Jaffna secretariat strikes over assault

[TamilNet, Thursday, 07 September 2000, 12:01 GMT]
Officials and employees attached to the Jaffna Secretariat (Kachcheri) went on strike from 9 to 10.30 Thursday morning protesting against an alleged assault on some of them by Sri Lanka Army soldiers, earlier Thursday.
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SLA hands over 36 bodies

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 September 2000, 08:13 GMT]
(Correction) Sri Lanka Army handed over the bodies of 36 Liberation Tigers who were killed in the recent fighting in Jaffna, to the International Committee of the Red Cross. ICRC representatives received 36 body-bags at Neervey around 11 a.m. this morning said organisation's press officer Harasha Gunawardena.
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SLA weighs Colombuthurai losses

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 September 2000, 05:40 GMT]
"It cannot be denied that the loss of lives was greater than what was achieved" Jaffna Sri Lanka army spokesman Brigadier Sanath Karunaratna told the Jaffna daily Uthayan published Wednesday, referring to the heavy losses sustained by the SLA when it attempted to take a section of Colombuthurai, the southeastern coastal suburb of Jaffna town. "There is no point in capturing mere territory " the brigadier told the paper, adding that the Liberation Tigers are continuing to vehemently block the army from constructing new defence lines in Colombuthurai. The SLA's forward defences here were damaged and destroyed in a fierce counter attack by the Tigers on Monday.
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EPDP cheating people of Jaffna -Anandasangari

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 September 2000, 20:24 GMT]
"The EPDP was Premadasa's agent from 1989 to 1994. It has been operating as Chandrika's agent since 1995. Douglas Devananda, who did not have even half a cent in the past, is now getting seven million rupees a month from the government. The EPDP is cheating the people of Jaffna" said Mr. V. Anandasangari, senior vice President of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) lashing out at the pro-Sri Lankan government armed Tamil group, the Eelam People's Democratic party, at a press conference in Jaffna town Tuesday morning.
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ICRC to transfer bodies

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 September 2000, 16:56 GMT]
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Tuesday that it has arranged the transfer of the bodies of the Liberation Tigers killed in the fighting with the Sri Lanka Army in Jaffna on Sunday and Monday. The transfer is expected to take place at Neervely, northeast of Jaffna town, around 9.30 a.m. Wednesday.
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Costly SLA operation back to square one

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 September 2000, 20:18 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have repulsed a major offensive launched by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in the Jaffna peninsula killing at least 150 soldiers and injuring over one-thousand, said official LTTE sources in London.
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Jaffna fighting claims more

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 September 2000, 05:51 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army said today that 479 soldiers were wounded and 71 including 8 officers were killed in the fighting with the Liberation Tigers in Jaffna Sunday. Fierce fighting erupted when the SLA launched a massive operation into the eastern sector of the Jaffna town which is held by the Liberation Tigers in the early hours of the morning Sunday.
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Heavy casualties in Jaffna offensive

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 September 2000, 15:36 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers are resisting a major offensive launched by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) across five fronts, the LTTE said Sunday. Over 100 SLA troops have been killed and several hundred wounded, a statement from the organisation's London office said. The SLA is using intense artillery and multi-barrel rocket launchers (MBRL) against LTTE held areas amid heavy fighting, the statement said, adding thousands of civilians have fled their homes.
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Jaffna artillery duels continue

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 September 2000, 07:32 GMT]
Hundreds of civilians fled their homes near Jaffna town fearing heavy barrages by the Sri Lanka army since Saturday night towards areas held by the Liberation Tigers. More than fifty soldiers were wounded in a limited operation conducted by the army in the eastern and northeastern sectors of the Jaffna town against the positions of the LTTE sources in the north said. The operation commenced last night.
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Nine parties contest in Trinco district

