLA unloads ammunition consignments in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 March 2008, 11:23 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) vessels carrying large consignments of weapons to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) are reported being unloaded Tuesday and Wednesday in Kaangkeasanththu'rai (KKS) harobour, informed sources in Colombo said. Meanwhile, convoys of covered SLA heavy vehicles were seen going from KKS harobour to the Northern Front Defence Line (FDL) areas in Mukamaalai and Naakarkoayil in Vadamaraadchi east day and night on both days.
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No compensation in sight for Vaakarai, Champoor victims

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 March 2008, 11:14 GMT]
Even after a lapse of one-and-a-half-year, the families of at least 100 civilians killed and 84 wounded in Vaakarai region of Batticaloa district during Sri Lanka Army (SLA) offensive, are still waiting for their compensations from the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL). In the meantime, the families of the victims of previous SLA offensives before the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA), who were assured of their sanctioned compensations, complained that the authorities were still delaying their payments. Before the local elections in Batticaloa in March 2008, the GoSL offered some fishing nets to fishermen societies and gifted 25,000 rupees per temple in Vaakarai.
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RSF: Tamil journalists beaten in detention to extract confessions

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 March 2008, 02:26 GMT]
Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF), a Paris-based media watchdog, in a press release issued Wednesday, accused Sri Lanka Police for arresting five Tamil journalists on false information and beating them during detention, and said that the Police action was intended to extract confessions from the detainees. RSF urged Sri Lankan authorities to explain why the journalists are still being held.
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US must rethink its narrow focus on terrorism - Armitage

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 March 2008, 18:15 GMT]
Former deputy secretary of state Richard L. Armitage this week urged sweeping changes to current U.S. foreign policy, arguing that the superpower needs to replace its almost exclusive focus on fighting terrorism with a broader agenda. “If your foreign policy is just organized around the global war on terror, you’re missing the bet. I think a new paradigm will emerge. I don’t know what it will be, but in the interim we need to engage with friends and frankly engage with our enemies. Actually, it might be more important to engage with our enemies,” he told The Washington Diplomat journal.
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Take back Kachchatheevu: Indian Parliamentarians

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 March 2008, 16:31 GMT]
In a rare display of unity and concern, members of the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of the Indian Parliament), cutting across party lines, urged the Centre to take back the Kachchatheevu island from Sri Lanka in the wake of continued killing and arrests of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lanka Navy. This is the first time when the demand to immediately take back the Kachchatheevu island has been made at the national level.
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SLA, LTTE clash in Pa'ndivirichchaan

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 March 2008, 12:26 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) confronted Sri Lanka Army (SLA) that attempted to advance from Periya Pa'ndivirichchaan Wednesday at 1:00 a.m. The SLA movement was thwarted following an intensive fighting that lasted for 30 minutes, according to the LTTE Operations Command in Mannaar.
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Shaping India's policy on Sri Lanka: a reader's response

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 March 2008, 01:08 GMT]
"Those who watch the current developments sense a race against time on the part of India in achieving something militarily in Sri Lanka. At times it looks as though it is India’s war," writes a reader from Tamil Nadu in response to the LTTE's statement on Monday. "The Refuse-to-Retire advisors cum analysts of India, whose writings often reek of revenge, sometimes back came out with enticing hints that the target is only the leadership of the LTTE, and thereafter India will protect the Tamils. Have these advisors ever seen in their lifetime India proving its credibility in safeguarding Tamil rights in Sri Lanka or for that matter, at least India winning a diplomatic war with Sri Lanka?"
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Moves afoot to bring Sinhalese port workers to KKS harbour

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 March 2008, 17:32 GMT]
Commissioner of Essential Services (CoES) in Colombo is making arrangements to employ Sinhalese port workers in Kaangkeasanththu’rai (KKS) harbour in unloading goods shipped from Colombo, civil society sources in Jaffna said. Representatives of the consortium of Jaffna fisheries societies raised concern with the Government Agent of Jaffna on the likely loss of income of the peninsula fishermen who are currently employed as laborers in KKS harbor.
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Power cut extended in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 March 2008, 16:50 GMT]
Sri Lanka Electricity Board (SLEB) Jaffna branch announced Tuesday an increase of the existing one hour power cut by 15 minutes due to reduction of electricity supply to Chunnaakam SLEB by Cool Air from Kaangkeasanththu’rai (KKS) from Tuesday. The cuts do not apply to the High Security Zones (HSZ) of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in the peninsula, the announcement said.
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60 SLA killed in 48 hours in Mannaar - LTTE

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 March 2008, 13:40 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Operations Command in Mannaar told TamilNet Tuesday that 60 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed on Sunday and Monday when the Tigers confronted 3 major attempts by the SLA to advance into LTTE territory in Mannaar. At Paalaikkuzhi, a large ground push launched by the SLA was thwarted by the Tigers on Monday in which 20 SLA soldiers were killed and 63 wounded. Simultaneously, the SLA has suffered heavy casualties on another push, at Parappaangka'ndal. Further, the LTTE claimed that its snipers have gunned down 18 SLA soldiers on Monday. On Sunday, 22 SLA soldiers were killed in the jungle area of Karampaikku'lam in Keerisuddaan.
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Gunmen shoot dead fisherman, youth in Kalmunai

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 March 2008, 08:20 GMT]
Two unidentified gunmen shot and killed Monday around 6:45 p.m. a Sinhalese fish monger who engages in blast fishing in Kalmunai in Ampaa'rai district. The killers, after slaying the fisherman at his house, went to a nearby shrub where they had hidden their motorbike. When they were disturbed by a youth, they shot and killed him. An STF trooper, alerted by the killed youth, was wounded when he confronted the escaping gunmen. The episode comes in the wake of a protest by Muslim fishermen in the area against dynamite fishing.
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