Civilian killed, 2 injured in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 April 2007, 01:20 GMT]
A Tamil family man was killed and two, including a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) trooper, were injured in an attack Wednesday around 7:10 p.m on a SLA sentry unit posted near a lake at Sithandy, Morokodanchenai in Eravur police division in Batticaloa district, Eravur police said. The attack was launched from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held area across the lake and the civilians were caught in the attack, the police claimed.
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SLA arrests two Tamil girls in Siththandy

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 April 2007, 00:19 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers arrested a teenage girl and a woman at Siththandy in Eravur Police division in Batticaloa district on Tuesday and Wednesday and handed them to Eravur Police for further inquiries, police sources said. The arrested girls were later produced before Batticaloa District Judge, M. H. M. Ajmeer, who directed the police to hand over the girls to their parents.
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Attack alarm sparks airport panic, Colombo in dark

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 April 2007, 17:51 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) personnel at Katunayake airbase fired precautionary shots into the air as an alarm was issued in Colombo that two unidentified aircrafts were observed over Puttalam sea Thursday around 11:00 p.m. All flights were grounded and power supply in Colombo city was cut off. The situation resumed normal Thursday midnight.
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Batticaloa displaced students' education in disarray

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 April 2007, 10:47 GMT]
58 schools in Batticaloa district have been closed due to the extraordinary conditions prevailing in the district, affecting 17,000 students, Batticaloa Regional Director of Education, Mr. A. M. E. Paul said Thursday. Students displaced from Muthur region due to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) offensives have been admitted to schools in Batticaloa district and 18 schools are temporarily functioning in public places and in temples or churches, he added.
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SLAF bombs Kilinochchi suburb, civilians wounded

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 April 2007, 03:17 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force bombers attacked Thiruvaiyaaru, 2 km east of Kilinochchi hospital, Thursday at 7:00 a.m. A 69-year-old man and a 26-year-old man were wounded in the bombardment. Tension prevailed in Kilinochchi hospital and many school children remained at home, sources in Kilinochchi said.
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SLA troopers fail to appear for Court trials in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 April 2007, 02:19 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) personnel, involved either as the accused or witness in cases of abductions, killings and other such criminal allegations, fail to appear for the scheduled trials in the courts in Jaffna peninsula, causing numerous indefinite postponements of the cases, legal society sources in Jaffna said. The SLA Commander will act in consultation with the Attorney General, in case Magistrates handling such cases resort to punitive measures, SLA legal sources said.
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SLA abducts trader in Valigamam

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 April 2007, 00:18 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers posted near Kantharodai SLA camp stopped a trader at the sentry, led him blindfolded with hands bounds through a paddy field to a Buffel armoured personnel carrier (APC) parked at a distance from the camp, and took him to Uduvil SLA camp Tuesday, his wife said in a complaint to Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna office Wednesday.
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LTTE: Sri Lankan offensive repulsed in Madu

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 April 2007, 15:37 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Wednesday said they repulsed a ground offensive by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) at Parisankulam inside LTTE controlled Madu division in Mannar. More than 10 Sri Lankan soldiers were killed and around 50 sustained injuries, said LTTE's Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan. The SLA troopers who moved from Iranai Iluppaikkulam camp were locked in a five-hour jungle clash where Tigers engaged sniper units inflicting casualties on the SLA troopers, Mr. Ilanthirayan said.
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SLA suffers casualties in fresh offensive in Madu

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 April 2007, 12:38 GMT]
Twelve Sri Lanka Army soldiers were killed and 33 wounded when a special unit of the SLA launched a fresh offensive amid artillery barrage towards Mullikkulam, 12 km northesat of Madu Church in Iranai Illuppaikulam GS division, Mannar, Wednesday evening according to initial reports from the area. 26 wounded soldiers were admitted to Anurdhapura public hospital and 7 more were rushed to military hospital, according to medical sources.


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2 students, family man seek protection with Jaffna HRC

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 April 2007, 02:32 GMT]
An eighteen year old student from Karaveddy, Vadamaradchy and another 16 year old student from Pokatti, Kodikamam in Thenmaradchy sought protection with Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna office Tuesday along with a young family man from Chavakacheri in Thenmaradchy, all fearing death from Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers and SLA-backed paramilitaries, according to sources in Jaffna. With the Jaffna magistrate have taken leave of absence, HRC officials are facing technical problems in arranging protective custody in Jaffna prisons, civil society sources in Jaffna said.


