January 2
|
Five people are killed and two others sustain injuries in a
bomb blast in Trincomalee.
|
January 3
|
Vavuniya West Area political head of the LTTE,
‘Major’ Jeyanthan, and a civilian, Vinotharan Thevarasa, are killed in a
claymore mine explosion in the LTTE-controlled area of Valaiyankattu in
Mannar town.
Unidentified assailants shot dead a Hindu priest,
Selvathamby Vishagaratnam, in the Kiran area of Batticaloa district.
A woman, identified as Sepamalai Victoria, is killed and her
husband sustained injuries in an attack by unidentified assailants in the
Sethukkuda area of Batticaloa district.
A civilian, Nadaraja Balendran, is shot dead by unidentified
assailants in the Wellawatte area of Colombo district.
|
January 5
|
A civilian, Kunam Thanus, is killed and three others sustain
injuries when unidentified assailants lobbed a grenade and subsequently
opened fire in the Valaichenai area of Batticaloa district.
Unidentified assailants abduct a civilian, Thabendran
Mathan, and subsequently stab him to death in the Vadamaradchy area of
Jaffna district.
A LTTE cadre, Rajasanthram alias Wannan, is killed in
retaliatory fire by the security forces (SFs) when he tried to lob two hand
grenades at them, in the Kiran area of Batticaloa district.
|
January 7
|
15 Sri Lankan Navy personnel are killed in a suspected suicide
attack by the LTTE on a navy gunboat outside the Trincomalee naval harbor
in Trincomalee district.
A senior PLOTE member, identified as Kennedy, is shot dead
by unidentified assailants in the Jaffna district.
|
January 8
|
SFs kill a LTTE cadre in retaliatory fire in the Sittandy
area of Batticaloa district.
A civilian, identified as Sinnarasa Rasaiah, is shot dead by
unidentified assailants in the Point Pedro area of Jaffna district.
|
January 9
|
A soldier and two LTTE cadres were killed following a
gun-battle between the LTTE and a military patrol in Muttur near
Trincomalee.
President Mahinda Rajapakse, during a meeting with
Ambassadors of the Co-chairs of the international donors said that his Government
"will continue to act with restraint" but would take "all
necessary measures" to check "further terrorist attacks."
|
January 10
|
Security forces recover four claymore mines, planted by the
LTTE, in Mannar and Batticaloa.
US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Jeffrey Lunstead, at a meeting
with the American Chamber of Commerce warned the LTTE against re-igniting a
civil war.
|
January 11
|
LTTE ‘Pistol Group’ cadres abducted a 31-year old woman,
Pavalarani Kanapathipillai, from her house in Mattuvil and later shot her
dead in the Jaffna area.
Addressing villagers in Batticaloa at a rural self-defence
training and drill programme, the LTTE’s 'special commander for
Ampara-Batticaloa', Bhanu, warned that its Air Force is ready to launch
attacks on the Sri Lanka Government's armed forces if war breaks out.
|
January 12
|
Nine Sri Lankan Navy personnel were killed and eight injured
in a suspected LTTE triggered claymore mine blast in Chettikulam on the
Mannar-Medawachchiya road.
Issuing a statement on January 12, the Sri Lanka Monitoring
Mission (SLMM) condemned the latest attack on Navy personnel in Chettikulam
and found LTTE's explanation unacceptable.
|
January 13
|
A powerful bomb blast damaged a car belonging to the SLMM in
Batticaloa town.
|
January 15
|
Three women relatives of a LTTE cadre were shot dead by
unidentified assailants in Manipay, close to the Manipay Hindu College in
Jaffna district.
Suspected terrorists shot dead a former EPDP member,
Navaratnarajah Jegatheeswaran, near Nelliady-Kodikamam road in Jaffna.
|
January 16
|
A Sri Lankan Army
soldier was killed when suspected LTTE cadres lobbed a grenade at a sentry
located in the premises of Mannar General Hospital, in Mannar district.
|
January 17
|
Suspected LTTE cadres trigger a claymore mine explosion on
the Nilaveli-Trincomalee road, injuring 12 sailors travelling by bus to
Trincomalee. Two unidentified civilians are killed and another injured in
the crossfire, which ensued after the blast, when the LTTE cadres opened
fire at the bus and retaliated by naval troops.
One soldier is killed and another one injured when the LTTE
detonated a claymore mine at Sarasalai in the Jaffna district.
Another batch of 10 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees from
Selvanayakapuram in Talaimannar district arrives at Rameswaram in the
Indian State of Tamil Nadu raising their total number to 48.
The SLMM decides to temporarily suspend their monitoring
activities in Trincomalee due to the recent escalation of violence in the
district.
|
January 18
|
The SLMM will continue operational activities in the seas
off Trincomalee despite its earlier decision to suspend operations in the
entire district.
Norwegian Ambassador, Hans Brattskar, after a meeting with
the LTTE political head, S.P. Thamilselvam, said, "Tamil Tigers will
[not] go to war and [we are] optimistic that the LTTE wants to come to the
negotiation table."
|
January 19
|
Three police personnel and a civilian are killed in a
suspected LTTE triggered claymore mine blast in the Thandavanveli area of
Batticaloa district. Seven army personnel, 13 police personnel and three
civilians are injured in the blast.
In another claymore mine blast along the Trincomalee-Kandy
Road, two Navy personnel, one Police constable and 16 civilians are
injured.
|
January 21
|
27 LTTE cadres are killed in an explosion that occurred in
the Adampan area of Mannar district.
The police shot dead two suspected LTTE cadres who attempted
to attack them with a grenade at Chettikulam.
A home guard and a civilian are shot dead in Seruwila by
unidentified gunmen.
|
January 22
|
A 21-year-old youth is shot dead by unidentified assailants,
suspected to be from the 'Colonel' Karuna group, near the Mamangam Kovil in
Batticaloa.
