New TNA, UPFA parliamentarians take oaths

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 February 2008, 12:38 GMT]
Mr.Raseen Mohamed Imam,60, was sworn in as the new national list parliamentarian of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) by the Speaker Mr.W.J.M.Lokkubandara in the parliament when it resumed its sittings Tuesday, A lawyer by profession 60 year-old Mr. Imam filled the vacancy created by the continuous absence of the Mr.M.K.Eelavventhan for more than three months, parliamentary sources said.
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'Hatching chicken from spoiled egg'

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 February 2008, 04:15 GMT]
Ruling out any constitutional reform and upholding a 'single unitary state', the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his 60th Independence Day speech harped on 'bringing the provincial administration closer to the people within the framework of the constitution' to resolve the ethnic crisis of Sri Lanka. “The solution must be based on what could be implemented in this country. We cannot offer solutions that are experiments,” he said. The challenge he stressed was the 'defeat of terrorism'. “Impotent of laying new eggs, the president is duping Tamils, promising to hatch an egg rotten for 60-years,” said Selvam Adaikkalanathan, Member of Parliament and the leader of TELO.
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4 SLA, 10 civilians killed in Ma'nalaa'ru bus attack

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 February 2008, 11:20 GMT]
14 persons, including four Sri Lanka Army soldiers and 10 Sinhala civilians were killed when a Claymore attack targeted a bus carrying soldiers and civilians at Kobbekaduwa junction in Ma'nalaa'ru (Weli Oya) colonisation scheme Monday around 3:40 pm. At least 17 wounded in the blast.
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4 SLA soldiers killed in Buttala ambush

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 February 2008, 10:47 GMT]
Four Sri Lanka Army soldiers were killed and three wounded in a Claymore ambush that targeted their tractor at Galge, 25 km southeast of Bhuttala town in Uva Province around 1:50 p.m., informed military sources in Colombo said. The attackers detonated a Claymore mine and opened fire at the tractor on Buttala - Kathirkaamam (Kataragama) Road.
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LTTE, SLA DPU unit clash in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 03 February 2008, 19:55 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters confronted SLA troopers of Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) infiltrating Sunday morning 11:10 a.m. through Paalamoaddai Forward Defence lines (FDL)of LTTE in Vavuniyaa and forced them to flee from the area, Vavuniyaa operations command of Tigers said.
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LTTE Political Head writes to UN Secretary General

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 January 2008, 10:17 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Political Head B. Nadesan, in a letter to United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, bringing attention to the Claymore attack by the Sri Lanka Army Deep Penetration Unit in Madu, urged the UN Secretary to "recognize Tamil sovereignty as a constructive approach to end the unending five decades long, large scale, and serious rights violations against the Tamil people." Stating that the Tigers have ensured that there was no underage members in the movement and that the LTTE has respected the efforts made by the international community to rectify the rights situation, Mr. Nadesan said the LTTE has "demonstrated its readiness to cooperate with the international community."
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Horror in the afternoon

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 January 2008, 22:42 GMT]
When her bunker at the Thadcha'naamaruthamadu refugee camp came under SLA shelling last Sunday, Mary Consulator sustained minor injuries and her child was critically wounded. She faced the crisis with the courage of a mother in a war-zone: she admitted her child to the Pa'l'lamadu hospital and stayed there to nurse it to health.
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40 Tamils still in custody after Ja-ela claymore explosion

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 January 2008, 10:07 GMT]
Forty Tamils arrested following the January claymore explosion in Ja-ela that killed Mr.D.M.Dassanayake, Nation Building Minister in the cabinet of President Mahinda Rajapakse, are still being detained by the police and are being interrogated by the Terrorist Intelligence Division, according to Peliyagoda police.
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SLA attacks school bus in Madu, 8 killed, 35 wounded

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 January 2008, 09:59 GMT]
8 civilians including children were killed and 35 wounded in Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam controlled area in Madu division of Mannaar district Tuesday at 2:25 p.m. when a Deep Penetration Unit of the Sri Lanka Army triggered a Claymore mine targeting a bus with school children, according to initial reports from Tamileelam Police officials in Madu. The bus, with children and catholic clergy, was returning from a sports event, according to the initial reports. Further details will follow.
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15 SLA killed in Pa'ndivirichchaan clash - LTTE

