Paramilitary cadre injured in internal squabble

[TamilNet, Monday, 11 September 2006, 11:03 GMT]
A member of the Karuna paramilitary group fired at another paramilitary cadre seriously injuring him after an argument near Alankulam in Vaharai division in Batticaloa district on Sunday night around 9.30 p.m, sources in Batticaloa said. The injured member P.Sinnan, 28, of Mankerni was admitted to the Pollonaruwa hospital, Valaichchenai Police sources said.
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Heavy fighting rages in Muhamalai, Kilali

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 September 2006, 19:01 GMT]
Heavy artillery shelling and fighting between the Sri Lankan forces and the Liberation Tigers erupted in Kilali and Muhamalai Forward Defence Line (FDL) of the Northern Front from 7:30 p.m. Sunday, sources in Kilinochchi said. Artillery shelling and gunfire were continuing Sunday midnight.
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Civilians flee Jaffna's coastal suburbs

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 September 2006, 16:48 GMT]
Civilians in Pasaiyoor, Kolumbuthurai and Ariyalai East Sunday evening fled from their coastal villages towards Jaffna town as artillery shells from Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) postions hit Sri Lanka Army (SLA) deployments along the coastal areas.
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TNA parliamentarians boycott Mannar development meeting

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 September 2006, 13:10 GMT]
Five Wanni district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians boycotted the Mannar District Co-ordinating Committee (DCC) meeting held Saturday in the Mannar district secretariat with Rear Admiral Mohan Wijewickrema, North East Provincial Governor in the chair. "Development is not an immediate priority at this time when hundreds of Tamil civilians fleeing to South India to save their lives from abduction, killing and harassment from Sri Lanka armed forces," said TNA parliamentarians, sources said.
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Claymore blast kills 3 SLA soldiers in Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Sunday, 10 September 2006, 07:42 GMT]
Three Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and two injured in a claymore attack at Aasikulam in Vavuniya, around 10:45 a.m., Sunday, police in the northern town said.
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Bishop raises concern over education in East

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 September 2006, 20:53 GMT]
Rt.Rev.Dr.Kingsley Swampillai, the Bishop of Trincomalee-Batticaloa diocese, and Thurairatnasingham, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parlimentarian for Trincomalee, brought to the urgent attention of Mr. Mahinda Samarasinghe, the Minister for Diaster Management and Human Rights, the dire state of education of children in several villages in the East, and the difficulties faced by people relocated by war.
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Military chartered vessel with civilian passengers reaches Trinco harbour

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 September 2006, 17:59 GMT]
Sri Lanka military chartered vessel arrived Trincomalee harbour Saturday evening around 6 p.m. with about 795 civilian passengers who had been stranded in Jaffna district since the fresh fight between the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) broke out since August 11.
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SLA sustains heavy losses in fresh offensive

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 September 2006, 12:48 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s military launched a ground offensive Saturday against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) territory in the northern Jaffna peninsula, after bombarding the area for two days. At least 25 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and around 125 wounded, informed military sources said. Wounded soldiers in more than five busses were rushed to Palaly and airlifted elsewhere for treatment. The artillery attacks ceased around noon as SLA forces were evacuating the wounded troopers.
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SLA will capture more and more ground, vows SL Premier

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 September 2006, 11:38 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister vowed Friday to capture “more and more” territory from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and said the international community was coming forward to help his government "root out terrorism from the island." Ridiculing the LTTE’s assertion that there can be no moves towards peace as long as the Sri Lankan military occupied the Sampoor region which it captured last week in a ground offensive, SL Premier Ratnasiri Wickramanayake said “not an inch of Sampoor will be relinquished now or in the future.”
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Civilians flee SLA offensive in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 September 2006, 23:42 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched artillery shelling towards Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled Forward Defense Line (FDL) in Thenmaradchi Wednesday morning. The artillery attacks have been continuing for 48 hours and have forced hundreds of families to flee from Mirusuvil Educated Women’s Scheme and Usan areas, civil society sources in Jaffna said.
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SLA soldier, civilian killed in Claymore explosion in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 September 2006, 21:27 GMT]
A Sri Lankan Army (SLA) soldier and a video shop owner were killed. A SLA trooper and 3 civilians were injured in a Claymore explosion that targeted a SLA road patrol in Chenkalady, 13 km northwest of Batticaloa Friday around 12:15 p.m., Police said.
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Five civilians slain in Jaffna on a single day

