Mannar Police interrogates, detains photographer

[TamilNet, Saturday, 31 December 2005, 16:44 GMT]
Mr.Thevarajah Kirubakaran, 29, father of one child and a photographer by profession, was taken into custody by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) on December 29 at the site where a claymore mine was recovered near the Mannar Bishop's House and is being detained in the Mannar Police Station for further investigations. SLN handed over Mr.Kirubakaran to the Mannar Police on December 30, human rights sources said.


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Claymore discovery, a deception by SLN, SLA, says LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 December 2005, 11:49 GMT]
The alleged discovery of claymore mines by the Sri Lanka security forces in Mannar Pattithottam area and along Mannar-Madavachchi road is a canard concocted by the Security forces to create a war atmosphere in the area, said the Mannar district Political Wing of the Liberation Tigers in a press release issued Friday. "We deny any involvement in the planting of these mines and condemn the Sri Lanka security forces for creating conditions where Mannar residents can be subjected to further harassment and indiscriminate attacks," said the release.
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SLN's restrictions strip Mannar fishermen of livelihood- Selvam

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 December 2005, 10:50 GMT]
Mr.Selvam Adaikalanathan, Wanni district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Thursday appealed to Sri Lanka's President Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse by a memorandum to take immediate steps to lift the ban on using boats with 30 HP engines and restrictions in taking kerosene by fishermen of Mannar district. He said the restrictions imposed by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) after the violent incidents of December 22 have deprived the livelihood of many local fishermen.


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Four claymore mines recovered in Mannar - SLA, SLN

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 December 2005, 10:18 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) troopers recovered two Claymore mines and Sri Lanka Army (SLN) soldiers recovered two more Claymore mines Thursday in Mannar according to the Police in Mannar. The mines were tied to trees, sources added.
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SLMM chief reiterates call for direct dialogue

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 December 2005, 09:35 GMT]
Hagrup Haukland, the Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, in a press statement issued from Colombo on Thursday, condemning the claymore attack on the Sril Lanka Army vehicle on Tuesday as well as all other attacks, has called the parties for direct dialogue. The spiral of violence is not conducive to a such high-level meeting, he said, clarifying that his monitors were still operating in Jaffna-, Mannar-, Vavuniya-, Trincomalee-, Batticaloa- and Ampara districts. However, the Nordic monitors cannot operate in an insecure environment that has made the work increasingly difficult for his monitors, the SLMM chief has warned.
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Solheim calls for urgent talks

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 December 2005, 11:25 GMT]
Norwegian Development Minister Mr. Erik Solheim on Tuesday expressed concern at the recent acts of violence including shooting of civilians near Jaffna University, attacks on Sri Lankan Military personnel and civilians, Claymore attacks, violence against Muslims and the assassination of parliamentarian Joseph Pararajasingham during Mass on Christmas Eve, and urged the two parties to meet urgently to strengthen the CeaseFire Agreement. Attending a one-year Tsunami remembrance event in Oslo on Monday, Erik Solheim has gone on record saying that "Norway was even prepared to take the parties to the moon" if that was the only venue left for talks.
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Refugee homes gutted by fire in Pesalai

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 December 2005, 16:05 GMT]
Eleven temporary shelters with cadjan roof tops, out of more than one hundred such huts in the open refugee camp (ORC) located in the premises of the Ceylon Fisheries Corporation in Pesalai in Mannar district, were gutted by fire Tuesday afternoon around 2.30 p.m. The families have lost all their belongings and have been given shelter in the Vettrimatha Church, which is now housing several families driven out of the One Hundred Housing Scheme following the claymore mine attack on Sri Lanka Navy personnel, sources said.
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Eleven SLA soldiers killed in Claymore attack

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 December 2005, 07:36 GMT]
Eleven SLA soldiers were killed and six wounded in a Claymore ambush on a Sri Lanka Army convoy near the Regional Bus Depot, 1 km south of Point Pedro town on Jaffna-Point Pedro road at 12:50 p.m. Tuesday, Police said. Three civilians who were shot by the SLA troopers following the ambush were rushed to Point Pedro Teaching Hospital, medical sources said. Tension prevails in Point Pedro.
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28 wounded, 13 hospitalized in SLN revenge attack on IDPs

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 December 2005, 16:57 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) soldiers Friday evening around 5:30 p.m. entered the settlement of Internally Displaced People (IDP), the Victoria Hundred Houses scheme, and attacked the civilians with batons, bike-chains and shoes after tying their hands and legs. Eleven persons, 9 males and 2 females, were admitted to the Peripheral Medical unit in Pesalai and two men requiring further medical care were rushed to Mannar General Hospital. Another 15 persons, with minor injuries, have returned after treatment at OPD (Out Patients Department), medical sources said. Meanwhile, more than 100 families living along Talaimannar-Pesalai Road have moved into the Vetrimatha Church in Pesalai for safety.
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Grenade attacks in Puttur, Katkovalam sentry points, 2 soldiers injured

