Charles Anthony Brigade celebrates 15th anniversary of inauguration

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 April 2006, 11:19 GMT]
Cadres of Charles Anthony Brigade and Senior Commanders of the Liberation Tigers celebrated the fifteenth anniversary of the formation of the brigade by holding a sports and cultural event which started at 3.30 p.m. Monday in an undisclosed sports ground in Vanni, sources said. Charles Anthony brigade, the first conventional fighting formation created by the Liberation Tigers on 10 April 1991 was initially trained under the leadership of Col.Balraj.


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TNA MPs, LTTE leaders pay respect to Vigneswaran in Kilinochchi

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 April 2006, 00:56 GMT]
"Tamil human rights activist Mr. V. Vigneswaran's assassination and those of 17 other Tamils in the period from November 2005 to January 2006 clearly shows that the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) will never protect the human rights of the Tamils. Therefore we ourselves have to strive to protect our rights," said Rev. Fr. Kanagaratnam, Director North East Human Rights Secretariet (NEOSHR), paying homage to slain Mr. Vigneswaran whose body was kept for viewing at the Cultural Hall in Kilinochchi Monday, said sources.


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SL Army and Karuna can defeat LTTE – Defence Secy

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 April 2006, 23:03 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa told the head of the international ceasefire monitors that the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) could easily defeat the Liberation Tigers with the assistance of the Karuna Group paramilitaries, the Daily Mirror reported Tuesday. Paradoxically, Mr. Rajapakse, appointed to his post by President Mahinda Rajapakse, his brother, had two weeks ago also told the then head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) that paramilitaries were not operating in government-controlled areas.
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Claymore attack in Jaffna, 5 SLA soldiers, 2 humanitarian workers killed

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 April 2006, 09:22 GMT]
Five Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers travelling in a SLA truck and two Tamil humanitarian workers belonging to Human Development Centre (HUDEC), who were riding in a vehicle that was overtaking the SLA truck, were killed when a Claymore mine fixed to a lamp post was exploded Monday afternoon by unidentified attackers on A9 Road at Mirusuvil, 9 km northeast of Chavakachcheri, police in Chavakacheri said. Two SLA soldiers and two HUDEC staffers were also injured in the Claymore explosion.
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SLA balks at demarcating new mine fields for demining

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 April 2006, 15:04 GMT]
De-mining activities in Jaffna face danger of being drawn to a close due to the reluctance shown by the Sri Lanka Security forces to identify and demarcate new mine infested areas for the Non-Governmental Organizations including British HALO Trust and Danish Demining Group (DDG) to continue demining, civil society sources in Jaffna said Sunday.
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Muttur east Tamils pay homage to Vigneswaran

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 April 2006, 10:02 GMT]
The remains of the slain President of the Trincomalee District Tamil Peoples Forum TDTPF) Mr.V.Vigneswaran was taken on Sunday morning to Liberation Tigers held Muttur east by road with the escort of International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) and Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM). The Sri Lanka Police provided the security up to and from Kaddaiparichchan Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp located on the border separating the LTTE area.
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Vigneswaran killing imperils Peace Talks- Chandrasekaran

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 April 2006, 17:31 GMT]
Leader of Upcountry Peoples Front (UPF), and parliamentarian, Periyasamy Chandrasekaran said in a communique released Saturday that the killing of the President of the Trincomalee District Tamil Peoples' Forum, Mr Vigneswaran, has posed a challenge to the continuation of Peace Talks between the Liberation Tigers and the Government of Sri Lanka.
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Mannar mourns death of Vigneswaran

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 April 2006, 15:00 GMT]
A weeklong mourning for the slain Trincomalee Tamil activist Mr.V.Vigneswaran who was shot dead Friday in Trincomalee town commenced Saturday in Mannar district in response to an appeal by the District Tamil Resurgence Movement, sources said.
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Pirapaharan confers Maamanithar title to Vigneswaran

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 April 2006, 12:31 GMT]
Leader of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Velupillai Pirapaharan, bestowed the title Maamanithar (Great Human being) on Mr.Vanniasingham Vigneswaran, President of the Trincomalee District Tamil Peoples' Forum (TDTPF) who was shot dead Friday. "Steadfast and honest, he opposed the genocidal war by the successive Sinhala governments which destroyed thousands of tamil lives and their property, plundered Tamils possessions and resources, and was intent on destroying Tamil National symbols. Vigeswaran fought to free Tamils from this menace," Pirapaharan said in the statement conferring the award.
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Claymore explodes in Jaffna, SLA soldier killed in Muttur clash

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 April 2006, 11:33 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldier, and a civilian were wounded in a Claymore explosion in Neerveli in Jaffna around 4:40 p.m. Saturday. The Claymore targeted an SLA truck, SLA sources in Jaffna said. In the meantime, sources in Colombo said one SLA soldier was killed in direct clash that erupted at Selvanagar in Thoppur in Muttur Division of the Trincomalee district around 1:45 p.m. Earlier on Saturday, a civilian was injured and several houses were damaged when SLA soldiers fired artillery shells from Kaddaiparichan army camp towards Ganeshapuram in Muttur east, according to reports reaching from LTTE controlled areas in Trincomalee district.
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Civilian injured, houses damaged in SLA shelling -Elilan

