Tigers claim raid on joint paramilitary, military mini-camp in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 September 2008, 11:32 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) officials in the East claimed Sunday that six Sri Lankan military and paramilitary personnel were killed in a raid carried out by a commando unit of the Tigers on a joint military and paramilitary camp at Thikiliveddai, north of Batticaloa at 2:15 a.m. Sunday. The mini-camp was brought under LTTE control within 15 minutes after they launched the raid, the Tigers said claiming that they seized a Light Machine Gun, five assault rifles and ammunitions. Meanwhile, medical sources at Chengkaladi hospital said one of the wounded TMVP personnel rushed to hospital succumbed to his injuries and that eight wounded were received at the hospital after the raid.
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Armed men shoot Tamil woman dead in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 September 2008, 10:46 GMT]
Unidentified armed persons shot dead a 44-year-old Tamil woman Aruljothy Sivanesawari Saturday night around 11:00, in her house at Paddaimadichchapu'liyangku'lam in Vavuniyaa police division, according to complaints lodged with the Vavuniyaa Police Sunday morning.
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British statement fails to condemn Sri Lanka - BTF

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 September 2008, 10:43 GMT]
The Tamils in UK feel confused by a British statement that acknowledges the apparent recognition by the GoSL of its responsibility to provide humanitarian assistance to civilians affected by the conflict and its continued co-ordination with humanitarian agencies, at a time when foreign aid workers of the UN and International Non-Governmental Organisations have been expelled from Vanni by the government of Sri Lanka, said a statement issued by the British Tamils Forum (BTF) on Saturday.
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SLA soldier killed in clash in Yala

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 September 2008, 10:08 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soures in Colombo on Saturday said an soldier was killed in a clash with the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) Saturday evening at Sector 3 of Yala bordering the Hambantota district.
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White van armed men abduct upcountry Tamil youth

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 September 2008, 09:57 GMT]
A 28-year-old married Tamil man from Avisawella in Ruwanwela was abducted by unidentified armed men driving a white van on September 23rd evening when he was traveling with his relatives in Ruwanwela police division, according to a complaint lodged by his wife with the police.
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Ethnocentric military dictatorship in the making in Colombo - Vanni MP

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 September 2008, 09:47 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian for Vanni, Selvam Adaikkalanathan, who blamed Sri Lanka Army commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka for his Sinhala ethnocentric comments to a Canadian paper, said Sunday that the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, as Commander-in-Chief and the Executive President, should instruct the SLA commander to apologise for the statement. Fonseka's statement not only undermined democracy by justifying an ethnic majoritarian rule in the island of Sri Lanka, but also alluded that a military dictatorship was in the making in Colombo, he said. Meanwhile, Rauff Hakim, the leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, also blamed that the "attack on the minorities " by the SLA commander "bordered on racism."
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US Ambassador says 'honoured' to meet paramilitary leader

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 September 2008, 05:23 GMT]
US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Robert O' Blake says he was honoured to meet the leader of the Army-backed paramilitary group TMVP (Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal) which Human Rights Watch has condemend for widespread human rights abuses in the eastern province - of which Pillayan was appointed chief minister. Mr. Blake said he is "pleased that [Pillayan] assured me he too is committed to demobilizing the paramilitaries" the Sunday Times reported. The same column in the paper reported that TMVP cadres are once again being used to support the Sri Lankan security forces' counter-insurgency in the east.
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Protests in Tamil Nadu gain momentum, Jayalalithaa extends support

[TamilNet, Sunday, 28 September 2008, 00:50 GMT]
In a significant move amid the building momentum in Tamil Nadu where Tamil leaders are voicing their support to the Eezham Tamils as the Sri Lankan forces intensified their attacks on Vanni, the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and the Leader of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, J. Jayalalithaa, Saturday extended her support to a fasting campaign being organised by the Communist Party of India (CPI). In a letter to D. Pandyan, the general secretary of the CPI in Tamil Nadu, Ms. Jayalalithaa said her party extended wholehearted support to the success of the campaign, which highlights the problems and urges to safeguard the lives, properties and the rights of the Tamils in Sri Lanka.
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British PM meets Rajapaksa, conveys acute concern

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 September 2008, 15:01 GMT]
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Secretary of State for Department for International Development Douglas Alexander met with President Mahinda Rajapakse of Sri Lanka in New York Friday to discuss the situation in Sri Lanka. "The recent increased hostilities in the north of Sri Lanka are of acute concern to the UK Government," said a joint statement from the British International Development Minister Shahid Malik and Lord Malloch Brown, calling on both the parties, the GoSL and the LTTE, to respect their obligations under International Humanitarian Law to enable free access for humanitarian agencies. The statement also urged LTTE to take urgent action to allow free movement of civilians.
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Civilian killed, 8 including 4 children wounded in SLAF attack

