SLA builds bulwark along Jaffna southern coast

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 August 2007, 21:08 GMT]
Fearing possible Liberation Tiger infiltration, Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers have intensfied construction of a security fence using concertina wires, and additional security posts and bunkers along a 5 km coastal stretch starting from Jaffna Fort including Kaakai theevu, Naavaanthu'rai, Kurunakar and Pommai Ve'li, towns located at the southern underbelly of Jaffna Peninsula, as a protective measure, sources in Jaffna said.
Full story >>

SLAF again bombs civilian settlements in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 August 2007, 17:38 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Mi-24 helicopter gunship bombed civilian settlements in Nedungkea'ni in Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled territory in Vavuniyaa north from Tuesday midnight up to Wednesday noon, causing heavy damages schools, houses and cultivation, sources in Nedungkea'ni said. Residents of the villages bombed, scattering in panic, managed to save their lives, seeking shelter away from the exploding bombs.
Full story >>

Sri Lanka: ‘Holmes is a terrorist’

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 August 2007, 13:38 GMT]
Stung by a top UN official’s criticism that Sri Lanka has one of the worst records in the world for humanitarian aid worker safety, the Colombo government Wednesday condemned him as a “terrorist” and said he had been bribed by the Tamil Tigers to tarnish the country’s reputation. Meanwhile the head of the government's peace secretariat accused French aid group Action Contre la Faim of being responsible for the massacre of 17 of their own local staff last year through "negligence" and "irresponsibility". International monitors have blamed government troops for the killings.
Full story >>

Youth abducted in Jaffna, two seek protection at HRC

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 August 2007, 11:08 GMT]
A 21-year old youth from Chandilippaay North, Jaffna, who had come to Sinhala Maha Vidiyalayam to travel out of Jaffna to Trincomalee in Sri Lanka Army (SLA)-run passenger ship, was abducted by armed men in motocyles Tuesday morning 10:00 a.m. from Hospital road in the center of Jaffna Town within the Jaffna High Security Zone (HSZ), sources in Jaffna said.
Full story >>

53 School girls killed in 2006 SLAF bombing, remembered

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 15 August 2007, 02:03 GMT]
The first anniversary of the death of fifty three school girls killed at Va'l'lipunam Chegnchoalai orphanage premises from an aerial raid by Kfir fast attack crafts belonging to the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) on 14 August 2006, was observed throughout Vannni in Ki'linochchi and Mullaitheevu districts at 10:00 a.m Tuesday, sources in Vanni said.
Full story >>

3 civilians seek protection with HRC Jaffna, 3 missing

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 August 2007, 16:20 GMT]
Three civilians, two from Kaithadi and one from Koappaay, fearing for their lives from Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and SLA-backed paramilitaries, sought protection with Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna office Sunday. Meanwhile, one civilian had been abducted on Sunday and three others had gone missing since Friday from separate places in Jaffna peninsula, sources in Jaffna said.
Full story >>

SLA deserters arrested in Colombo for terrorising Tamils

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 August 2007, 10:54 GMT]
The Colombo police Monday arrested three Sinhalese persons who are said to be deserters of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) on a complaint that they had been collecting names of Tamils who returned from abroad and staying with their relatives in Jampettah Street at Kotahena in Colombo city.
Full story >>

Woman killed, School destroyed in SLAF bombardment in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 August 2007, 15:00 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Monday morning bombed a civilian area in Maruthoadai, Nedungkea'ni Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) controlled territory in Vavuniyaa, killing a 20-year-old female. A government school, Maruthoadai Tamil Mixed School, was destroyed in the bombardment. A Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society building, a rice mill and two civilian houses were also damaged in the bombardment that took place twice between 6:40 and 7:10 a.m. A couple, owners of one of the houses, were seriously wounded in the air-attack.
Full story >>

5 civilians shot dead in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 August 2007, 10:48 GMT]
In five separate incidents gunmen shot dead three civilians in Kaithadi in Thenmaraadchy, one in Varani and another near St. Patricks College, Jaffna Monday, sources in Jaffna said.
Full story >>

Killings shock Kaithadi, 8 civilians slain in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 August 2007, 10:08 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army operated gunmen in Thenmaraadchi, Jaffna, have shot and killed seven civilians since Sunday noon. Four civilians, including a Village Officer (GS) were slain on Monday in Kaithadi where two civilians were shot dead last wednesday and a gurellia ambush killed four Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers on Sunday when a youth was also killed in SLA gunfire. Two civilians were killed in Meesaalai and one in Vara'ni in Thenmaraadchi on Monday. Meanwhile, a Jaffna Municipal Council employee, shot in Jaffna city has succumbed to his injuries. Tension prevails in Kaithadi where armed men also burnt down a house, according to the residents in the area.
Full story >>