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SLAF bombs Puthukudiyiruppu in Mullaiththeevu

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 April 2007, 17:30 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force bombers dropped bombs in various locations in Puthukkudiyiruppu Tuesday around 4:30 p.m., according to the residents from Kaivaeli village. Four bombers dropped bombs near civilian settlements as people sought refuge in bunkers.
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Sri Lankan military officials meet in Palaali

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 April 2007, 13:42 GMT]
A defence team comprising high level officials of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF), Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Sri Lanka Navy (SLN), were flown to Palaali airbase amid tight security Tuesday morning for an assessment of the air attack carried out by the Tigers on the High Security Zone Palaali garrison in Jaffna. A number of bombs dropped by the LTTE aircrafts had hit the military installations including the ammunition stores and camps along Kadduvan - Kankesanthurai (KKS) Road and in areas surrounding Mayiliddi harbour, according to a military official who did not wished to be named.
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Barrage of gunfire as Tiger aircrafts complete bombing raid, woman wounded

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 April 2007, 13:26 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers in camps across Jaffna Peninsula emptied bullets in the air in a barrage of gunfire after Tamileelam Air Force (TAF) attacked SLA's main base complex in the Jaffna peninsula in the early hours of Tuesday morning, residents in the peninsula said. A woman was wounded in Eezhaalai, 5 km southwest of Palaali when Sri Lanka Army soldiers opened fire from their positions as the Tiger aircrafts, that completed their mission inside the High Security Zone of the Palaali garrison, flew at low altitude on their way back to Vanni.
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Massive search operations in Jaffna Peninsula

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 April 2007, 03:52 GMT]
Sri Lanka armed forces in large numbers conducted simultaneous cordon and search operations in Vadamaradchy, Thenmaradchy regions and Jaffna, Monday. Key roads were blocked and residents were herded into play grounds and temples in close proximity and interrogated, sources in Jaffna said.
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Firefight near SLA Uduvil camp

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 April 2007, 00:04 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers on street patrol unit opened fire on unknown persons who refused to obey SLA orders Monday evening, close to the SLA Intelligence unit camp at Uduvil in Valigamam East, sources in Jaffna said. The unknown armed assailants opened fire in retaliation and escaped from the site.
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Tiger aircrafts bomb Palaali military base

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 April 2007, 22:09 GMT]
Two attack aircraft of the Liberation Tigers bombed the Sri Lankan military’s main base complex in the Jaffna peninsula in the early hours of Tuesday morning, inflicting heavy damage and casualties, LTTE military spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan told TamilNet. Tamileelam Air Force bombers had hit an Engineering Unit of the complex and a military storage, the Tigers spokesman claimed. Meanwhile sources said continuous explosions were heard from inside the High Security Zone for five hours after the air raid. Military sources in Colombo confirmed that at least 6 of their personnel were killed. Informed military sources said more than 30 troopers were wounded the attack inside the HSZ.
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Rajapaksa delegates civil police powers to military

[TamilNet, Monday, 23 April 2007, 11:23 GMT]
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has delegated civil powers hitherto discharged by the Police to the three armed forces, Sri Lanka Army (SLA), Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) by a recent Extra-Ordinary Gazette Notification of 1491/18 under Chapter 40 of the Public Security Ordinance dated April 06, 2007. Civil powers entrusted with the police throughout the whole island have been delegated to the military by Mr. Rajapaksa.
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SLA deploys elite forces in Northern Front

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 April 2007, 18:08 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army has moved more than two thousand heavily armed Special Forces (SF) towards the Forward Defence Line in Thenmaradchi along the Northern Front, military observers in Thenmaradchi said Sunday, speculating a Sri Lankan offensive at any time from Jaffna's FDLs. Sri Lankan troopers were also engaged in intensive night training missions for the last three days in Jaffna's High Security Zone surrounding the SLA's Palaali garrison, in Thondamanaaru and Valalaai areas.


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2 fishermen feared drowned in SLA mortar fire

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 April 2007, 14:14 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) launched mortar fire on fishermen fishing in Uduthurai seas in Vadamaradchy east Sunday around 4:00 a.m. in which two fishermen are missing and their fishing boat burnt, sources in Vadamaradchy said. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched heavy artillery barrage from the Varani artillery base on civilian settlements in Uduthurai, Vettilaikerny, Vatharayan and Maruthankulam in Vadamaradchy east, from Saturday 10:00 p.m to Sunday 4:00 a.m, damaging six houses, the sources added.
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LTTE: Sri Lanka’s accusations of credit card fraud is ‘attempt to distract from rights abuses’

[TamilNet, Sunday, 22 April 2007, 09:08 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Political Head, S. P. Thamilchelvan, responding to allegations by the Sri Lankan Embassy in London that the Liberation Tigers were involved in organised crime in Britain involving the cloning of credit cards, dismissed the accusations and slammed them as an attempt by the Colombo government to distract international attention from widespread human rights abuses by its armed forces. Mr. Thamilchelvan said Sri Lanka's accusations which sought to implicate the hardworking and law-abiding Tamil Diaspora, stemmed from the "same chauvinism that caused the island’s protracted ethnic war."
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