President Mahinda Rajapakse calls for immediate talks with
the LTTE to halt the increasing violence and warns that the wish for peace
is not a sign that the Government was unable to counter the LTTE.
Geneva is likely to emerge as a compromise venue for the
first round of talks between the Government and LTTE.
|
January 23
|
Suspected LTTE cadres attack an army patrol near the
Batticaloa town, detonating a claymore mine, killing three soldiers and
wounding two others.
The Intelligence Division of Fort Police arrests a woman,
suspected to be a member of the LTTE suicide bomb squad, near the Fort
Railway Station in Colombo.
U.S. Under-Secretary of State Nicholas Burns describes the
LTTE as a "reprehensive terrorist group," which was "keeping
the country on the edge of war" and said while the Tamils had
"legitimate grievances," the LTTE bore the "full
responsibility" to either choose peace or to continue with its
"repugnant policies of the past decade and a half."
|
January 24
|
A journalist, identified as S. Rajan, attached to a Tamil
language newspaper Sudar Oli, is shot dead by an unidentified gunman at
Trincomalee.
|
January 25
|
The Government of Sri Lanka and LTTE will meet in
Switzerland for talks on implementing their strained 2002 truce, said
Norwegian Minister for International Development and key facilitator, Erik
Solheim.
LTTE leader, Anton Balasingham, assures that outfit will not
attack the army.
|
January 26
|
At least 10 LTTE cadres are killed and an unspecified number
are injured when ‘Colonel’ Karuna faction cadres attacked a vehicle
carrying LTTE cadres in the Vadamunai area of Batticaloa district. The
attack followed the killing of a senior LTTE cadre, identified as ‘Major’
Kavilan, in the same area.
Switzerland announces that it is ready to host the
forthcoming peace talks between the Sri Lankan Government and LTTE in
February 2006.
77 SF personnel are killed by the LTTE either by firing at
them or in explosions after December 1, 2005 to-date, informs a statement
of the Ministry of Defence.
|
January 28
|
A civilian, identified as Thambiah Jeyarajah, is shot dead
by unidentified assailants in the Lingapuram village of Trincomalee
district.
LTTE accuses the Government forces of harassing civilians
despite this week’s breakthrough in their stalled peace process.
|
January 29
|
‘Colonel’ Karuna has welcomed the proposed cease-fire talks
to be held in Geneva and said his group would unilaterally stop all
“self-defence military campaigns” to give an opportunity to President
Mahinda Rajapakse to continue with his peace effort.
SLMM spokesperson, Helen Olafsdottir, in an interview with
an Indian magazine states that ceasefire monitors have no evidence that the
Sri Lanka Army is supporting the LTTE’s breakaway faction led by ‘Colonel’
Karuna.
|
January 30
|
Five TRO members are abducted from the Welikanda check-point
area of Polunnaruwa district.
|
January 31
|
The LTTE threatens that they will pull out of the upcoming
peace talks in Switzerland unless the Government takes greater steps to
protect Tamils against abductions.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse states that
representatives from the Muslim community will be included in the future
peace talks.
|
February 2
|
The Sri Lankan Government announces that senior Minister,
Nimal Siripala de Silva, would head the Government team at the forthcoming
peace talks with the LTTE, led by Anton Balasingham.
|
February 3
|
The February 3-meeting between chiefs of Sri Lanka’s
International Donors and the LTTE in Kilinochchi is cancelled after the
donors decided "it was not proper for the chiefs of the organizations
to have talks with leadership of the Wanni Tiger organization until the
forthcoming discussions in Geneva are over."
|
February 5
|
LTTE rejects the Government plans for peace talks in Geneva
on February 15 because of reported abductions of pro-LTTE aid workers, and
demanded talks in late February instead.
|
February 6
|
Peace facilitator Norway announces that the Government and
LTTE will meet in Geneva on February 22 and 23 for a dialogue.
|
February 7
|
The LTTE confirms its participation in peace talks scheduled
to be held in Geneva on February 22-23.
The Tamileela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), the LTTE
breakaway-faction led by ‘Colonel’ Karuna, warns that it would be forced to
withdraw from its unilateral cease-fire against the LTTE.
|
February 8
|
The LTTE says that it is not ready to talk to the Sri Lankan
Government if another party - a Muslim delegation - also sits at the
negotiation table, but adds that a representative from the Muslim community
could join the talks as a member of the Government peace delegation or as a
representative of the Tamil-speaking people in the Northeast. The outfit
also ruled out the possibility of any "modifications" to the CFA
as well as discussions on a political solution to the conflict at the talks
to be held on February 22 and 23 in Geneva.
|
February 9
|
The Sri Lanka Information Minister, Anura Priyadharshana
Yapa, reveals that there had been 5,464 cases of cease-fire violations
committed by the LTTE from February 22, 2002 to February 4, 2006 civilians.
The number of extortion cases reported within this period is 106.
The Sri Lanka Government appoints a Steering Committee on
Peace Building (SCPB), headed by Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera. The
SCPB will consist of six Cabinet Ministers, a Deputy Minister, Members of
Parliament, alliance partners of the Government, six Permanent Secretaries
and senior officials of the Foreign Ministry and the Peace Secretariat.
|
February 10
|
The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader, Rauf Hakeem, stated
that there should be a separate Muslim delegation at the peace talks as per
the Oslo agreement and also condemned the LTTE stand that no separate
Muslim representation should take part in the talks.
|
February 11
|
One of four suspected LTTE Sea Tigers aboard on a speeding
trawler blew himself up in mid-sea off Talaimannar in the Mannar district
after being intercepted by SLN personnel, killing four sea Tigers on board
and injuring a SLN personnel, who succumbed to his injuries later. SF
personnel recovered a LTTE travel document during a search operation in the
area following the explosion.
|
February 13
|
Military spokesperson, Brigadier S.A.P.P. Samarasinghe,
informs that a combined Police and Army search operation recently has
confirmed that no paramilitary groups were operating in areas under
Government control.
|
February 14
|
Sri Lanka's Parliament extends the state of emergency that
gives wide-ranging powers to the armed forces, for one month. It was
imposed on August 13, 2005.
