Fisheries director killed, DPU attack targets ambulance

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 May 2008, 04:33 GMT]
Assistant Director of Fisheries in Mannaar, J.G.Jujin and another civilian were killed when a Sri Lanka Army Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) Claymore mine targeted an ambulance of the Ki'linochchi hospital at Muzhangkaavil in Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) controlled Vanni Friday around 8:00 a.m., initial reports said.
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Tigers locate 6 SLA bodies, seize weapons, heavy fighting in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 May 2008, 05:35 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) on Sunday thwarted a ground movement launched by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) from Irungka'ndalku'lam towards Va'n'naaku'lam in Mannaar claiming that at least 26 SLA soldiers were killed in the fighting and that more than 50 SLA soldiers were wounded. The Tigers have located 6 dead bodies of the SLA soldiers in the clearing mission. Two Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) launchers and six T-56 assault rifles were among the weapons seized by the Tigers. Three Tiger fighters were killed in action, according to the LTTE officials in Vanni.
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PLOTE member shot dead, 2 killed in Vavuniyaa claymore attack

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 May 2008, 06:50 GMT]
A leading member of Peoples’ Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) of Vavuniyaa district was shot and killed, and another person seriously injured in a shooting incident Tuesday around 5:30 p.m at Poonththoaddam area in Vavuniyaa, sources in Vavuniyaa said. Meanwhile, two civilians were killed in a Claymore attack Tuesday around 6:00 p.m targeting a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) truck, near Vavuniyaa Town Council playground, the sources added.
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2 new parliamentarians sworn in

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 May 2008, 10:46 GMT]
Sarana Gunawardene and Dulip Wijesekara were sworn in as new parliamentarians from the Gampaha district Tuesday when the parliament met for the first time after the New Year recess. Speaker W.J.M.Lokkubandara administered oaths at the commencement of the session, parliamentary sources said.
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Police recovers 10 kg claymore mine in Kandy

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 May 2008, 11:17 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police and Sri Lanka Army in a joint operation recovered a claymore mine weighing 10 kg from a house in Digana, a village located in Teldeniya police division in Kandy district, Sunday evening, media sources said.
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US Country Report accuses GoSL, LTTE of terrorist activities

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 May 2008, 11:17 GMT]
Noting that in South and Central Asia, "[t]errorism remained a serious problem in the region, directly and indirectly threatening American interests and lives," the Country Reports on Terrorism 2007, released by the US Department of State Wednesday, blamed the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers for terrorist activities saying, "[t]he LTTE reverted to targeting civilians in bus bombings and claymore mine attacks, while the government used anti-LTTE paramilitaries to terrorize citizens suspected of having ties to the Tigers."
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Claymore ambush in Weli Oya kills 2 STF commandos

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 May 2008, 08:54 GMT]
Sri Lankan military officials said two Special Task Force (STF) commandos deployed in the Sinhala settlement of Dutuwewa in Ma'nalaa'ru (Weli Oya) region were killed in a Claymore attack Thursday around 6:45 a.m. This is the first time the STF has admitted to have lost its men in an ambush attack in the Vanni front after STF units were deployed in the sector bordering Trincomalee and Vavuniyaa districts in the North Central Province for providing security to the Sinhalese settlements.
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SLA enters Madu shrine

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 April 2008, 11:55 GMT]
Government of Sri Lanka on Friday officially admitted that the Sri Lanka Army had entered the Madu Shrine. Analysts in Colombo observed that the move, which comes in the wake of the SLA debacle in the Northern Front, was timed to divert increasing focus on recent SLA casualties prior to the provincial elections in the east. Meanwhile, Informed sources in Vanni told TamilNet that the SLA had been stationed 1.5 km away from the Shrine for weeks and it could have entered the Shrine at any time as LTTE defensive units were strictly kept away from the peace zone.
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Remains of Fr. Karunaratnam interred in Vavunikku’lam

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 19:10 GMT]
Thousands of people stood in tearful reverence when the remains of Rev. Father M X Karunaratnam, the chairman of the NorthEast Secretariat on Human Rights (NESoHR), slain in a Claymore attack by a Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) of the Sri Lanka Army on Sunday, were interred in Vavunikku’lam Annai Vea’laangka’n’ni church cemetery Tuesday evening.
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Homage paid to slain Fr. Kaunaratnam in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 13:28 GMT]
More than a thousand people participated in the special Holy Mass Tuesday in Jaffna Cathedral (Kognchegnchi Maathaa Koayil) in Jaffna, paying homage to Rev. M. X. Karunaratnam, killed in a Claymore attack in the Vanni. Rev. Karunaratnam tirelessly strove to expose the human rights violations in Sri Lanka to the International Community and its various organizations including Vatican, Jaffna Bishop House Principal Priest, Rev. Justin Gnanapragasam who conducted the Holy Mass, said in his speech. People in Jaffna peninsula, for the first time since August 11 2006, assembled in large numbers at one place to participate in an event.
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3 civilians wounded in DPU Claymore attack on MPCS lorry