14 Tamil civilians arrested in Gampaha

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 August 2007, 08:06 GMT]
Fourteen Tamil civilians were arrested in a cordon and search operation conducted by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police from Sunday night till Monday early morning in Gampaha town in the western province. This was the fourth search operation conducted by the government security forces in Gampaha town during the first 2 weeks of August, sources said.
Full story >>

LTTE fires mortars towards Weli Oya, says SLA

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 August 2007, 21:18 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eeelam (LTTE) fired mortars targetted towards Wel Oya area in Polllanaruwa district, Sri Lanka Army (SLA) spokesperson Brigadier Prasanth Samarasinghe said Sunday. The attack began at 8:00 a.m. Sunday and claimed the life of a 65-year old man and injured five others, Brig. Samarasinghe said. A number of private residences are also said to have been damaged during the attack.
Full story >>

SLA reinstitutes approval procedures to elderly Jaffna travellers

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 August 2007, 17:35 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) high command in a directive issued Saturday made compulsary for Jaffna residents who are over 55 years of age, leaving Jaffna to obtain approval from the civil administrative offices attached to the closest SLA camp. Previously SLA had exempted those over-55 and under-10 from the approval process and subjected only the 10-55 age group to the approval process.
Full story >>

Skirmishes reported in Ariyaalai, Kurunakar seas

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 August 2007, 17:10 GMT]
Residents of villages along the southern coastal of Jaffna report exchanges of gunfire between Liberation Tigers and Sri Lanka security forces intermittantly from Saturday night until Sunday morning, sources in Jaffna said. However, Sri Lanka military did not officially acknowledge that any incidents occured in the said area.
Full story >>

Arafa Nagar declared HSZ, Muslim families expelled

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 August 2007, 11:37 GMT]
About two hundred Muslim families were forcibly moved from Arafa Nagar, a suburb located in Moothoor division in Trincomalee district by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) on Friday evening on the pretext that their village comes also under the high security zone. Arafa Nagar is located close to Moothoor east, which is declared a high security zone by the government after the completion of military operation, civil society sources said.
Full story >>

4 SLA killed in Claymore ambush near Jaffna FDL

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 August 2007, 08:45 GMT]
Four Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and 12 troopers wounded in a Claymore ambush in Thenmaraadchi in the southwestern Forward Defence area adjoining Kaithadi Sunday around 1:30 p.m. A youth was killed when SLA soldiers in the convoy opened fire, after the attack, Police said. The attackers have targeted the SLA convoy on the Kaithadi Thachchanthoappu road in a heavily fortified area where two civilians were shot dead last wednesday allegedly by SLA operated gunmen.
Full story >>

'Para Demala': a reader's response

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 August 2007, 01:58 GMT]
A Sinhala reader of TamilNet has come out with the following note on our news feature 'Para Demala', dated 06 August 2007. According to him, the word 'para' is the worst kind of derogatory word in Sinhala, but is used in the sense to mean alien or foreign. It is not connected to the Pa'raiyar community. He further adds that even Sinhala-Buddhist reformers of the calibre of Anagarika Dharmapala had used the phrase 'Para Demala' in a negative sense to mean low-grade aliens.
Full story >>

Islamic leader shot dead in Ampa'rai

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 August 2007, 17:17 GMT]
Armed gunmen, believed to be members of a Muslim armed group, shot and killed a religious leader, Mawlawi Rafeek, Saturday evening around 7:30 at Ninthavoor in Ampa'rai, Chammaanthu'rai Police said.
Full story >>

A few devotees attend Maaviddapuram CAR festival

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 August 2007, 16:54 GMT]
Only around two thousand devotees entered through Sri Lanka Army (SLA) checkpoint in Thellippazhai to attend the Thear festival of the historic Maaviddapuram Kandasamy temple located inside the Valikaamam north High Security Zone (HSZ). After the SLA offensives in 1990 civilians living close to temple and surrounding areas were evicted, and in 1999 the area was demarcated to fall within the HSZ, despite protests from Chaiva organizations.
Full story >>

One STF soldier killed, six injured in Kagnchikudichchaa'ru

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 August 2007, 16:47 GMT]
A Special Task Force (STF) soldier was killed and six others wounded when a combined team of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops and STF involved in deep penetration activity in Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)-controlled areas in Kagnchikudichchaa'ru area in Ampaa'rai District stepped on pressure mines Friday evening, Amparai police said.
Full story >>