The UNICEF has called on the LTTE to cease the recruitment
of children for military purposes and to release all children within its
ranks and has recorded 5,368 cases of reported child recruitment in Sri
Lanka since January 2002.
|
February 16
|
The LTTE says that the forthcoming talks in Geneva would
decide "if there is peace or war." Thamilselvam, political wing
leader of the outfit, told Reuters that the future was "totally
dependent on the outcome of this meeting. He added, "Any solution to
the Tamil national problem should involve the concept of a Tamil homeland,
nationhood and the right of self-determination and provide the people with
a dignified solution."
|
February 17
|
Government releases four ‘naval wing’ cadres of the LTTE,
also known as ‘Sea Tigers’, who were arrested in October 2005 for
videotaping the Trincomalee Harbour, as a goodwill gesture ahead of Geneva
talks. Soon after the release of four LTTE cadres, the outfit’s
spokesperson, Daya Master, announced that they would release one of the two
Police personnel in their custody since mid-2005 for entering uncleared
areas (areas not under the Government control) in pursuit of an absconding
British pedophile.
|
February 19
|
President Mahinda Rajapakse states during an all-party
meeting that the Government has decided to approach the Geneva peace talks
on a multi-party basis, though the two main parties that will participate
in the discussions are the Government and LTTE. He added that all earlier
discussions were conducted as bi-party affairs and all of them were
unsuccessful and that’s why a new approach for the talks was necessary.
The political wing leader of the LTTE, S.P Thamilselvan,
demands that the Government hand over cadres of breakaway faction led by
‘Colonel’ Karuna to the outfit.
|
February 20
|
The LTTE threatens to kill Rajan Sivarajah, leader of the
Liberal Democratic Tamils in Norway, unless he stops his "anti-LTTE
activities immediately." Rajan is one of the two Tamil leaders who
addressed the first Conference of the World Alliance for Peace in Sri Lanka
held in Oslo in 2004.
‘Colonel’ Karuna says that his forces would only disarm if
the main group does. He said, "If Sri Lanka forces disarm all the armed
groups and us ... it will only give legitimacy for the LTTE to extend its
writ to kill us… Any hand over of arms must be part of (a) conflict
resolution process at a stage when normalcy and trust is established."
|
February 21
|
The LTTE rules out the possibility of discussing an
expansion in the mandate of the SLMM at the Geneva talks to be held on
February 22-23.
The Norwegian Government appoints Brigadier Henricsson, a
Swede, as chief of the SLMM with effect from April 1, 2006 succeeding
Hagrup Haukland, who is a Norwegian.
Sidonia Gabriel, Programme Officer, Human Security and Peace
Policy of the Swiss Foreign Ministry, tells Daily News that the Swiss
Government would not allow the LTTE to carry out fundraising campaigns in
the country.
|
February 22
|
The Sri Lanka Government and LTTE commenced their two-day
direct talks on implementation issues of the four-year old cease-fire
agreement CFA in Geneva.
Six unidentified assailants shot dead a LTTE 'National
Auxiliary Force' cadre, identified as Shanthakumar Narayanapillai, in the
Pulipaynthakal area of Batticaloa district. The ‘Colonel’ Karuna faction
reportedly claimed responsibility for the killing.
A former cadre of the LTTE, Navarasan, is shot dead in the
Valaichenai area of the same district by suspected members of a
paramilitary group.
A Muslim supporter of the Sri Lanka’s main opposition United
National Party, Mohamathu Muhaideen Jarool, is shot dead, allegedly by a
Muslim armed group at Meerakerny in the Eravur area of Batticaloa district.
|
February 23
|
Peace talks between the Government and LTTE concludes in
Geneva with both sides agreeing to meet again on April 19-21 at the same
venue for another round. The Joint Statement at the end of the meeting
said, "The LTTE is committed to taking all necessary measures to
ensure that there will be no acts of violence against the Security Forces
and the Police… The Government of Sri Lanka is also committed to take all
necessary measures in accordance with the cease-fire agreement (CFA) to
ensure that no armed group other than Government security forces will carry
arms.”
|
February 26
|
Government sources say that the CFA of 2002 has been
"amended" at the talks held in Geneva on February 22 and 23.
Nimal Sripala de Silva, Government chief negotiator, told a media briefing
in Colombo that the "new obligations" mentioned in the ‘Geneva
Agreement’ of February 23 could be "construed as amendments to the
CFA."
The LTTE asks the Government to implement the Geneva
agreement within two months and expressed its intention to talk to the
Muslims and discuss the issue of separate Muslim representation in future
rounds of talks and the Muslim concerns in the multi-ethnic eastern
province.
‘Colonel’ Karuna, leader of the LTTE breakaway faction, vows
to resist any attempt by the Government to disarm his group and threatened
to end a unilateral cease-fire.
|
February 27
|
Intelligence sources have stated that a large-scale LTTE war
drill was in progress in the Kanjikudichcharu area of Ampara district,
almost immediately after the talks between the Government and LTTE
concluded in Geneva.
The LTTE accuses Government of not honoring commitments
given at the Geneva talks by failing to crack down on an armed member of a
rival Tamil group in the north.
Anton Balasingham, chief negotiator of the LTTE, rejects the
Government's claim that the joint statement at the end of the Geneva talks
amounted to an amendment to the original CFA.
|
March 1
|
LTTE releases 20 cadres who had lied about their ages in
order to join the insurgency.