[TamilNet, Saturday, 02 September 2000, 14:37 GMT]
Five political parties and an Independent Group today submitted their nomination papers to contest the Trincomalee electoral district during the forthcoming general elections.
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Sexual assault blamed on soldiers

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 September 2000, 17:05 GMT]
A teenage boy was admitted to Manthikai hospital, Point Pedro with bleeding from his genitals as a result of injuries sustained when he was molested by two persons whom the boy alleged were Sri Lanka Army soldiers from a camp in his village Kudaththanai, Jaffna.
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Artillery exchange in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 September 2000, 17:04 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army and the Liberation Tigers fought heavy artillery duels Friday in Meesalai sector of the Thenmaradchi Division in the Jaffna peninsula said sources. Meesalai is about 3 km. from Chavakachcheri on the Jaffna highway towards SLA-held Kodikamam. Chavakachcheri was captured by the Tigers in May this year.
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Fourteen SLAF killed in LTTE attack

[TamilNet, Friday, 01 September 2000, 05:54 GMT]
Fourteen Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) personnel were killed and eight were wounded when the tractor in which they were travelling was hit by a powerful claymore mine blast set off by the Liberation Tigers west of Vavuniya near the forward defence lines of the Sri Lanka army around 7.40 a.m Friday morning.
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Sinhala nationalists contest in East

[TamilNet, Thursday, 31 August 2000, 14:23 GMT]
Two Sinhala nationalist parties are to contest in the next parliamentary elections in the eastern Batticaloa District. 'Bhumiputhra Party' or Sons of the Soil and 'Runhuna People's Party' filed their nominations Thursday, said sources.
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President toughens stand on war, reforms

[TamilNet, Thursday, 31 August 2000, 05:53 GMT]
Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunge said Wednesday that her government was prepared to talk to the Liberation Tigers if they laid down their arms, and would eradicate with every means at its disposal if they refused. She was addressing a rally of her Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) at Wellawaya in the deep south of the island.
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SLMC to stand alone

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 August 2000, 16:02 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) decided Wednesday to contest the forthcoming general election under the National Unity Alliance (NUA). Nomination lists of the SLMC would be submitted by Friday, SLMC sources said. A decision to this effect was made at the party convention held today in Colombo.
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Ex-Jaffna communists for Tamil self determination

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 August 2000, 14:42 GMT]
The Democratic Left Front (DLF) a leftist party contesting elections to the Sri Lankan Parliament held a press conference Tuesday in Jaffna town to explain its stand on political issues affecting the island's Tamils. The group's chief candidate for the Jaffna electoral district, Mr.Kasippillai Senthivelavar, said that the DLF will agitate for an immediate cease-fire and emphasise the right of self determination of the Tamils in Sri Lanka.
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Heavy fighting near Mannar MSR

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 August 2000, 06:13 GMT]
Heavy fighting erupted from the early hours of Tuesday morning in Uyilankulam, about 10 kilometers east of Mannar, when the Liberation Tigers launched an assault on the forward defence lines of the Sri Lankan security forces. Police sources in Mannar town told TamilNet that fighting continued in the area until 10 a.m.
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SLMC-PA tussle takes new turn

[TamilNet, Monday, 28 August 2000, 15:12 GMT]
The pre-poll tussle between Sri Lanka's ruling People's Alliance (PA) and its main ally took a new turn Monday when the general Secretary of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and the general secretary of its popular front, the National Unity Alliance, resigned from their posts Monday.
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New SLA commander assumes duties

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 August 2000, 20:55 GMT]
Lieutenant General Lionel Balagalle took over as the 16th commander of the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) on Friday. In a press conference soon after his appointment, Lt. Gen Balagalle, who had served as the commanding officer of the forces in the Jaffna peninsula and the Vanni, admitted that there were problems with the SLA. He said there was a need to strengthen the SLA's manpower, provide better training to the soldiers and modernise the army's weapons. However, he stressed that the SLA was ready for war, and that the current lull had allowed time for the soldiers to regroup.
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