SLA intensifies deployment in Northern Front, curfew imposed

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 October 2006, 05:59 GMT]
Amid reports of deployment of additional troops and military hardware in Northern Front, Sri Lanka Army, from Palaly military base, Sunday morning announced curfew in villages near Northern Front Forward Defence Line (FDLs). Meanwhile, Sri Lankan troopers engaged in a major training exercise throughout Saturday night in Palaly, Thondamanarau lagoon and Valalai area in Vadamaradchy sector of the Jaffna district. The SLA rehearsal comes following a sudden visit by Sri Lanka Army commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka to Palaly Saturday as Parties, the GoSL and LTTE delegations were engaged in talks in Geneva, Switzerland.


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Paramilitary cadre shot, injured in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 October 2006, 21:59 GMT]
A member of paramilitary Karuna group was shot and seriously injured when unknown gunmen fired at a group of cadres walking from Pillaiyar Temple along Badulla Road to the paramilitaries' office Saturday morning in Chenkalady in Batticaloa District, Eravur police source said.
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Commanding officer at Kommathurai Military Camp killed

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 October 2006, 20:26 GMT]
B.D.Wijetunga, 42, the commanding officer, Artillery Division of Kommathurai military camp, was seriously injured during a gunfire exchange with unknown gunmen near Eastern University campus in Vantharoomoolai, Batticaloa on Saturday at 12:30 pm, sources in Batticaloa said. He was admitted to Batticaloa Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, hospital sources said.
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3 SLA troopers injured in Eluthumadduval, 1 killed in Vadamaradchy

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 October 2006, 17:18 GMT]
Three Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers were injured in a claymore ambush on their military vehicle in a depopulated area between Nagarkovil and Eluthumadduval behind the Forward Defense Lines (FDL) Saturday morning, military sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, an SLA soldier was killed when unknown gunmen hurled a hand grenade at a sentry near Saraiyadi in Vadamaradchy along Point-Pedro - Jaffna road Saturday afternoon, sources said.
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Jaffna Rights Group records 379 disappearances

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 October 2006, 14:01 GMT]
379 cases of disappearance of young men and women have been registered at the offices of the Jaffna Human Rights Commission (HRC) from December 2005 until now, officials at the HRC said Saturday. The number represents only the disappearances where there are no details of the youths available, and does not include those who were released, or who were killed and their bodies recovered later, sources said.
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Peace process depends on ceasefire implementation - LTTE

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 October 2006, 10:49 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers called Saturday for the full implementation of the February 2002 ceasefire agreement (CFA), saying "such actions will bring normalcy in the lives of our people, and help in taking forward the peace process towards a satisfactory conclusion." Addressing the opening session of the Norwegian facilitated negotiations in Geneva, LTTE's Political Head, Mr. S. P. Thamilchelvan, said: "the best we can hope for from the current talks is therefore, the strengthening of the CFA agreement that has the potential to lead to a permanent, just peace in this island."
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Geneva Talks II begins

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 October 2006, 10:37 GMT]
"Developments in Sri Lanka in the past months have seriously endangered the peace process," said Switzerland Foreign Affairs Deputy Head Ambassador Heidi Tagliavini who gave the opening address wishing the facilitator and the Parties better understanding, in Geneva Saturday. Stressing the need for "confidence in the Norwegian Government as facilitator seeking ways to lead the delegations to a better mutual understanding, confidence in the other Party as a partner with whom one can engage," Ms. Heidi Tagliavini said the International Community the recent developments in Sri Lanka have caused considerable concern within the International Community.
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3 SLA troopers injured in Vavuniya claymore attack

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 October 2006, 04:15 GMT]
Three Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers were injured when unknown assailants triggered a claymore mine targetting a SLA road patrol in Veppankulam area in Vavuniya at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, Vavuniya Police said. Injured soldiers have been taken to Vavuniya Teaching Hospital first, and later transferred to Anuradhapur Hospital, according to hospital sources.
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Is Colombo ready for a paradigm shift, asks TNA MP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 28 October 2006, 01:26 GMT]
A full scale war is unavoidable if the southern polity fails to timely demonstrate that it is ready for a paradigm shift in the approach to solving the Tamil national question, said Batticaloa District Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian S. Jeyanandamoorthy, speaking to TamilNet after meeting the LTTE delegation in Geneva Thursday.
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Batticaloa cultivators protest against SLA ban

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 October 2006, 21:36 GMT]
Batticaloa cultivators demonstrated from 9:00 a.m to 12:00 noon Friday in front of Vantharumoolai Agricultural Productivity Centre demanding the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) lift the 2 month ban to take agricultural vehicles, implements, and fertilizer to their paddy lands in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held areas from Batti-Vallaichenai main road, civil society sources said.
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Two SLA soldiers injured in Aavarangal claymore attack

