SLA suffers casualties in Mannaar clashes - LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 February 2008, 09:23 GMT]
At least 13 Sri Lanka Army soldiers were killed and 28 wounded in the last 3-days clashes in Mannaar district and the border areas of Vavuniyaa, according to LTTE's Operations Commands in the region. On Tuesday, 6 SLA soldiers were killed when the SLA launched a ground push, attempting to advance towards Adampan, Tigers said. At least 26 SLA soldiers were wounded in direct clashes that lasted for almost for 4 hours. Seven SLA soldiers were gunned down by Tiger snipers on Wednesday and Thursday in Paalaikkuzhi area. In the meantime, two covert operations by SLA infiltration teams were thwarted while they were engaged in placing Claymore bombs in Valaiyankaddu and Pa'ndivirichchaan areas.
Full story >>

Tigers seize SLA weapons in Naakarkoayil clash

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 February 2008, 15:57 GMT]
Heavy fighting erupted between the Sri Lanka Army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam Thursday morning at 5:00 a.m. when an SLA unit, using tanks with artillery support fire, attempted to move towards LTTE Forward Defence Line at Naakarkoayil in Jaffna. The SLA sustained heavy casualties in the one-hour fighting, LTTE's Northern Forces Operations Command told reporters who were taken on a tour to Naakarkoayil FDL where the Tigers displayed ammunition and an assault rifle seized by them.
Full story >>

GOSL pays compensation to Ma'nalaa'ru injured

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 February 2008, 13:18 GMT]
Rishad Bathiyutheen, Minister of Resettlement & Disaster Relief Services, on the directions of Mahinda Rajapakse, President of Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL), forwarded compensation funds Tuesday to senior officials for distribution to the victims of Monday bomb blast in Ma'nalaa'ru .
Full story >>

4 civilians seek protection with HRC Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 February 2008, 11:04 GMT]
A young mother and her two children from Thenmaraadchi sought protection with the Human Rights Commission (HRC) offices in Jaffna Thursday due to death threats by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops and SLA-backed paramilitaries, HRC officials said. A neighbour of the family also sought protection with the HRC Thursday for the same reason.
Full story >>

Two siblings abducted, one shot dead, in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 February 2008, 10:47 GMT]
Unidentified armed men in a white van abducted a brother and sister Wednesday night, while Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers shot and killed another brother who tried to escape from the abductors near Chunnaakam Railway Station, according to a complaint registered with Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna by the parents Thursday.
Full story >>

Five employees of Social Welfare Organization Arrested

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 February 2008, 00:01 GMT]
Sammanthurai police arrested Tuesday afternoon five female employees at the Veeramunai office of a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) Social Welfare Organization of Ampaa'rai District (SWOAD), civil society sources in Ampaa'rai said.
Full story >>

Stop military aid to Sri Lanka: PDK submits one million signatures to Indian defence minister

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 February 2008, 19:57 GMT]
Several hundred activists of the Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (PDK) marched towards the Indian Parliament Wednesday morning demanding the Indian Government to immediately stop military aid and assistance to the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL). As a part of the protest, the activists, including 100 women and children, dressed as wounded Tamils marched from Jantar Mantar to Parliament Street and submitted a memorandum at the Prime Minister's office. PDK leaders on Thursday met Indian Defence Minister A K Antony at his residence and submitted a petition signed by one million Indian Tamils demanding that India stop all military aid to Sri Lanka.
Full story >>

Tiger artillery barrage destroys SLA bulldozers

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 February 2008, 18:58 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army bulldozers in Naakarkoayil Forward Defence Line, engaged in reconstructing damaged bunkers were smashed and destroyed in a targeted artillery barrage, LTTE Northern Forces Operations Command told media in Ki'linochchi Wednesday.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka parliament debates emergency extension motion

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 February 2008, 12:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mr.Ratnasiri Wickremanayake Wednesday moved a motion in parliament to extend the State of Emergency for another month. The State of Emergency is in force in the island since August, 2005.
Full story >>

2 SLA soldiers killed in Northern Front - LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 February 2008, 08:33 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army and Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam clashed Wednesday in all the four fronts of Northern Front, Ki'laali, Ka'ndal, Mukamaalai and Naakarkoayil, for one hour from 5:00 a.m. Two SLA soldiers were killed when LTTE fighters confronted the SLA, Northern Operations Command of the Tigers told media in Ki'linochchi.
Full story >>

