Another Christian priest reported missing in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 August 2006, 23:48 GMT]
A priest of Christian Church of the Apostle has been reported missing in Jaffna since August 11, according to a complaint made by a fellow priest at the Jaffna office of Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission. Rev. Fr. Vincent Vinodharaja, 35, father of one, had left his home at Ellaiththeru village in Meesalai in Thenmaradchi, Jaffna, on August 11. He is the second priest to be reported missing since the fighting broke out in Jaffna.
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Clashes erupt in Vavuniya, A9 Omanthai entry point closed after brief opening

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 August 2006, 17:30 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) closed the Omanthai entry point from the SLA controlled Vavuniya to Liberation Tigers controlled Vanni, after opening the gates for a while Thursday. SLA soldiers fired mortar shells towards LTTE Forward Defence Line (FDL) claiming that the Tigers had fired 10 mortar shells towards SLA FDL. Meanwhile, two Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres were killed at Semamadu FDL, the SLA sources in Vavuniya claimed to have recovered one body. An SLA trooper was killed at Mamadu FDL, 8 km northeast of Vavuniya, in a clash between the SLA and LTTE cadres, Vavuniya Police said.
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Armed men attack Black Tiger Miller statue in Vadamaradchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 August 2006, 17:20 GMT]
Armed men who entered the premises of Nelliaydi Central College, Wednesday night, destroyed the memorial and the statue of the first Black Tiger, Captain Miller. The statue, interpreted as the symbol of the destruction of Nelliyadi Sri Lanka Army camp, located in the SLA captured Vadamaradchi during the Eelam War I, 19 years ago, in 1987, was later hidden and saved by the residents during the Eelam War III SLA occupation of Jaffna in 1996, before being raised again in 2002.
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Policeman, civilian killed, one soldier injured in separate incidents in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 August 2006, 13:38 GMT]
A police constable and a Tamil civilian were killed and a soldier of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) was injured in three separate incidents that took place Wednesday evening and Thursday morning in Batticaloa district.
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SLAF Kfir jets bomb Vadamaradchi East

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 August 2006, 10:22 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers Thursday morning bombed Kattaikadu area in Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam controlled Vadamaradchi East twice on Thursday. SLAF bombers dropped three bombs around 8:50 a.m. and at least four, later around 10:50 a.m. at Kattaikadu. Civilians from a Tsunami shelter took refuge at the bunkers. Fishermen's boats took fire in the attack. SLAF sources in Colombo claimed that the Kfir jets hit a Sea Tiger naval camp in the Vadamaradchi East.
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Armed men destroy NGO office in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 August 2006, 09:10 GMT]
A group of armed persons, believed to be paramilitary men working with Sri Lanka Army (SLA), entered the Jaffna District Secretariat of the NGO, Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), located on Temple Road, smashed the computers and accessories and set-fire to the building, destroying tools and data inside the office Wednesday night during the curfew hours. The TRO Jaffna office, opposite the UN officials' residence and close to many UN offices including UNHCR, UNICEF and UNDP, and several international organizations, is located 200 meters away from the SLA checkposts at Kailayapillayar temple.
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RSF condemns Sivamaharajah assassination

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 August 2006, 20:32 GMT]
"The journalists and employees of Tamil news media continue to be eliminated at a horrific pace," said the France based media watchdog Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF). The organisation condemned the slaying of Sinnathamby Sivamaharajah, the managing director of the Tamil-language daily Namathu Eelanadu Sunday night in Tellippalai.
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SLA directs artillery fire towards LTTE area in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 August 2006, 18:59 GMT]
Sri Lankan Army (SLA) from its Vavunativu camp directed artillery fire on Wednesday from morning 7.00 a.m. till evening 5.00 p.m towards the LTTE controlled Vavunativu and Ayiththiyamalai area in Manmunai West Divisional Secretariat Division.
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Jaffna Magistrate, academicians visit undergrad under detention

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 August 2006, 18:40 GMT]
Jaffna Magistrate Mr.R.T.Viknarajah and a group of academicians including Professor Sivachandran, Dean of Art Faculty, and Dr.Sri Satkunarajah of Science Faculty Tuesday visited Mr.Paheerathan, Third Year Art Student who has been kept under detention order in the Special Police Detention Centre located in Kankesnathurai. Mr.Paheerathan is a representative of the Jaffna University Students Union.
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Patients not allowed through Omanthai checkpoint to Vavuniya