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 September 2008, 10:08 GMT]
A civilian was killed and eight, including four children, were wounded in Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) attack in Iraththinapuram, a suburb of Ki'linochchi town, Saturday around 12:15 p.m., Tamileelam Police said. The ICRC office, which was recently relocated from Ira'naimadu junction, is situated around 150 meters away from the bombed locality. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan defence ministry claimed that the attack was a 'precision air strike' against an LTTE target. Medical sources at Ki'linochchi hospital said an 8-month-old baby, a 9-month-old baby, and two 2-year-old children were among the wounded.
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Kaarainakar, Trincomalee Tamils abducted in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 September 2008, 17:48 GMT]
Two Tamils, one a native of Kaarainakar in Jaffna district, and the other from Lingkanakar in Trincomalee district, had been abducted in two separate incidents in Colombo, according to complaints lodged with the Dehiwala Police and Fort Police by their relatives.
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Tiger artillery fire kills SLA soldier in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 September 2008, 16:35 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launched artillery shells Friday around 10:00 a.m.,across Jaffna lagoon, targeted Sri Lanka Army (SLA) coastal posts in Kurunakar, Paasaiyoor and Ariyaalai East, killing an SLA soldier and seriously injuring two, sources in Jaffna said. Heavy artillery exchange followed between the SLA and LTTE which lasted nearly for an hour. Meanwhile, a Kurunakar fisherman was injured when one of the shells fell and exploded in Jaffna lagoon.
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Upcountry Tamil reported missing in Colombo

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 September 2008, 16:26 GMT]
A thirty-eight-year old Up Country Tamil was reported missing in Colombo since September 21 Sunday evening, according to complaints lodged with the Grandpass Police and with Civil Monitoring Committee by his relatives.
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STF shoots dead Tamil trader in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 September 2008, 16:24 GMT]
Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) commandos shot and killed a 48-year-old Tamil trader Thursday around 8:15 p.m. in the back yard of his shop at Veeramunai-Ampalaanththu'rai main road in Ma'ndoor in the Batticaloa district, sources in Batticaloa said.
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LTTE leader pays homage to Thileepan, Sankar

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 September 2008, 12:22 GMT]
Velupillai Pirapaharan, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) on Friday paid homage to Lt. Col. Thileepan, a political leader of the LTTE, who fasted unto death in 1987 and Col. Sankar, a senior commander and the founder of the Tamileelam Air Force (TAF) also known as Air Tigers. Col. Sankar was assassinated by the Sri Lanka Army on September 26 in 2001 when the LTTE was engaged in peace process with the Norwegian facilitators.
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SLA, LTTE clash in Mukamaalai FDL

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 September 2008, 17:34 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) clashed for Thursday around 2:00 a.m for nearly half an hour, according to sources close to SLA. Kodikaamam police said it recovered Thursday a body of a male, who was caught in a landmine explosion in the no man zone between SLA and LTTE FDL positions.
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Kaaththaankudi police arrest 17 Tamil civilians

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 September 2008, 17:13 GMT]
Kaaththaankudi police arrested seventeen persons on suspicion in a joint cordon and search operation launched by police, Special Task Force (STF) commandos, and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Wednesday afternoon around 4:00 p.m. in Aaraiyampathi Murukan Koayil area, in Batticaloa district, sources in Batticaloa said.
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Rally at UN against Sri Lanka's genocide draws over thousand protesters

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 September 2008, 16:56 GMT]
Over one thousand American Tamils, Canadian Tamils and friends of Tamils protested Wednesday in front of the United Nations Headquarters in New York to draw attention of the United Nations, demanding sanctions against Sri Lanka, and advocating to invoke the principle of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) as a means to halt what the protesters alleged "genocide of Tamils." The protesters also denounced the visit to the UN by the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. About 20 Sri Lankan Government supporters, including Buddhist monks, showed up briefly for a counter protest.
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Eyewitness to desecration of temple arrested under fabricated charges - UPF Minister

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 September 2008, 10:34 GMT]
Sri Lankan police in Grandpass, Colombo, arrested last Thursday a 29-year-old Tamil man who is the main eyewitness to the desecration of a Hindu temple by a Buddhist monk at de-Mel Watte in Colombo on 03 September. Up-Country People's Front parliamentarian and a Deputy Minister in UPFA, P. Rathakrishnan has condemned the act as a move by the police to intimidate a key witness. The Tamil community viewed the arrest as a fabricated charge, he said.
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Co-chairs emphasise on immediate humanitarian concerns

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 September 2008, 08:58 GMT]
"We're placing a lot of emphasis right now on the protection of human rights for civilians who are caught in the fighting, and the democratic government's responsibility for extending - for respecting and extending human rights protection to the people in the areas that they take over," said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Affairs, Richard Boucher, in a statement on Wednesday, after a meeting of the 'Sri Lanka Co-Chairs' in New York.
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