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 December 2005, 11:29 GMT]
Unidentified men Friday morning around 5.30 a.m. lobbed a grenade at the checkpoint of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) located along the sea shore near Katkovalam in Vadamarachchi-Point Pedro area in Jaffna district. One soldier was reported injured, sources said. In another similar attack one SLA soldier was injured when unidentified persons lobbed a grenade at the army sentry point located at Ramavil area between Kodikamam and Puttur in Jaffna district, sources in Jaffna said.
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Thirteen SLN troopers killed in Claymore attack in Mannar

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 December 2005, 09:21 GMT]
Thirteen Sri Lanka Navy sailors were killed and more than fifteen sailors were wounded in a Claymore attack on their bus in Pesalai 15 km northwest of Mannar around 1:30 p.m. Friday, SLN sources said. The vehicle, a bus, sustained heavy damage and has burned down, according to civilian sources. Sri Lanka Military has blocked all traffic.
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Attacks escalate in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 December 2005, 08:42 GMT]
Unidentified gunmen and Sri Lanka Army soldiers exchanged gunfire for more than five minutes near Ainthusanthi, a junction in the outer suburb of Jaffna town around 4:30 p.m. Thursday. Four civilians, severely beaten up by the soldiers, were rushed to Jaffna Hospital. A policeman was wounded at Kantharmadam junction, 300 meters away from the University of Jaffna, around 1:00 p.m., when unidentified attackers launched an attack on the troopers, Police said. An SLA vehicle narrowly escaped from a claymore attack at Nelliyadi in Vadamardhci around 5:30 a.m. Thursday. Grenade attacks were reported in Ariyalai, Kopay, and near Nachimar Temple in Jaffna. Tension prevails in Jaffna.
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SLA attacks Irupalai auto-rickshaw drivers

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 December 2005, 13:04 GMT]
Drivers of auto-rickshaws at Irupalai junction located on Jaffna-Point Pedro road Irupalai, 5 km North east of Jaffna town, were attacked again Sunday morning by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers, in retaliation for complaining to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Saturday afternoon when SLA soldiers had attacked them and forced them away from the junction threatening them not to return.
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Claymore attack on unmanned SLA post in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 December 2005, 06:12 GMT]
A claymore mine went off Monday morning around 7:00 a.m. at an unmanned SLA post on Vavuniya - Mannar road at Varikuddiyoor, 12 km northwest of Vavuniya town, poice said. Additional troopers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), Special Task Force (STF) and policemen were deployed and the security was beefed up in Vavuniya on Monday.
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Claymore attack in East, 2 SLA soldiers wounded

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 December 2005, 04:50 GMT]
Two Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were seriously injured when unidentified attackers detonated a claymore mine at a foot patrol of twelve SLA soldiers in Vantharumoolai, 17 km northwest of Batticaloa town. The attack took place Monday morning around 7:30 a.m. near the Eastern University building on Batticaloa - Valaichenai main road, police said.
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Exert pressure to curb military violence, IFT urges International Community

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 December 2005, 14:53 GMT]
The Geneva based International Federation of Tamils (IFT), a consortium of more than 150 expatriate Tamil organizations, in a media statement released on Friday appealed to the International Community to exert its influence on the Government of Sri Lanka to help bring normalcy in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled areas in the Northeast.
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Clause 1.8 key to saving truce - paper

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 December 2005, 15:34 GMT]
Arguing that “a period of mutual de-escalation and confidence building is a sine quo non if a meaningful peace process is to resume,” the Tamil Guardian newspaper said this week “[this] must begin with an end to the Army’s covert onslaught,” in reference to the ongoing shadow war by Army-backed paramilitaries against LTTE members and supporters. Despite the recent sharp rise in violence, fears of an imminent war are overstated, the Diaspora newspaper argued, noting that this is not the first time incidents involving heavy loss of life have occurred since the February 2002 ceasefire.
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Student protests to widen

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 December 2005, 01:57 GMT]
Jaffna Student Consortium said Tuesday evening that they have decided to expand the protests across Jaffna district schools Wednesday since the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has not met the demands by the protesting Hartley College students and has continued to use force to suppress student actions the last two days, sources in Jaffna said.
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Claymore attack on SLA vehicle in Jaffna, Seven dead

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 December 2005, 04:29 GMT]
Six Sri Lanka Army soldiers and an SLA official were killed in a Claymore mine attack on a SLA tractor in Irupalai, 5 km North east of Jaffna town Tuesday at 10:00 a.m., police said. The explosion took place 200 meters west of Irupalai junction on Jaffna - Point Pedro road. SLA soldiers at the site opened fire following the attack and cordoned off the site, civilian sources said. Traffic remains blocked and the civilians were seen moving from the area.
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Six SLA soldiers killed, four wounded in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 December 2005, 08:49 GMT]
Six Sri Lanka Army soldiers were killed and four wounded when a claymore mine hit their tractor Sunday at 12:52 p.m. 200 meters south of Kondavil Junction on Palaly Road in Jaffna. Wounded soldiers were rushed to Palaly Military hospital, civilian sources said. SLA soldiers cordoned off the site, blocked all the traffic and started to attack the civilians in the area, sources added. Tension prevails in the area.
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