Silencing Tamil voices, genocidal tactic - Puleedevan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 17:31 GMT]
Director of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Peace Secretariat, S. Puleedevan, on Thursday charged that the Government of Sri Lanka, locked in a military mindset, has been eliminating Tamil politicians who voiced for Tamil rights, irrespective of their political alignment. Mr. Puleedevan was referring to the slaying of the Colombo Tamil parliamentarian T. Maheswaran of the United National Party on New Year's Day inside a Sivan temple in Colombo.
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Family man seeks protection with HRC Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 17:20 GMT]
A family man from Navaali in Valikaamam sought protection with Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna office Thursday as he was continuously threatened to death by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops and SLA-backed paramilitary men. The man was placed in the protective custody of Jaffna Prison. The number of civilians seeking protection with HRC is on the increase at an alarming rate.
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SLA in Jaffna disrupts mourning events for slain MP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 16:51 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers on Thursday forced shop owners in Jaffna city to keep their shops that were shut down to mourn the slain former Jaffna district parliamentarian T. Maheswaran, who was assassinated on New Year day allegedly by SLA-backed paramilitary men while he was worshiping in a Saiva temple in Colombo.
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SLA advance in Vavuniyaa defeated, 3 SLA killed - LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 14:02 GMT]
A ground operation launched by the Sri Lanka Army in Paalamoaddai in Vavuniyaa - Mannaar border area was defeated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam in a clash in which three SLA soldiers were killed and seven wounded. The Tigers have seized military hardware in the clearing operation after the clash. The clash lasted for 40-minutes, LTTE's operations command in Vavuniyaa told media in Ki'linochchi Thursday.
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2007: The year in review

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 07:34 GMT]
For the people of the NorthEast, 2007 was a grim year. Sri Lanka’s security forces and allied paramilitaries intensified their campaign of abductions (‘white van’ abductions), torture, and murder of Tamil civilians. Tamil civil society leaders bore the brunt of the counter-insurgency campaign. Jaffna remained an open prison with shortage of essential items, east falling under the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) control with thousands displaced as Colombo concocts colonization schemes to make east a Sinhala majority province.
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2 SLA killed, 4 wounded in Ma'nalaa'ru pressure mine attack

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 05:07 GMT]
At least two Sri Lanka Army were killed in a pressure mine ambush that targeted an SLA truck on Yakawewa Padaviyaa Road, at Sinhayaulpatha in Ma'nalaa'ru (Weli Oya) region, bordering Kebithigollewa of Vavuniyaa district, Thursday morning around 9:30 a.m., Sri Lankan military officials told media. Four wounded soldiers were rushed to hospitals.
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Tigers thwart SLA movement in Mannaar, 10 killed

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 January 2008, 03:49 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army on Thursday suffered heavy casualties and abandoned a ground offensive through Ku'lakkaddu in Paalaikkuzhi in Mannaar, according to initial details released by the Mannaar operations command of the Tigers. The Tigers mounted stiff resistance against the SLA troops that were backed by heavy artillery and Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher fire since 5:30 a.m. Around 10 SLA troopers were killed and more than 15 wounded in the offensive push which was thwarted at 11:30 a.m., the Tigers said.
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2008 will bring clarity to Sri Lanka conflict- Balakumaran

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 January 2008, 16:54 GMT]
"The International Community has been vacillating in taking decisive actions on Sri Lanka because they are unable to relate their own interests to the chaotically unfolding political and military situation in Sri Lanka. Only the demonstration of military strength by the Tigers can bring clarity to the situation, for the international community to correctly relate their interests, and assertively engage," said Balakumaran, a Senior Member of Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam, during a Political Analysis program, Nilavaram, in National Television of Tamileelam (NTT), this week.
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SLAF bombs Mullaiththeevu thrice, 2 civilians wounded

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 January 2008, 13:49 GMT]
Two civilians were wounded Wednesday in A'lampil in Mullaiththeevu district when Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombed a civilian area there, Tamileelam police officials said. Two civilians were rushed to hospital with injuries. The SLAF bombers also attacked two other places in the district, but there were no casualties, according to the Police.
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4 SLA soldiers killed in Northern Front - LTTE

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 January 2008, 13:45 GMT]
Four Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and many wounded in two clashes in Ki'laali and Mukamaalai in Northern Front Wednesday, LTTE Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan told TamilNet. Meanwhile, sources in Jaffna said that the people hurried home early from their places of work, scared by the intense artillery fire directed towards LTTE positions from the SLA bases in Jaffna. SLA helicopters were seen flying between the FDL poisitions and Palaali Military Main Base.
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EU condemns Maheswaran assassination, expresses dismay at escalating violence

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 January 2008, 13:21 GMT]
The European Union, in a press release issued Wednesday, condemned unreservedly the assassination of Thyagarajah Maheswaran, the Tamil parliamentarian of the opposition United National Party, who was slain inside a Saiva temple while attending New Year's prayers on January 01.
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Mano Ganesan sends back his security personnel to MSD

