SLA sergeant injured in Vavunativu

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 August 2006, 18:43 GMT]
M.Jayantha, 35 years, a Sri Lankan Army (SLA) Sergeant on guard duty at the Vavunativu SLA Camp was injured in an attack on the camp by LTTE cadres at the LTTE Forward Defense Lines (FDL) around 7:00 a.m. Friday, Batticaloa Police said. The injured trooper was admitted to the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital for treatment.
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SLAF bombs Verukal ferry

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 August 2006, 13:41 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers Friday evening around 5:00 p.m. bombed and destroyed the ferry linking Liberation Tigers controlled Vakarai mainland with Trincomalee south, civilian sources said.
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Handover of SLA bodies delayed

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 August 2006, 13:22 GMT]
Due to the urgent need of the administrative section of the Liberation Tigers in attending to the developing humanitarian crisis to provide safe passage to more than 10,000 residents of Muttur to safer areas, the transfer of more than 40 bodies of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers has been delayed, local LTTE officials in Sampur said.


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Shelling, troop movement in Batticaloa, 3 killed

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 August 2006, 11:32 GMT]
As fighting rages in Trincomalee district, to the south, Sri Lanka Army troops Friday attacked Liberation Tigers’ positions in northern part of Batticaloa district. Following five hours of intense shelling, that killed 3 members of a family, SLA troops and paramilitaries advanced towards LTTE positions in Panichchankerni before being beaten back. Meanwhile, a significant number of Sri Lanka Army troops in Batticaloa town have been withdrawn for deployment in Trincomalee and their duties were being assigned to the troops from the elite Special Task Force (STF). All leave has been cancelled for police forces.
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Sinhala villagers block ICRC food convoy to Muttur

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 August 2006, 11:09 GMT]
A food convoy led by the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) Friday morning from Trincomalee town to Muttur to supply food materials to civilians displaced due to the fighting between SLA and LTTE was stopped at Kantalai by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) on Friday afternoon around 1 p.m. The SLA refused permission for the convoy to proceed along Kantalai-Allai road to Muttur citing security reasons, ICRC sources in Colombo said.
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Sinhalese settlers demand evacuation from Somapura

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 August 2006, 06:52 GMT]
Thousands of Sinhalese settlers from the southern sectors of Trincomalee district have demanded safe evacuation from the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled areas, civil sources in Somapura said. The local authorities have contacted the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) to facilitate evacuation from the southern sector where the SLA offensive towards Mavil Aaru was launched. Meanwhile, initial reports reaching from Kiliveddy said Muttur civilians, carrying white flags, have started to reach Kiliveddy area. However, the ICRC coordinator, Davide Vignati, in Colombo has told media that a formal cessation of hostilities for a limited time frame is yet to be established.
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Bank Manager shot dead in Jaffna, employees protest

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 August 2006, 05:03 GMT]
A well-known literary figure and General Manager of People's Bank, KKS Branch, was shot at point blank range allegedly by the Intelligence operatives of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA), at Thirunelvely, a suburb of Jaffna, around 7:45 a.m., Friday. Pon. Ganeshamoorthy, 56, killed when he was getting ready to go to work from his residence at the Post office junction in Thirunelvely, according to sources in Jaffna.
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SLMC accuses SL Army of shelling Muttur civilians

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 August 2006, 00:33 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s largest Muslim party Thursday accused Sri Lankan security forces of shelling Muslim civilians in embattled Muttur town, killing dozens of people and wounding scores more. As Sri Lanka’s military blamed the Tamil Tigers, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader, Rauf Hakeem told AFP: “the people were killed in attacks carried out by the security forces.”
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Bystanders during attack on SLA, remanded

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 August 2006, 00:12 GMT]
Two men who were brought before the Mallakam Magistrate's Courts Thursday, bearing serious wounds, are innocent civilians, according to legal sources. S Jayakumar, 40, and Thuraisingam Rameshkumar, 22, were arrested following an attack against Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers in Chunnakam, Wednesday.
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Electricity, telephone service to Muttur cut off

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 August 2006, 17:44 GMT]
The Sri Lankan government has cut off the supply of electricity to Muttur town and other villages in the Muttur division from Tuesday since the fighting broke out between the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). From Thursday noon telephone service to Muttur town has also been cut off, Muttur civilians arrived in Trincomalee Thursday evening with injured civilians said. Telephone communications were severed after the artillery attack on Muttur Arabic College and Thoppur Al-Noor Mahavidiyalayam where twenty two Muslim civilians who sought refuge were killed, and sixty nine injured, sources there said.
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LTTE to hand over bodies of 40 SLA troopers