PLOTE shuts down Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 February 2008, 08:23 GMT]
Vavuniyaa came to a standstill Wednesday when all public and private institutions were instructed by paramilitary operatives of PLOTE to protest against escalating Claymore attacks and blasts. There was no traffic or people on the roads except a few on push bikes and motor bicycles. Armed men who were on the look out for persons defying the shut down warned persons who were on the roads.
Full story >>

Two civilians injured in SLAF air attack

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 February 2008, 05:37 GMT]
Two civilians, including a school girl, were injured and two houses were destroyed in renewed air attack by Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) jets in Ki'linochchi, about 300 metres from Thiruvaiyaa'ru Mahavidyalayam (school), between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m., Wednesday, Ki'linochchi hospital sources said.
Full story >>

2 civilians abducted, 4 seek protection with Jaffna HRC

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 February 2008, 01:03 GMT]
Within the past five days, two familied men were abducted in the peninsula while four civilians, including a mother and her two children, sought protection with the Jaffna office of Human Rights Commission (HRC), civila society sources in Jaffna said.
Full story >>

SLA, LTTE clash in Ma'nalaa'ru

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 February 2008, 18:30 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army and Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam clashed for around 6 hours in no-man zone in Ma'nki'ndi Malai in Ma'nalaa'ru Tuesday from 9:00 a.m. The SLA unit that attempted to advance was withdrawn after stiff resistance by the Tigers, according to LTTE's Ma'nalaa'ru Operations Command.
Full story >>

Ma'nalaa'ru, Padaviyaa schools closed indefinitely

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 February 2008, 14:13 GMT]
Schools in Weli Oya (Ma'nalaa'ru) educational Zones in North Central province (NCP) region will be closed indefinitely in response to requests of parents of students attending these schools, Bertie Premlal Dissanayake, Chief Minister (CM) of NCP said Tuesday. The schools will be reopened after the security of the region is tightened, Mr Dissanayake added.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka Air Force strikes UN compounds, environs in Ki'linochchi

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 February 2008, 12:38 GMT]
Two civilians were killed and two wounded Tuesday evening when Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombed a suburb of Ki'linochchi town, firing air burst bombs over the UN compounds area with civilian settlements, 300 meters from UNICEF office near Kandasamy temple. A hostel used by UNDP and UNHCR staff workers was damaged in the attack.
Full story >>

SLN Dvora missing in the seas off Mannaar

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 February 2008, 05:50 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Navy Dvora Fast Attack Craft (FAC), with seven navy personnel on board, has been reported missing in the seas north of Mannaar, according to informed military sources. The last contact with the FAC was made at 6:30 p.m. Monday. However, official sources of the SLN said an Indian trawler had opened fire at the SLN Dvora when it went to help Indian fishermen who were seeking help from the attack craft.
Full story >>

'Hatching chicken from spoiled egg'

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 February 2008, 04:15 GMT]
Ruling out any constitutional reform and upholding a 'single unitary state', the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his 60th Independence Day speech harped on 'bringing the provincial administration closer to the people within the framework of the constitution' to resolve the ethnic crisis of Sri Lanka. “The solution must be based on what could be implemented in this country. We cannot offer solutions that are experiments,” he said. The challenge he stressed was the 'defeat of terrorism'. “Impotent of laying new eggs, the president is duping Tamils, promising to hatch an egg rotten for 60-years,” said Selvam Adaikkalanathan, Member of Parliament and the leader of TELO.
Full story >>

4 SLA, 10 civilians killed in Ma'nalaa'ru bus attack

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 February 2008, 11:20 GMT]
14 persons, including four Sri Lanka Army soldiers and 10 Sinhala civilians were killed when a Claymore attack targeted a bus carrying soldiers and civilians at Kobbekaduwa junction in Ma'nalaa'ru (Weli Oya) colonisation scheme Monday around 3:40 pm. At least 17 wounded in the blast.
Full story >>

4 SLA soldiers killed in Buttala ambush

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 February 2008, 10:47 GMT]
Four Sri Lanka Army soldiers were killed and three wounded in a Claymore ambush that targeted their tractor at Galge, 25 km southeast of Bhuttala town in Uva Province around 1:50 p.m., informed military sources in Colombo said. The attackers detonated a Claymore mine and opened fire at the tractor on Buttala - Kathirkaamam (Kataragama) Road.
Full story >>