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 January 2008, 13:09 GMT]
Stating that under-numbered guards from Ministerial Security Division (MSD) cannot provide meaningful security to him, the Western Province Peoples Front leader and Convener of the Civil Monitoring Commission, turned down a latest offer of increasing the security guards by three by the MSD, after the assassination of fellow Tamil parliamentarian T. Maheswaran. By slashing down the number of security personnel, the MSD is not only putting the parliamentarian's life in danger, but also endangering the lives of remaining security personnel, Mr. Mano Ganesan said in a media release. The MP has earlier said he was preparing to leave Sri Lanka.
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U.S. condemns Maheswaran assassination, Slave Island attack

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 January 2008, 10:04 GMT]
The United States embassy in Colombo Wednesday issued a press statement condemning the assassination on January 1 of Thiyagarajah Maheswaran, United National Party Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament. The statement also condemned the deadly attack on Wednesday in the Slave Island area of Colombo that killed and injured numerous persons, including members of the Sri Lankan armed forces and civilians.
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Claymore attack in Colombo targets SLA bus, 5 killed, 24 wounded

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 January 2008, 04:11 GMT]
Two SLA soldiers and three civilians were killed, 10 SLA soldiers and 14 civilians were wounded Wednesday around 9:30 a.m. in Colombo's High Security nerve center at Slave Island, 200 meters from Sri Lanka Army headquarters and the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) headquarters, where a Claymore mine was triggered targeting a bus carrying SLA soldiers, Police said. The attack comes a day after a leading Tamil parliamentarian of the opposition UNP, Thiyagarajah Maheswaran, was assassinated inside Ponnampala Va'neasvarar temple while attending New Year's prayers.
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2nd Lt.Malathy Brigade completes 12th anniversary

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 January 2008, 01:30 GMT]
One of the elite battalions of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), 2nd Lt.Malathy Brigade, completed 12th Anniversary of its inauguration Tuesday. Constituted as a fully fledged military battalian within the overall organization of the LTTE, the women fighters of this brigade have carried out several outstanding military feats in the struggle, according to military observers in NorthEast.
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Artillery exchanges continue on New Years day in Northern FDLs

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 January 2008, 15:44 GMT]
While Jaffna celebrated New Years day, the peace was disturbed by intermittent sounds of gun fire as Liberation Tigers and Sri Lanka Security Forces exchanged artillery and mortar fire for 30 minutes at 8:00 a.m. and again for 30 minutes in the evening at 6:30 p.m. near Forward Defense Lines (FDLs) in Naakarkoayil and Mukamaalai, sources in Jaffna said. Details of casualties and injuries are not known.
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Maheswaran MP assassinated in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 January 2008, 04:37 GMT]
Colombo district Tamil parliamentarian of the opposition United National Party, T. Maheswaran, was shot at Ponnambala Va'neasvarar temple at Kochchikkadai in Colombo Tuesday around 10:00 a.m., while he was paying homage at the shrine, and succumbed to his injuries at Colombo hospital. The shooting, which also claimed the live of his bodyguard, comes a few hours after the parliamentarian had said that he would reveal details on how abductions and killings in Jaffna are managed by the Sri Lankan establishment through the EPDP paramilitary, from Colombo. Eleven days ago, the government of Sri Lanka had reduced the Ministerial Security Division guards provided to the MP from Eighteen to two.
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Batticaloa elections: Colombo's rehearsal for paramilitary politics

[TamilNet, Monday, 31 December 2007, 19:55 GMT]
In the backdrop of the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government announcing local government elections in the Batticaloa district, three Tamil paramilitary-cum-political parties, the EPDP, PLOTE, EPRLF (Naba wing) and the yet-to-be-registered TMVP of Pillayan's group revealed that they had reached an agreement to form an electoral alliance after a meeting summoned at the Batticaloa office of the EPDP Saturday. A spokesperson of the paramilitary coalition told media that although the four outfits had agreed on principle, the final decision would be taken after consultations with their respective leaders and key operatives.
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3 civilians seek protection at Jaffna HRC

[TamilNet, Monday, 31 December 2007, 12:08 GMT]
Three civilians from Valigaamam and Thenmaraadchi districts in Jaffna surrendered at the Jaffna Human Rights Commission (HRC) offices Monday seeking safety against threat to their lives from Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and SLA-backed paramilitaries, sources in Jaffna said.
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SLA lifts curfew on New Year eve

[TamilNet, Sunday, 30 December 2007, 20:21 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) high command in Palaali announced Sunday that the daily curfew which lasts from 9:00 p.m to 4:30 a.m. every night in Jaffna will be lifted Monday night to allow Jaffna residents to celebrate the arrival of new year, sources in Jaffna said. The curfew will again be reinstated from Tuesday, the new year, the announcement said.
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