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 September 2006, 17:53 GMT]
Civilians in Jaffna alleged Friday that Sri Lanka Army personnel in plain cloths were behind five separate killings in a single day on Thursday. An 18-year-old student, a woman and a photographer were among the victims. One of the five victims was abudcted by gunmen riding in a white van, shot and killed during the curfew hours at midnight, civilian sources said.
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Eight persons arrested in search operation in Madawachchi

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 September 2006, 12:13 GMT]
Eight civilians including Tamils and Muslims were arrested at Ikkirigollawa village in Anuradhapura district in the North Central Province in a seven hour combined cordon and search operation by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), Police and home guards conducted on Friday morning from 5 a.m. till noon.
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Sri Lanka Navy Commander visits Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 September 2006, 06:01 GMT]
Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy, Vice Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda, visited Thursday Northern Naval Area Command in Karainagar and inspected the SLN installations Elara at Karainagar, Uttara in Kankesanthurai (KKS) and the key officers of the six shore establishements. The SLN commander also visted Mandaithivu's Allaipiddy area where around 40 civilians were reported killed or missing in Sri Lankan artillery fire 3 weeks ago when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) marines entered Mandaithivu. Food supplies to Jaffna islets would be transported by Sri Lanka Navy, the navy commander told a civilian audience.
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International jurists question Sri Lanka’s moves on NGOs

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 September 2006, 12:42 GMT]
The Commission of Jurists (ICJ) this week raised questions about the sweeping mandate of the Sri Lankan government’s Select Committee to investigate non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to root out activities "inimical to the sovereignty and integrity of Sri Lanka" and "detrimental to the national and social well being of the country", and that adversely affect "national security." The ICJ expression of concern about Sri Lanka’s handling of NGOs comes days after Colombo moved to block the funds of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) under the mandate of investigating terrorism financing – but without charging the TRO or setting out the allegations.
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Mannar villagers face acute food shortage

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 September 2006, 07:07 GMT]
Tamil people in villages controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Mannar district have been facing severe shortage of food, fuel and other essential materials urgently needed for their day to day life due to the prohibition on transporting these by private traders from the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled area by Uyilankulam army check point since August 11 with the outbreak of fight between the SLA troops and the Tigers.
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Extra-judicial killings escalate in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 September 2006, 10:17 GMT]
62 individuals including Newspaper Manager Sivamaharajah, ex- Member of Parliament and 2 undergraduates were killed, and 53 civilians including a Catholic Priest and 10 students below the age of 18 have disappeared in Jaffna Peninsula in 35 days since August 02. The International agencies present in Jaffna are yet to voice their concerns for the increased dissappearances of children in Sri Lanka Army controlled Jaffna district, according to civil society leaders in Jaffna.
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Uyilankulam check point in Mannar temporarily reopened

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 September 2006, 08:54 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Tuesday morning around 11.15 a.m. temporarily re-opened its entry check point located at Uyilankulam for the first time and allowed civilians to travel to and from government controlled and LTTE held villages in the Mannar district. Those civilians stranded more than 20 days on both sides were allowed to go to their destinations, civil sources said.


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Humanitarian crisis precipitated by twin-track strategy

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 September 2006, 22:03 GMT]
An estimated 60,000 Tamils displaced by Sri Lankan military attacks in the eastern province are caught in a humanitarian crisis which aid workers say is being deliberately deepened by the Colombo government. The most recent displacements in the east join tens of thousands of people forced to flee their homes by military attacks in Wanni and the northern Jaffna.
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STF bans vehicles over Paddiruppu entry point in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 September 2006, 19:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan counter insurgency Special Task Force (STF) personnel, manning the Kaluwanchikudy-Paddiruppu Bridge, a gateway to Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled territory in Batticaloa district, on Tuesday, did not allow transport of vehicles through the entry point that was partly re-opened Saturday after 3 weeks.
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