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 April 2006, 07:22 GMT]
A civilian was injured and several houses were damaged when Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers fired artillery from Kaddaiparichan army camp towards Ganeshapuram in Muttur east, around 8.20 a.m., Saturday, LTTE sources in the eastern town said.
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Tamil nation in deep grief over Vigneswaran slaying - Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 April 2006, 18:07 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Political Head S.P. Thamilchelvan, in a letter to the Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, expressed shock over Trincomalee Tamil activist Vigneswaran's slaying and said that the killing, in the context of what is taking place on the ground, rendered Colombo's pledges in Geneva on curbing paramilitary activities "meaningless." Describing Vigneswaran's slaying as a part of Sri Lankan military's "planned killings of Tamil activists in a systematic manner," Thamilchelvan says that the GoSL and its law enforcing authorities could no longer plead ignorance of Tamil activists killings.
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SLMM files report on Vigneswaran killing

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 April 2006, 15:48 GMT]
Trincomalee District Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Ove Janssen, who rushed to the assasination site where Trincomalee Tamil activist Vigneswaran was slain, has sent a report with photographs taken at the scene to his headquarters in Colombo after interviewing several persons who have witnessed the assasination. SLMM sources said Mr. V. Vigneswaran had been frequently complaining to SLMM that his life was in danger.
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Defence Secretary visits Jaffna, meets SLA, SLN commanders

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 April 2006, 11:30 GMT]
Secretary of Defense and Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse's brother, Gothabaya Rajapakse, arrived at Palaly airport in a special Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) aircraft Friday, and met with senior commanders of the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and Sri Lanka Army (SLA), sources in Jaffna said.
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Elilan blames SLA Intelligence for Vigneswaran slaying

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 April 2006, 10:48 GMT]
Mr.S.Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in a statement issued Friday, blamed the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and its intelligence operatives for the slaying of Mr.V.Vigneswaran, President of the Trincomalee District Tamil Peoples' Forum (TPTDF), in an area declared high security zone, and surrounded by vital security installations of the Sri Lanka Army, Navy and Police, sources in Trincomalee said.
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Vigneswaran shot dead in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 April 2006, 04:08 GMT]
Mr.Vanniasingham Vigneswaran, President of the Trincomalee District Tamil Peoples' Forum (TDTPF) was shot dead Friday around 9.30 a.m. by an unidentified person when he was about to enter the main branch of the Bank of Ceylon (BoC) located along Inner Harbor Road between the office of the Senior Superintendent of Police and Trincomalee Harbor Police. The assassination of the key Tamil activist has taken place when the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) was about to announce the appointment of Mr. Vigneswaran as the national list Parliamentarian to fill the position held by Joseph Pararajasingham MP who was slain in Batticaloa on Christmas eve, TNA sources said.
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LTTE cadre killed in Panichchankerni - Elilan

[TamilNet, Thursday, 06 April 2006, 15:07 GMT]
A Liberation Tigers cadre, Lt. Arulanantham, was killed Wednesday evening by artillery fire from Sri Lanka Army position in Mankerni, Trincomalee District Political Head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), S. Elilan, said in a letter to Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Thursday. The artillery fire was used by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) when the Tiger cadres counter attacked a group of 40 armed men who launched an attack on a LTTE sentry post in Panichchankerni. Two paramilitary cadres were wounded according to eyewitnesses in Kirimichchai on Wednesday.
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Two paramilitary cadres wounded in Panichchankerni

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 April 2006, 18:23 GMT]
Two Karuna Group paramilitary cadres were wounded in Panichchankerni, 60 km north of Batticaloa, Wednesday around 5:30 p.m., when Liberation Tigers launched a counter-attack on the paramilitary cadres penetrating into the Liberation Tigers controlled area, eyewitnesses said. A key paramilitary operative, Chooty, wounded in his stomach was transported to the Kirimichchai SLA camp in a motorbike which the withdrawing paramilitary cadres hijacked from a civilian traveller.
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US working to eliminate threat of landmines

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 April 2006, 11:12 GMT]
"We are proud to be a close partner with Sri Lanka in increasing the local capacity to detect and clear mines," said U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Lunstead, in a press release issued by the US Embassy in Colombo Monday marking the mine awareness day to be observed on 4th April. "It is a long-term effort, yet one in which all sides have cooperated. We hope we will be able to assist the government in eliminating this threat within the next few years so Sri Lankans can go about their daily lives free from the fear of mines," the release added.
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Fisheries: A NorthEast industry in turmoil

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 April 2006, 00:44 GMT]
Fishing ban along a significant portion of 349 km long Northern district coasts, displacement of fisher families, harassment of fishermen by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) along shores and by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) in shallow and deep sea have plunged the fishing industry in NorthEast in turmoil. Fisher families live in perpetual uncertainty even while struggling to meet ends meet on a daily basis. Unfulfilled assistance of help promised by successive Sri Lanka Governments have helped prolong the suffering of these families, Vadamaradchy Fisheries Consortium spokesperson said.
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