Grenade thrown at SLA patrol

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers threw grenade at a Sri Lankan Army petrol today 11.30 a.m. in Lotus road, in Aarukal Madathadi in Anaikoddai. Reports from Jaffna said that some SLA soldiers were injured in the grenade attack. Later, the army demolished a house from which the attackers had thrown grenade.
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Civilians injured in pre-poll shelling

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Five civilians, including a 12 year old child, were injured when the Sri Lankan Army shelled Gurnagar, an area by the lagoon in Jaffna town yesterday around 10:45 p.m., said the Jaffna TN correspondent.
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Sporadic violence in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
A mentally unbalanced person was shot and wounded by the SLA around midnight on Kasturiyar Road in Jaffna town. He was admitted to the Jaffna hospital and has been identified as Arunaslam Nagaratnam,47.
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Low turnout in quiet polls

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
An official at the independent election monitoring group's office in Jaffna town said this evening that today's polls were generally free of any incidents of violence. Voter turn out was generally very low said TamilNet reporters in Jaffna.
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Voter numbers come in

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Low polling was recorded at the local government elections held in the Jaffna peninsula with voting in the Jaffna Municipal Council dipping to 25%, said the TamilNet correspondent. Voting in the islands off the Jaffna peninsula has also been very low.
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Election rules breached in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Election monitors covering the Jaffna local polls recorded a number of violations of election laws in the islands off the Jaffna peninsula, said sources close to the independent monitoring committee.
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Tigers hit Valaichenai SLA camps

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
SLA troops are still clearing the area where the Liberation Tigers overran and burnt the Vaakaneri army camp, eight kilometers west of Valaichenai. Army sources in Batticaloa said that more than forty soldiers were wounded in the attack and eight bodies of those killed in the attack have been recovered until this afternoon.
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Tigers list captured weapons

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The VOT radio gave the list of weapons the Liberation Tigers captured from the SLA when they overran the army camp on the Polannaruwa - Valaichenai road last night.
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Polls overshadowed by developments elsewhere

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Civilian activity on the roads of Jaffna came to a virtual standstill today, the eve of local government elections, as residents stayed at home through fear, said sources in the peninsula. What was seen on the roads were buses, specially brought from Colombo for the polls, transporting officers on election duty, ballot boxes and ballot papers, under heavy armed guard by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA).
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Civilians killed by SLA fire

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Two civilians were killed by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) last night around 8:30 p.m., when soldiers mistook them for members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), at Kiran near Valaichenai, 30 km north of Batticaloa.
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SLA steps up Jaffna security

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
A car with election monitors from the NGO backed PAFFREL was checked by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) for bombs at Bangalavedi Junction in Velanai while more rigorous security measures came into force at checkpoints in other parts of Jaffna town, said sources in the peninsula.
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Most voting cards not claimed

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Of the approximately 12,000 poll cards sent to the postmaster of Kayts, an island northwest of the Jaffna peninsula, only 3000 have been issued up to 2.00 p.m. today, postal department sources told the TamilNet correspondent.
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President appeals for 'valuable' vote

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Leaflets from Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga exhorting the people of Jaffna to cast their vote at the forthcoming local elections are being distributed from today by the Sri Lanka Army, said sources in Jaffna.
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Ten Batticaloa traders missing

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Ten milk traders from the western hinterland of Batticaloa who went to collect milk near the Sinhala border yesterday have gone missing said sources in the eastern town.
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20 detainees injured in road accident

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
20 civilians arrested in a cordoned and search operation in the villages in the Valaichenai area, north of Batticaloa, were wounded when the tractor they were being transported to Peythalai SLA camp rolled over with its trailer, this morning at 10.30 a.m.
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SLA claims 4 Tigers killed

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The SLA claimed today that it killed 4 Liberation Tigers, including two women members, who had infiltrated its defence at Nedunkerni around 2.30 p.m.
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SLA imposes travel restrictions on teenagers

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The SLA has placed further restrictions on Tamil boys and girls from travelling to Colombo. Earlier, boys and girls between the age of 14 and 21 could travel to Colombo on the basis of priority letters recommended by the Grama Sevakas (village officers) in their respective areas of residence.
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EPDP cadres blamed for firing

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The ex-EPDP member of the parliament Mr. R. Ramamurthy lodged a complaint with the Sri Lankan Police at Kaytes today that he was shot at by a group of heavily armed EPDP cadres at his mother's residence on Suruvuil road, Karampan, at around 12.45 p.m. this afternoon.
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Mud flies in Jaffna campaigns

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The propaganda for the Jaffna local polls took an acrimonious turn with the main contenders attacking each other of human rights abuses and corruption. The PLOTE put out a pamphlet today accusing the EPDP of massacring 72 Tamil youths who were taken away by the group when it moved into Allaipiddy, in the island of Kayts with the Sri Lankan army in late 1990.
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SLA operation in Jaffna blocked: LTTE

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army launched a large clearing operation from Eluthumadduvaal in the Thenmaradchi division of Jaffna to Nagar Kovil in Jaffna's south eastern coast yesterday.
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