President Mahinda Rajapakse says that the future discussions
with the LTTE would be held with 'transparency.'
|
March 3
|
The LTTE delegation which took part in the Geneva talks with
the Government will meet Norway’s Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støere in
Oslo to discuss the outcome of the talks on the implementation of the CFA.
|
March 4
|
The LTTE accuses the army of killing two of their cadres in
an attack, the first significant incident of violence since talks in
February, but the military denies involvement.
|
March 5
|
Unidentified assailants shot dead a former soldier, identified
as Mohamed Navas, in the Valaichenai area of Batticaloa district.
Presidential Advisor, Nivard Ajith Cabraal, said that the
next round of peace talks between the Government and LTTE, to be held at
Geneva in April 2006, will focus on humanitarian issues to provide relief
to the people in the Northeast before attention is focused on issues such
as power-sharing.
|
March 6
|
A Muslim businessman, identified as M. Jawfar, is shot dead
by unidentified assailants in the Eravur area of Batticaloa district.
President Mahinda Rajapakse describes the Geneva talks as a
"victory for the entire nation," and promises to continue with
his peace efforts despite opposition from his unitary and hard-line
electoral allies. He describes the current situation as an opportune moment
to end the separatist conflict.
The LTTE chief negotiator, Anton Balasingham, describes the
Geneva talks as a "victory" for the LTTE.
|
March 7
|
Sri Lanka clears more than half of the country's estimated
one-million land mines, planted during two decades of civil war, and should
be able to complete the task within two years.
Customs officials at the Bandaranaike International Airport
in Colombo detains some LTTE delegates, including its Peace Secretariat
head Pulidevan, who returned from Oslo, along with several catalogues
containing weapons and number of powerful searchlights.
The Marxist JVP states that the party does not like the
double role of the Norwegian facilitator and said, "We should not
continue to keep Norway as the facilitator."
|
March 8
|
EPRLF General Secretary, T. Sritharan, demands that LTTE’s
chief negotiator, Anton Balasingham, should be charged for glorifying
suicide bombers and issuing death threats from London.
|
March 9
|
Unidentified assailants shot dead a civilian, identified as
Govinda Vijayarasa, in the Iruthayapuram area of Batticaloa district.
Sri Lanka’s chief Muslim party, the SLMC, accuses the LTTE
of carrying out a ‘sinister operation’ to link Sri Lankan Muslims with
extremist Muslim groups such as Al Qaeda and vehemently denies accusations
by the outfit that a Muslim ‘Jihadi’ group was operating in the east of the
country.
|
March 10
|
UNICEF has informed that the LTTE still holds as many as
1,358 child soldiers, despite its pledges to free all underage combatants.
The LTTE has reportedly promulgated a "Tamil Eelam
Lands Act" covering land administration in the areas under its control
in the northeast.
|
March 11
|
Thuiyavan, a ‘political leader’ of the ‘Colonel’ Karuna
faction, tells Lankadeepa that his group is not a gang but an organisation.
He stated, "Nobody can disarm us. We have our own arms. They are not
given by the government or anybody else. We will hand over our arms on the
day Prabhakaran hands over his. Until then we will not put down arms."
He also said that they fear the Sri Lanka Army and Police, but bear arms to
protect themselves from the LTTE.
|
March 13
|
Anton Balasingham, the LTTE’s chief negotiator, said, “The
Geneva peace talks will face grave danger if the Sri Lanka government
refuses to disarm Tamil paramilitary organisations and continues allowing
them to launch offensive military operations against our military positions
in Batticaloa district.” He adds that the LTTE leadership would be
compelled to review its decision to participate in the next round of talks,
scheduled to be held in Geneva on April 19, if Colombo fails to fulfill the
pledges agreed in the joint statement issued after the first session of
talks in Geneva.
|
March 15
|
A Danish Social Democrat member of the Herning City Council,
Arul Thilainadarasa, is expelled from his party after he admitted to his
affiliation with the LTTE.
According to the latest Human Rights Watch report, members
of Canada's Tamil community are being aggressively pursued and extorted by
the LTTE. The HRW report said Canada's Tamil population are pressurized to
lend money, re-mortgage their homes or even skip meals to help fund the
fight for a separate Tamil state.
|
March 16
|
Norwegian peace facilitator, Erik Solheim, announces that he
will step down from the facilitator’s role and will appoint a new special
envoy to Sri Lanka.
The British Government agrees to curb illegal fund raising
from the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora in the UK by the LTTE.
|
March 20
|
Unidentified assailants shot dead a civilian in the capital
city of Colombo.
Unidentified assailants shot dead a civilian, identified as
Siththiravel Selvam, in the Eravur area of Batticaloa district.
|
March 21
|
Parliament extends the state of emergency, first imposed
after the assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar on August
13, 2005, by one month.
LTTE chief negotiator Anton Balasingham has said that the
outfit will view any further attacks by ‘military-backed renegades’ as an
act of war and may postpone peace talks unless the State disarms them. He
further said, "Unless Rajapakse... accepts the demand of the Tamils
for regional autonomy, there won't be any prospect for a political
solution. If internal self-determination is rejected, then only we will
invoke the right to external self-determination - that is the right to form
an independent state."
|
March 22
|
Unidentified assailants shot dead two civilians, identified
as M. Gunaratnam and Jude, in the Kurumankadu area of Vavuniya district.
The LTTE rejects 'new preconditions' for the re-entry of
their political cadres into Government-controlled areas in the Northeast.
|
March 23
|
A LTTE cadre is killed and two others are injured in an
attack on the outfit’s ‘Forward Defense Line sentry point’ located in the
Poonagar area of Trincomalee district.