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 October 2006, 11:35 GMT]
Two Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers were seriously injured when unknown assailants triggered a claymore mine along Jaffna-Point Pedro Road in Aavarangal in Valigamam East, on a SLA foot patrol at 10:00 a.m. Friday, sources in Jaffna said. The injured soldiers were taken to Palaly Military Hospital.
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Fresh Sri Lankan offensive towards Vaharai repulsed - Ilanthirayan

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 October 2006, 09:41 GMT]
An offensive launched by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) towards Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled Vaharai region in the East was repulsed by the Tigers Friday, according to LTTE Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan, who was speaking to media from Geneva, Swtizerland.
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TNA appeals to UN: "GoSL uses Humanitarian crisis as tool of war"

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 October 2006, 06:36 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) consisting 22 out of the 23 Tamil members elected to Sri Lankan Parliament from the NorthEast, in an appeal to the United Nations High Commissioners for Human Rights and Refugees, said that the Government of Sri Lanka was using the humanitarian crisis as a tool of war. Detailing the humanitarian situation prevailing in all the districts of NorthEast, the TNA charged that the GoSL was engaged in a policy to drive the Tamil civilian population out of the Trincomalee District. The TNA's appeal to UN comes a day before the talks in Geneva.
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EU allocates Rs.667m to help displaced Sri Lankan Tamils

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 October 2006, 00:26 GMT]
The European Commission (EU) is concerned about the upsurge in violence in Sri Lanka from the beginning of 2006 that directly affects thousands of civilians in the island, said the report of Louis Michel, the EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Activities, read by Julian Wilson Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, at a press briefing held Wednesday around 11:00 a.m at the EU office in Colombo.


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NGO staffer disappears near Chemmani

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 October 2006, 00:18 GMT]
A field officer attached to Non Violent Democrative Activities Group (NVDAG), a local Non Governmental Organization (NGO), disappeared after being interrogated by the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) stationed along the A9 highway between Chemmani road junction and Ariyalai Mampalam junction Wednesday, civil society sources in Jaffna said.


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TNA urges LTTE to prioritize opening of A9, warns humanitarian catastrophe in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 October 2006, 18:34 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in an urgent letter to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Thursday, noting that the humanitarian situation in Jaffna has reached critical levels since the closure of the A9 highway, appealed the Tigers to take-up the opening of the A9 highway as a matter of top priority at the forthcoming talks in Geneva. Sri Lanka Army conrolled Jaffna, with 653,755 persons, requires 11,000 Metric tons of food supplies per month. For the last three months, only 14,000 Metric tons of food items had been sent by ship, the short fall is 19,000 Metric tons. The fuel that is currently available is grossly inadequate.
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SLN, Sea Tigers clash in Jaffna lagoon

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 October 2006, 16:10 GMT]
Gunboats of Sea Tigers and Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) clashed for 5-hours in the Kilaly bay Thursday morning from 3:30 a.m. to 8:30. A Sri Lankan naval source that did not wish to be identified said their gunboats off Kerathivu had mistaken Sea Tiger patrol vessels in Sangupitty area as an LTTE attempt to launch an attack on Jaffna.
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SLA shelling intensifies in Vaharai - Elilan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 26 October 2006, 15:05 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) from its Mankerny base began firing artillery shells and Multi-Barrel Rockets into Liberation Tigers controlled Panichchankerni area Thursday morning from 6:30 a.m. till 9:00 a.m., according to S. Elilan, Trincomalee Political Head of the LTTE.
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Tamileelam Legislature enacts Child Protection Act

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 October 2006, 22:29 GMT]
Tamileelam Child Protection Act 2006 (Act No. 03 of 2006), enacted by Tamileelam Legislature Secretariat and which became effective on October 15, brings into law measures to protect the Rights and well-being of children from inception of life through adolescence, Head of Tamileelam Judiciary, E. Pararajasingham, told TamilNet Wednesday. The Act, containing 83 sections, makes education compulsory upto grade 11, mandates registration of all child births, outlaws enlisting of children under 17 years in Armed Forces, makes participation of under 18-year olds in armed combat illegal, and proscribes all forms of child labour.
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FMM condemns burning of 10,000 copies of Virakesari

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 October 2006, 09:39 GMT]
The Free Media Movement (FMM)- Sri Lanka condemned the burning 10,000 copies of the Tamil daily Virakesari, and Metro News near Kiran Regional Secretariat 22nd Monday around 3:50 a.m. by paramilitary cadres alleged to be belonging Karuna group, in a statement released Wednesday in Colombo, political sources in Colombo said. Earlier in August, paramilitaries collaborating with the SLA threatened the owner of Surena Travels not to deliver to Muruges and Son Stores, Sudaroli and Thinakural news papers.


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