[TamilNet, Sunday, 27 January 2008, 15:51 GMT]
Liberation Tigers Operations Command in Mannaar claimed Sunday that at least 15 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed and more than 30 SLA troopers wounded Sunday evening in a five-hour fighting in Periya Pa'ndivirichchaan area in Mannaar where SLA launched a ground offensive Sunday noon into LTTE controlled territory. Reporting that minor clashes were continuing in the area, the Tigers said a Deep Penetration Unit of the SLA with Claymore mines was defeated in Chinna Pa'nadivirchchaan around 11:00 a.m. Sunday.
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Kathirkaamam Murugan Temple closed for daily pooja

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 January 2008, 11:34 GMT]
Temple administrators have closed the historic Kathirkaamam Murugan Temple in the south of Sri Lanka following the closure of Buttala-Kadirgaamam road after the claymore explosion that took place along Buttala-Okkampitya road recently, sources said.
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Enhanced security to Uva Chief Minister, councilors

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 January 2008, 11:17 GMT]
The security of the Chief Minister and four ministers of the Uva Provincial Council is to be enhanced with immediate effect on an appeal made by Uva Chief Minister Wijithamuni Soysa following the claymore explosion and other violent incidents that took place recently in Moneragala district.
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Yala sanctuary to be closed again

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 January 2008, 10:46 GMT]
Yala sanctuary in the southern province is likely to be closed down for tourists again with the drop of foreign tourists following claymore explosions and attack that took place recently. The Yala sanctuary was re-opened in the beginning of January this year after several months' closure due to violence. Meanwhile more than eight thousand soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army are reported to have been deployed in about 12 villages in the Moneragala district to curb the movement of armed groups in the jungle area.
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13 Tamils arrested in Kalpity

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 January 2008, 11:20 GMT]
The Chilaw Police Wednesday arrested 13 Tamil civilians in Kalpity coastal village in a cordon and search operation conducted from Tuesday night. Majority of them now detained and interrogated at Kalpity police station are residents of Mannaar and Jaffna, sources said.
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LTTE beats back SLA troops in 2 separate fronts in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2008, 21:28 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launched an attack and beat back the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops Monday around 10:30 a.m at Vilaaththiku'lam area in Mannaaar district, and in a similar clash at Pa'ndivirichchaan in Mannaar district Monday around 7:30 a.m fought back an SLA unit which attempted to advance into LTTE territory supported with artillery, mortar, and multi-barrel rocket fire, Mannaar Tiger operations command said.
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Extortion of money from Tamils in Colombo on the increase

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2008, 11:54 GMT]
Extortion of money from affluent Tamils residing in Wellawatte, Bambalapitya and Dehiwala in Colombo has been on the increase in recent days, according to media reports. Gangs posing as police officers and CID personnel have been waylaying Tamils walking along roads in evening in these areas threatening them with death if not yielded to their demands.
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Tigers locate SLA dead body, seize weapons in Ma'nalaa'ru

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 January 2008, 16:54 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers Operations Command in Ma'nalaa'ru said that the Tigers repulsed a two pronged Sri Lanka Army movement at Ma'nki'ndimalai in Ma'nalaa'ru (Weli Oya) Saturday afternoon following stiff resistance that lasted for more than one hour. Four SLA soldiers were killed, the Tigers said. A dead body of an SLA soldier was recovered and a T-56-2 assault rifle and a Claymore mine were seized by the LTTE in the clearing mission.
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LTTE attacks SLA DPU near Madu Church

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 January 2008, 18:32 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) combatants staged a surprise attack on Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers from the Deep Penetration Unit lying in ambush having planted claymore devices near Madu Church along Mannaar-Madu road in Mannaar district Thursday around 2.00 p.m causing SLA troops to flee, carrying the wounded, LTTE command in Mannaar region said.
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SLA shoots dead Tamil youth in Chengkaladi

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 January 2008, 13:25 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops shot killed a Tamil youth Friday around 4:30 a.m on Chengkaladi Main Road in Batticaloa district. The Senior Police Commissioner of Batticaloa claimed that the SLA troops opened fire on the youth when he was fixing a Claymore device along the road.
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SLA withdraws from Mu'l'likku'lam - LTTE

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 January 2008, 04:28 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) officials told media in Ki'linochchi that a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) unit that was lured into a booby-trapped minefield in Mu'l'likku'lam in Mannaar abandoned its ground movement Wednesday around 3:30 p.m. Meanwhile, a group of SLA soldiers engaged in setting up Claymore mines in the area were counter-attacked by the Tigers.
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