Cabinet spokesperson, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, stated that
the LTTE has violated the cease-fire agreement on 31 occasions following
the February 22-23 Geneva talks.
The Karuna faction along with other Sinhala and Tamil groups
form a new organization called the Alliance for Protection of Rights of the
People in the East with the aim of separating the North and East Provinces,
which have been merged since the signing of the India-Sri Lanka Accord in
1987.
The UNICEF has recorded 1,280 cases of children being
kidnapped by the outfit in 2003, falling to 675 in 2005, 155 in July only.
In January 2006, it logged 29 cases and 14 were reported for February.
|
March 24
|
Unidentified assailants shot dead a civilian, identified as
Ponniah Murugesu, and injured another in the Sasthrikulankulam area of
Vavuniya district.
The LTTE Peace Secretariat announced that to honour the
Government's condition made at the recently concluded Geneva talks, it has
decided to stop the opening of all political offices in Government-controlled
areas and added, "We hope the government too will respond [to] us
positively."
|
March 25
|
Six LTTE cadres and eight sailors are feared killed, when a
boat heading to northern Sri Lanka and carrying LTTE cadres exploded off
the northwest coast near a naval craft. However, the LTTE denied any
involvement in the incident.
|
March 26
|
The Government has laid down 28 conditions for the LTTE to
re-open its political offices in Government-controlled areas, forcing the
outfit to indefinitely postpone the idea.
The SLMM condemning the attack on SLN vessel on March 25, in
which eight Navy personnel and six LTTE cadres were reportedly killed, said
in a statement that it is hard to rule out LTTE involvement in the
incident.
|
March 27
|
Unidentified assailants shot dead M.L. Dharmasiri, personal
secretary of Sri Lanka's Minister of Agriculture, Environment, Irrigation
and Mahaweli Development Maithripala Sirisena, in the Aranangawila area of
Polannaruwa district
A suspected LTTE front, Upsurging Peoples Brigade, claims
responsibility for attacks on the military that killed dozens of SF
personnel in December 2005 and January 2006 and also threatened that they
would resume attacks.
The SLN has reimposed fishing restrictions in the sea
"around the Jaffna peninsula up to a distance of 12 nautical miles
from land up to International Maritime Boundary between India and Sri
Lanka” to stop the LTTE from smuggling weapons in the guise of fishermen.
|
March 29
|
The Sri Lanka Government said that it would continue peace
talks with the LTTE despite the deaths of eight sailors in a suicide blast
on March 25.
The LTTE chief negotiator, Anton Balasingham, assures the
outfit’s participation in the peace talks scheduled to be held at Geneva on
April 19, if safe passage through Colombo is provided for their negotiating
team.
|
March 30
|
The LTTE chief negotiator, Anton Balasingham, assures the
outfit’s participation in the peace talks scheduled to be held at Geneva on
April 19, if safe passage through Colombo is provided for their negotiating
team.
|
April 3
|
The ‘Colonel’ Karuna faction has vowed to kill the Eelam
LTTE cadres unless they return thousands of homes and businesses
appropriated from Muslims in the 1990s. The breakaway faction also stated
that it would ‘hunt down’ three top LTTE leaders and hand them to the Sri
Lanka Monitoring Mission.
|
April 4
|
UNICEF has stated that the number of people affected by
landmines in Sri Lanka has fallen 75 percent since the signing of the 2002
cease-fire agreement between the Government and LTTE.
|
April 5
|
A cadre of the LTTE, identified as ‘lieutenant’
Arulanantham, is allegedly killed in an artillery fire from a Sri Lankan
Army position in the Mankerni area of Trincomalee district.
The LTTE political wing leader, S.P. Thamilselvan, in his
meeting with the Norwegian peace envoy, Jon Hanssen-Bauer, demands the Sri
Lanka Government to disarm paramilitary groups before the next round of
peace talks at Geneva, scheduled to be held on April 19-21.
The spokesperson of the SLMM, Helen Olafsdottir, has stated
that there is a marked increase in the recruitment of children in the East
for combat training presumably by the LTTE.
|
April 6
|
Norway's International Development Minister Erik Solheim
after his meeting with the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse informs
that the President has assured safe passage to the LTTE delegation
traveling to Switzerland for peace talks scheduled to be held on April
19-21 at Geneva.
Police chief Chandra Fernando has said that he has not
clearly identified who the paramilitary armed groups are, but said the
Special Task Force is operating under Police as a paramilitary. He adds
that Police would take legal action against those who carry unauthorised
arms and also criminals.
|
April 7
|
Unidentified assailants shot the President of Trincomalee
District Tamil Peoples' Forum, Vanniasingham Vigneswaran, inside a bank
premises in the town. The TNA was to nominate Vigneswaran as the national
list Parliamentarian to fill the position left vacant by the slain TNA
Member of Parliament, Joseph Pararajasingham, who was killed on December
25, 2005.
Suspected LTTE cadres shot dead two Muslim home guards,
identified as B.A. Bawa and V. Tahibu, in the Welikanda area of Pollonnaruwa
district.
|
April 8
|
Suspected cadres of the LTTE kill one soldier and injure
other.
Another soldier and civilian are wounded in a fragmentation
mine attack on an army lorry in the north.
|
April 10
|
Five soldiers and two civilians are killed and two other
civilians are injured in a claymore mine explosion triggered by suspected
cadres of the LTTE in the Mirusuvil area of Jaffna district.