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 August 2006, 12:26 GMT]
Seven patients including four children, two pregnant women and an old man sent in an ambulance by Kilinochchi general hospital for emergency treatment in Vavuniya general hospital on August 20 were not allowed to enter government controlled territory through Omanthai SLA checkpoint. SLA soldiers sent them back to Killinochchi hospital, civil sources said.
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Woman shot dead in Vadamaradchchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 August 2006, 12:11 GMT]
Unidentified armed men shot dead a forty year old woman Manoharan Rajini, mother of four children Tuesday morning around 7.30 a.m. in front of the welfare centre at Sakkotai in Vadamaradchchi division in Jaffna district where she had been residing on being displaced from Palaly which is located in the high security zone.
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Cowardly act, says Vallipunam survivor

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 August 2006, 07:54 GMT]
Paranthan Hindu Mahavidyalam student, Mary Arulappan Juliet, 18, a survivor of the August 14 Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir jet attack which killed 51 girls and four staff at Sencholai children's home campus in Vallipunam in Mullaithivu district, in an interview to TamilNet Tuesday, said the attack was a "cowardly act," and appealed to the International Community to unreservedly condemn the Sri Lanka Government for the attack on school girls.
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Swiss TRO sends fund for IDPs in Vaharai, Eachchilampathu

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 August 2006, 07:05 GMT]
Swiss Tamil Rehabilitation Organization TRO) has donated a sum of Rupees Eight Hundred and Fifty Thousand as a first phase to provide urgent food and essential items to hundreds of thousands of internally displaced Tamil civilians now sheltered in temporary structures in LTTE held Eachchilampathu division in Trincomalee district and Vaharai division in Batticaloa district, TRO sources said.
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Jaffna journalists appeal to International Community for help

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 August 2006, 06:58 GMT]
North Sri Lanka Journalists Association (NSLJA), in a press release, issued Tuesday, appealed to the International Community's help to stop the attacks on media persons, media workers and media institutions in Jaffna Peninsula, sources in Jaffna said.
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SL parliament to debate North East situation

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 August 2006, 06:50 GMT]
A special debate on the volatile situation in the North East province is to be held in Sri Lanka's Parliament Wednesday. Leaders of political parties represented in parliament Tuesday agreed to the request by Mr.R.Sampanthan, parliamentary group leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), parliamentary sources said.
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Catholic priest reported missing in Allaipiddy, Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 August 2006, 13:17 GMT]
Rev.Fr. Thiruchelvam Nihal Jim Brown, Age 34, Parish Priest Allaippiddy, Jaffna is reported missing since 20 August 2006, according to a news release issued by the NorthEast Secretariat of Human Rights.
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Snake-bitten girl dies, SLA checking delayed treatment

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 August 2006, 11:33 GMT]
A 13-year-old girl, bitten by a poisonous snake Tuesday early morning around 3:00 a.m., died on her way to hospital during the curfew-hours as there was no ambulance available to transport her to the hospital and the three wheeler which brought her to Jaffna Teaching Hospital from Kopay to Jaffna, via Rasa Veethi, was subjected to check and interrogation in every check point and road block by soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA). The father of the girl said she breathed last in his hands when the three-wheeler reached Jaffna hopital with 3 hour delay.
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Claymore mine recovered in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 August 2006, 09:29 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police Tuesday morning around 9:30 a.m. recovered a "powerful" Claymore mine fitted to a bicycle used for selling vegetables at Borella in Colombo city. The cycle was abandoned in front of a shop along D.S.Senanayake Mawatte, the police said.
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Sampoor threatens Trinco Harbour - Rajapakse

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 August 2006, 09:20 GMT]
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Monday told the representatives of the Co-Chairs of Tokyo Donors’ Conference for the Sri Lankan Peace Process, that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled Sampoor posed a threat to Trincomalee Harbour and justified the Sri Lankan armed forces offensive as "preventing" or "responding" to Tigers. However, informed sources in Colombo said the humanitarian crisis escalated by the Maavilaru offensive, initiated by Colombo and the targeting of civilians in air-strikes and the slaying of NGO workers in Muthur, were discussed at the meeting between the Sri Lankan President and the diplomats representing the Co-Chairs.
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Limited SLAF flights to Palaly

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 August 2006, 06:40 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) has resumed limited flights between Ratmalana air base in Colombo and the Palaly airbase on the Jaffna peninsula, military sources in Colombo said. Taking off and landing at Palaly is restricted to late evening or night and the number of trips has been limited to two.
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