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 August 2006, 14:03 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers were making arrangements to hand over bodies of forty Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers killed in Muttur fight, LTTE's military spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan said. The LTTE would be handing over the bodies through the ICRC. "Twelve Tiger fighters have been killed during the last 48 hours fighting in Muttur area thwarting the Lankan navy and army attempts to land their troops," he said.
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SLA artillery fire kills further 12 Muslim civilians in school refuge

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 August 2006, 13:20 GMT]
Twelve Muslim villagers in Al Nuriah Muslim school in Thoppur were killed Thursday evening when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) fired artillery shells hit the school, civilian sources in Thoppur said. At least five persons were wounded. Meanwhile, Police sources in Trincomalee said the policemen entrapped in Muttur town were evacuated to Trincomalee. One policeman was killed and fourteen policemen were wounded, according to initial reports.
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Tigers discuss humanitarian measures in Muttur

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 August 2006, 11:32 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Trincomalee District Political Head S. Elilan and the LTTE's Liason officer for UN and NGO affairs, were engaged in discussions related to the urgent humanitarian measures necessary to address the needs of the civilian population that has taken refuge in Mosques and Churches in large numbers in Muttur area that has largely come under the control of the LTTE, according to the Tiger Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan. Mr. Ilanthirayan said the SL forces attempt to land in Muttur jetty was thwarted and forty SLA troopers were killed Thursday.
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SLAF airstrike injures 2 civilians in Kaddaikkadu

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 August 2006, 10:45 GMT]
Two civilians were injured when Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) jets dropped bombs near a church in Kaddaikkkadu in Vadamaradchy east, where large number of people were taking part in the annual church festival, around 1:30 p.m., Thursday. Kaddaikkkadu is about 40 k.m. southeast of Jaffna, along the eastern coast of the peninsula. A Refugee Camp for Tsunami Victims with 215 families is situated 150 meters away from the scene of the aerial attack.
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SLA artillery fire kills 10 Muslim civilians, 40 wounded

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 August 2006, 07:41 GMT]
At least ten Muslim civilians who sought refuge in Arabic College in Muttur town were killed when an SLA fired artillery shell hit the college Thursday around noon. About nine thousand Muslim civilians, men, women and children have sought refuge in the Arabic College and mosques in Muttur town since the fighting between SLA and LTTE broke out in Muttur Tuesday night, civil sources said. Heavy fighting is continuing between SLA and LTTE in the jetty area.
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SLA fires on Ambulance, 3 Tamils killed

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 August 2006, 06:56 GMT]
Sri Lankan troopers in Seruvila opened fire on an ambulance of the Muttur district hospital, transferring patients to Trincomalee general hospital, through Allai-Kantalai Road, Wednesday. Two Tamil civilians were killed on the spot. The driver of the ambulance who was critically wounded in the shooting succumbed to injuries while being taken to the Colombo general hospital. Sri Lankan Police on Thursday said the ambulance was caught up in a "cross-fire."
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Kfir bombers observed over Vanni

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 August 2006, 06:52 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bomber Kfir jets were observed over Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled Vanni territory Thursday around 1:00 p.m.
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Fierce fighting continues third day in Muttur

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 August 2006, 06:14 GMT]
Fierce fighting erupted between the Sri Lanka Army and LTTE fighters in Muttur town Thursday early morning following the deployment of hundreds of SLA troops from Trincomalee town. These troops were brought to Muttur by a landing craft of the Sri Lanka Navy Thursday early morning with air cover amid heavy artillery and mortar fire towards the LTTE territory in Muttur East, civil sources in Muttur said. Fierce fighting began after government troops landed at the Muttur jetty when large number of LTTE fighters in the Muttur started attacking the government troops with artillery and mortar preventing them from entering the town, the sources added.
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Claymore attack, artillery fire in Mannar

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 August 2006, 05:51 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) launched artillery fire from Thallady and Uyilankulam camps towards Parappankandal, 16 km southeast of Mannar town, after two SLA troopers were wounded in a Claymore attack around 6:45 a.m. Thursday. SLA troopers exchanged gunfire with the ambush-men and launched mortar and artillery fire. One civilian was wounded in artillery fire in Parappankandal. More than a 100 families from SLA controlled areas moved into the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled territories following indiscrimate artillery fire.
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"Hundreds of Tigers" in Muttur - residents

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 02 August 2006, 19:18 GMT]
Intense fighting is underway in Muttur in Trincomalee district as hundreds of heavily armed LTTE cadres who have taken control of the town centre laid siege to four Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camps on its periphery, residents said Wednesday evening. An effort by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) to land reinforcements on Muttur jetty was routed by LTTE fighters battling SLN troops at one end, reports said. Sri Lanka’s military insisted however that the Army was in control of the town and that the ‘desperate’ LTTE was retreating before its counter-attack.
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