Canada formally proscribes the LTTE as a terrorist group.
|
April 11
|
Ten Sri Lankan Navy sailors and a civilian driver are
killed, while nine others injured when a Navy convoy was targeted by a LTTE
triggered claymore mine explosion, at Thampalagamuwa on the
Trincomalee-Habarana road.
|
April 12
|
At least 13 persons are killed and 40 others injured in a
series of bomb blasts and arson in the Trincomalee district. In one of the
incidents LTTE cadres set off an improvised explosive device outside a
vegetable market, killing at least five people. Six more persons are killed
in the subsequent mob violence in which shops, including those belonging to
Tamils and Muslims, are set ablaze. 38 persons are injured in the two
incidents.
|
April 13
|
Two civilians, Panchadcharam Kirupakaran Mattuvil and
Chinniah Thaya, are shot dead by suspected paramilitary cadres in two
separate incidents in the Jaffna district.
|
April 14
|
The Sri Lanka Government agrees on a new date for peace
talks with the LTTE at Geneva. The head of the Government peace
secretariat, Palitha Kohona, told Reuters, “The dates decided
upon are the 24th and 25th of April.”
|
April 15
|
At least four soldiers are killed and several others wounded
in a claymore mine explosion in the Vavuniya district.
Three Sri Lankan Air Force personnel are killed in a LTTE
triggered claymore mine explosion in the Kappalthurai area of Trincomalee
district.
|
April 16
|
The LTTE announces suspending participation in the second
round of Geneva peace talks “until hurdles” placed before it by the
Government were removed and “a more conducive environment” was created for
the negotiations.
Canadian Police raids the office of the World Tamil Movement
in Montreal, the first raid after the Canadian Government proscribed the
LTTE as a terrorist group and seized computers, files, LTTE flags and other
political documents.
|
April 17
|
Five SF personnel are killed and seven others sustain
injuries in a LTTE triggered claymore mine explosion in the Veppankulam
area of Vavuniya district.
Army sources reports that the total number of members of the
SFs injured due to attacks in the North and East since February 22-23
Geneva peace talks had risen to 45 with the attacks on April 17-morning.
They comprise 25 Sri Lanka Army officers, 13 Navy officers, five SLAF
officers and two Police officers. The number of civilians injured since the
Geneva peace talks were 61.
The Government agrees to permit Norwegian facilitators to
engage a private helicopter operating in Sri Lanka to transport the LTTE
eastern leaders to Kilinochchi for consultation in preparation for the
peace talks, scheduled to be held at Geneva on April 24-25.
|
April 18
|
The LTTE announces that they had killed three paramilitary
cadres and captured another in the LTTE-controlled area of Pendukalsenai,
west of Kiran in the Batticaloa district.
The pro-LTTE website Tamilnet claimed that the Sri Lanka
Army soldiers killed five Tamil civilians on April 18-night near the SLA
51-1 Division camp located at Vatharavathai, 13 km north-east of Jaffna.
LTTE states that they would not attend the Geneva peace
talks “unless violence against ethnic Tamils stops.” In an interview, LTTE
Peace Secretariat chief S. Puleedevan claimed, “While our people are being
killed and our shops are being looted, we are not going to Geneva.”
|
April 19
|
Unidentified assailants shot dead a civilian, identified as
Ambikaipahan Thambapillai, in the Kondavil junction area of Jaffna town.
Sri Lanka Plan Implementation Minister, Keheliya
Rambukwella, told the media that the helicopter ride offered to the LTTE through
the SLMM was not a blank cheque but restricted to a maximum 72-hours and
the outfit should use it before the Geneva talks scheduled to be held on
April 24-25.
General Secretary of Akhila Ilankai Tamil United Front, K.
Vigneswaran, states that by not providing adequate relief to the Tamils hit
by the recent ethnic riots in Trincomalee, the Sri Lankan Government is
driving them into the waiting arms of the LTTE.
|
April 20
|
Two bodies are found in the Kuttinagar area of Vavuniya
district.
|
April 21
|
Two soldiers were killed and another sustained injuries when
LTTE cadres blew up their vehicle with a claymore mine in the Thanganagar
area of Trincomalee district.
Troops in Jaffna recovered 12 claymore mines, 39 hand
grenades of different types, 50 detonators, 10 anti-personnel mines, 8
rocket propelled grenades, 110 TNT explosives sticks, 50 fuses, 5 pouches,
250 9-mm pistol rounds, 10 rounds of .38 ammunition, 5 T-56 magazines, 1400
T-56 bullets, 10 camouflage uniform sets, several other warlike items and
explosives weighing 75-kgs along with some appliances from the compound of
a house abandoned by an LTTE Mahaveerar's (brave warrior) family in the
Maduvil area. According to reports, this is the biggest ever recovery of
LTTE claymore mines in a single instance after cease-fire agreement in
2002.
|
April 22
|
An army officer was killed and six soldiers sustained
injuries when an anti-personnel mine exploded near their car at Welikanda
in the Polonnaruwa district, 216 kilometers northeast of the capital
Colombo.
Two civilians, Thambiah Gunanayagam and Loganathan Chandra
Perumal, were killed in the LTTE-controlled area in Mannar district, when
their motorbike hit a claymore mine fixed on a tree. Two more civilians
were shot dead by unidentified assailants in the Nelliady area of Jaffna
district.
|
April 23
|
According to the pro-Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
website Tamil Net, eight civilians were killed in separate
incidents on April 22-23.
LTTE cadres shot dead six Sinhalese farmers, including a
home guard, who were in their paddy fields at Kallanpattu in the
Gomarankadawala area of Trincomalee district.
|
April 24
|
Two home guards are shot dead by suspected LTTE cadres while
they were proceeding from their duty post towards the Dutuwewa base in the
Vavuniya district.
LTTE cadres kill a three-year-old infant while he was with
his mother at Muslim Colony in the Kaduruwela area of Polonnaruwa district.
|
April 25
|
Army Commander Lt. General Sarath Fonseka is critically
injured while at least eight persons were killed when a female suicide
cadre of the LTTE, disguised as a pregnant woman, blew herself up in front
of the military hospital inside the Colombo Army headquarters. 27 persons
were wounded in the explosion.