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 11:08 GMT]
Three civilians including the driver of a lorry loaded with supplies to the Cooperative Society in Poonakari (Pooneryn) from Vavuniyaa, was attacked by a Deep Penetration Unit of the Sri Lanka Army in the early hours of Tuesday at 1:30 a.m. at Aanaivizhunthaan on Akkaraayan - Vanneari Road. The lorry, carrying essential supplies worth 2.3 million Sri Lankan Rupees to the Poonakari Multi Purpose Cooperative Society (MPCS), which serves to the Internally Displaced People from Poonakari and Mannaar, was destroyed in the attack, according to the General Manager of the Poonakari MPCS, T. Ratnakumar, told TamilNet.
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Holy Mass to pay homage to slain Fr. Karunartam

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 06:48 GMT]
Jaffna Bishop House issued Monday a request to all priests and people of Christian faith in Jaffna peninsula to attend the special Holy Mass paying homage to Rev. Father X. M. Karunaratnam killed in Claymore attack by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) Sunday in Vanni. The mass will be held Tuesday at 4:00 p.m in Konchchonchi Maatha Koayil also known as the Periya Koayil (Big Church), located in Jaffna city.
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Norway condemns killing of NESoHR Chairman

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 06:33 GMT]
The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Colombo on Tuesday said that Norway condemned the killing of Rev. Fr. M.X. Karunaratnam, the chairman of the NorthEast Secretariat On Human Rights (NESoHR), who was slain in a Claymore attack that targeted his vehicle. The killing further adds to the already far too high civilian toll of the ongoing conflict, the press statement said. NESoHR was launched, in July 2004, as part of the Norwegian-facilitated 2002 Peace Process to strengthen the human rights protection mechanisms in the NorthEast of Sri Lanka.
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TNA condemns Father Karunaratnam slaying

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 04:32 GMT]
Father Karunaratnam was actively engaged in Human Rights related work, and as Chairman of the North East Secretariat on Human Rights, played a prominent role in the exposure of the grave human rights violations to which the Tamil Civilian population in the Vanni area were continuously subjected, said R.Sampanthan, the parliamentary group leader of the Tamil National Alliance and Maavai S.Senathirajah, the general secretary of Ilankai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK) in a press statement issued on Tuesday. "We deeply mourn the loss of Rev Father Karunaratnam who indefatigably served the legitimate interests of the Tamil Civilian population in the Vanni."
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NPC condemns Rev Fr Karunaratnam assassination

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 April 2008, 12:08 GMT]
The assassination of Rev. Father M X Karunaratnam, Chairman of the North East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESoHR), who succumbed to injuries sustained in a remote controlled claymore mine attack that had targeted him within the LTTE controlled territory where he lived and worked is a shocking and callous act. Fr Karunaratnam died in close proximity to his residential prayer and counseling centre which was a haven to those who suffered the travails of the ongoing war. As head of NESoHR which was set up in July 2004, as part of the 2002 Peace Process, Fr Karunaratnam worked tirelessly to strengthen the human rights protection mechanisms in the North East of Sri Lanka, the NPC said.
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Silence is eloquence: last remarks of Rev Fr Karunaratnam

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 April 2008, 11:32 GMT]
Barely two weeks before he was killed in a Claymore attack, allegedly carried out by a Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) of the Sri Lanka Army, Rev M X Karunaratnam was interviewed by the National Television of Tamileelam (NTT). While answering questions on the Madu Shrine controversy, he said, the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) was entirely responsible for politicizing the issue of the Shrine as it had attempted to achieve a militarily favourable situation by choosing to launch its offensive drive through Madu, a greatly revered Catholic holy pilgrim center. The Reverend Father also explained the silence of Vatican and the Sinhala bishops.
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Condemn Colombo for targeting Human Rights defenders: LTTE urges IC

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 April 2008, 06:51 GMT]
"The Sri Lankan State has targeted a human rights defender who worked for the welfare of the people," Political Division of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE), charged in a statement issued on Monday, and urged the international human rights bodies and the international community to condemn the continued gross human rights violations of the Sri Lankan state, and take actions without further delay to bring an end to the continuing human rights violations by the State.
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NESoHR condemns Fr Karunaratnam's assassination

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 April 2008, 20:38 GMT]
Expressing "profound shock and loss," officials at the NorthEast Secretariat on Human Rights (NESoHR), in a press release issued Sunday, condemned the assassination of NESoHR's chairman, Fr. M. X. Karunaratnam, and said, he "worked tirelessly championing the Human Rights of the Tamil people. He travelled to the United States, Canada and Geneva meeting with Foreign Governments and Organizations concerned in Human Rights. Rev. Fr. Karunaratnam pioneered the work of NESoHR in the field of psychological counseling of the war and tsunami affected people in the Tamil Homeland."
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NESoHR Chairman Fr. Karunaratnam killed in DPU attack

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 April 2008, 07:57 GMT]
Rev. Father M X Karunaratnam, the chairman of the NorthEast Secretariat on Human Rights (NESoHR), was killed in a Claymore attack carried out by a Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) of the Sri Lanka Army on Sunday, according to initial reports from Tamileelam Police. The attack took place on Mallaavi - Vavunikku'lam Road in Vanni around 12:30 p.m. Sunday, according to initial reports.
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2 Claymore mines recovered in Poarativu jungle

[TamilNet, Sunday, 20 April 2008, 02:02 GMT]
Special Task Force of Sri Lanka Police conducted a cordon and search operation Saturday in several areas in villages of Kaluwanchchikkudi and Poarativu in Batticaloa district following the recovery of two claymore mines on Friday evening, media sources said.
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