Following the attack, the Air Force launched a series of
strikes on the LTTE-held Sampoor area in the Trincomalee district. The
pro-LTTE website Tamil Net claimed that at least 12 civilians were killed
in the aerial strike.
|
April 26
|
At least four civilians are killed and 12 others, including
two sailors, were injured when the LTTE directed mortar fire towards the
naval jetty in Muttur.
Associated Press reports that close to 40,000 civilians have
left their homes in northeastern Sri Lanka to escape Government air strikes
on LTTE bases.
The LTTE's Trincomalee district political head S. Elilan
said, "we are in a state of readiness and are awaiting for the
instruction from our leadership to respond with a force that will be
catastrophically disabling and devastating to the enemy."
|
April 27
|
Three SF personnel are killed and three others sustained
injuries in a LTTE triggered remote controlled claymore mine attack at
Naravilkulam in the Mannar district.
Two sailors of Sri Lanka navy are killed in another claymore
mine attack by the LTTE in the Kayts area of Jaffna district.
The Sri Lanka Government halts its "deterrent
strikes" in the LTTE-controlled areas.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera calls for
"tangible and specific international actions against the LTTE and its
front organisations if it continues to persist with suicide attacks and
other terrorist acts against security forces and civilians."
|
April 28
|
Two Tamil youths are shot dead by unidentified assailants in
the Valaichenai area of Batticaloa district
Chief of the SLMM, Major General Ulf Henricsson, confirms
that the Sri Lanka Air Force and Navy had definitely targeted military
positions and offices of the LTTE. He said that 10-12 people may have died
and added that the report relating to a mass exodus of people from the
Sampur area was grossly exaggerated.
|
April 29
|
Two LTTE 'auxiliary force' cadres are killed in a claymore
mine attack allegedly carried out by the Sri Lankan Army in the LTTE-held
area of Manalaru in the Mullaitivu district.
The Sri Lankan Government said that it is prepared to travel
to Switzerland any time to resume peace talks with the LTTE.
|
April 30
|
The LTTE raids camps belonging to 'Colonel' Karuna faction
in the Welikanda area of Polannaruwa district, killing 20 of its cadres.
The UN has informed that up to 21,000 people have fled their
homes following the latest increase in violence in Sri Lanka's northeastern
district of Trincomalee. The office of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in
Sri Lanka said in a statement, "Altogether there is an established
recent case load of some 6,000 families or about 21,000 people."
|
May 1
|
The LTTE triggers an improvised explosive device (IED) blast
targeting SLN personnel near Shanmugam Vidyalaya in the Trincomlaee town.
However, the blast missed its intended target, killing four civilians and
one SLN personnel. One more SLN personnel sustained injuries in the blast.
Two civilians are killed and three others were injured by
the LTTE in the Welioya area of Batticaloa district. Five more civilians
have reportedly gone missing from the area.
The LTTE's commando unit that returned to its FDL on April
30 after completing the attack on three paramilitary camps in the Welikanda
area of Pollonaruwa district, has claimed that five SF personnel, including
a Captain rank officer, who took part in a paramilitary rescue operation,
were killed in confrontation with the outfit.
|
May 2
|
Cadres of the 'Colonel' Karuna faction attack the LTTE camp
in Batticaloa, killing eight of the outfit's cadres.
nidentified assailants attack the Udayan newspaper
office at Kasthuriar Road in the Jaffna town, killing two employees of the
daily and injuring an unspecified number of others.
Troops allegedly kill a woman, identified as
Sivagnanasundaram Kalarani, and wounded two others in the
Chinnavalayankattu area of Mannar district.
The LTTE 'Sea-Tiger' leader, Soosai, told that the outfit
would use its own vessels and armed escort to transport eastern leaders to
the North. He also said that they already used their vessels to transport
cadres from Mullativu to Trincomalee with armed escort on April 30.
|
May 3
|
The SCOPP chief, Palitha Kohona, states that the Government
has been offering seaplanes for the last one week "but we have still
not received a definite response from the LTTE. We are also engaged with
the Government delegation's pre-talks preparation."
The main opposition UNP has said that the ongoing peace
process is the only way to a lasting peace, but added that the party will
back the Government if it opts for war.
|
May 4
|
Troops kill seven LTTE cadres in a retaliatory fire when
they attacked SFs with hand grenades at Nelliady in the Jaffna town,
injuring two soldiers.
'Ravana Force', an LTTE front outfit, warn Tamil media
personnel working at the State print and electronic media institutions to
refrain from supporting the Government's propaganda against the LTTE.
|
May 5
|
One police personnel is killed and four others sustain
injuries in a LTTE-triggered claymore mine explosion at Mandan in the
Nelliady area of Jaffna district.
Cadres of the LTTE shot dead a soldier and injured another
at Adikovil in the same district.
The Minister of Policy Development and Implementation,
Keheliya Rambukwella, said that the Government has asserted that it will
not provide the LTTE with aircraft belonging to the armed forces for any
reason.
|
May 7
|
At least eight civilians, who went missing from a temple,
are feared killed in the Thenmarachchi area of Jaffna district.
The 'Colonel' Karuna faction cadres kill 12 cadres of the
LTTE in an attack at the outfit's camp in the Sampoor and Ravulkulee areas
of Trincomalee district.
The LTTE vows to raid Government territory to kill cadres of
the 'Colonel' Karuna faction, who according to the outfit, are attacking
their cadres with the help of the military and has warned that peace talks
are off until those renegade attacks stop.
The Colonel Karuna faction is reported to have said that no
one can disarm them, be it the Government, Norwegian facilitators or the
Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, as the Sri Lankan Government did not arm
them.
|
May 8
|
The Sri Lanka Government chief negotiator, Health Minister
Nimal Siripala de Silva, urges Japanese special peace envoy, Yasushi
Akashi, to enlighten the Co-Chairs about the LTTE attitudes and violations
of the cease-fire agreement and to put pressure on the outfit to return to
the peace process.
|
May 9
|
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, Mangala Samaraweera, during an
official visit to India, said that his country needs foreign help to
pressure the LTTE to come back to peace talks.
The Sri Lankan Government is reported to have allocated
Rupees 38 billion for a number of economic development projects, including
activities to uplift the lives of displaced persons, in the Northern and
Eastern provinces.
The Japanese peace envoy Yasushi Akashi met the 'chief' of
the LTTE's political division, S.P. Thamilselvan at Kilinochchi and held
discussions with him.
|
May 10
|
A home guard is shot dead by unidentified assailants in the
Padaviya Police station area of Batticaloa district.
According to the Netherlands Minister of Justice, Donner,
and Minister of Immigration, Verdonk, there are signs that the Tamil
community is being intimidated by the LTTE to raise funds. The Netherlands
would like to put the LTTE on the European list of illegal and terrorist
organizations, added Donner.
The National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of
Terrorism, sponsored by the United States Department of Homeland Security,
has designated Sihala Urumaya - the precusor to the Jathika Hela Urumaya
(JHU) - as a terrorist organization.
The Japanese special peace envoy, Yashushi Akashi, stated in
Colombo that relations between the Government and LTTE are at their worst
since he began his role as the peace envoy in 2002. Yakushi also said that
Japan has invited India to join the co-chairs of the Tokyo Donors'
Conference, which includes the United States, European Union, Japan and
Norway. On the response from India to the invitation, he said that the
"indications were positive."
The LTTE political wing leader, S.P. Thamilselvan, tells
Reuters that the country is moving to the fringes of a new civil war.
|
May 11
|
At least 17 Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) sailors and 50 LTTE cadres
are killed as the SLN successfully repulsed an attempt by a cluster of the
outfit's suicide boats to destroy a heavy troop-carrying vessel - the
'Pearl Cruiser' - with 710 troops on board off the coast of Vettilaikerni.
In the firefight, Navy ensured the safety of the passenger craft and
suffered the loss of one Dvora (P 418) with two officers and 15 sailors
onboard. The Navy in a retaliatory attack with the assistance of the Air
Force destroyed five LTTE boats completely and disabled four others,
killing 50 'Sea Tigers' and forcing the fleet to withdraw.
The Government Defence Affairs spokesperson, Minister
Keheliya Rambukwella, told Daily News that defence authorities have decided
to launch limited operations to deter further LTTE attacks.
President Mahinda Rajapakse urges the LTTE to cease violence and resume
peace negotiations with the Government.
The SLMM in a press release following the LTTE attack on
naval vessel, with two SLMM monitors on board, in the sea off Vettilaikerni
stated that the outfit has no rights at sea.
The LTTE political wing leader, S.P. Thamilselvan, strongly rejects the
SLMM claim that the outfit had no rights at sea. He said in a letter to the
SLMM that the outfit had a right to naval movements as part of the balance
of power.
|
May 12
|
Unidentified assailants shot dead a civilian, identified as
Balakumar, and injured another in the Muttur area of Trincomalee district.
A civilian, Gnanam, is shot dead by unidentified gunmen in
the Atchuveli area of Jaffna district.
The LTTE political wing leader, S.P. Tamilselvan, told the SLMM chief, Maj
Gen Ulf Ericsson, "Nobody has the right to pass judgment on the
sovereign rights of our access to the adjacent sea and airspace of our
homelands." He also said that the LTTE is not a "non-state
actor" and added that the outfit did not enter the peace process to be
described as a "non-state actor" and the Sri Lankan government as
the "state actor".
|
May 13
|
At least 13 civilians, including a four-month and a
four-year old child, are killed by suspected LTTE cadres in two incidents
in the Kayts Island of Jaffna district.
A soldier is shot dead by unidentified assailants near Main
Street in Jaffna.
The head of the Nordic truce monitors said that the
Government and LTTE have returned to a 'low-intensity war' despite a
cease-fire that still technically holds on paper. He stated, "You
could in some definition say we already have a war. We don't have a peace
agreement, we have a ceasefire agreement. So there is a war ongoing. It is
a low-intensity war. You can say that."
|
May 14
|
The LTTE dismisses calls by SLMM to stop outfit navy
missions and have threatened "war" to keep their men at sea.
LTTE's 'naval wing' chief, 'Colonel' Soosai, said that the outfit was
"not prepared to relinquish sovereign rights to the seas which we have
won with the sacrifice of our people." He further said LTTE's 'Sea
Tigers' had lost 1,200 cadres in the past 15 years and they would not give
up operations in the Indian Ocean adjacent to areas they control in the
island's north and east.
The SLMM said in a statement that it was "reviewing" its own
practice of putting monitors on Government vessels.
17 refugees from Sri Lanka arrived at Dhanushkodi in the
Rameswaram district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, taking the total
number of refugees coming to India to approximately 800 since January 2006.
|
May 15
|
A civilian, identified as Aham Razul, is hacked to death by
suspected LTTE cadres in the Thopur area of Trincomalee district.
'Pistol gang' cadres of the LTTE shot dead a civilian,
identified as Geetha Ponkalan Selvakumar, inside a hospital in the
Batticaloa town.
The Sri Lankan Government has said that no one can claim
sovereignty over Sri Lankan territorial waters, as claimed by the LTTE.
President Mahinda Rajapakse invites the LTTE to rejoin the
peace talks and added that he is not in favor of further
internationalization of the conflict.
|
May 16
|
LTTE cadres detonate two claymore mines in the
Thambalagamuwa area of Trincomalee district, killing one home guard and
injuring two others.
A woman cadre of the LTTE, identified as Yalisai, is killed when SFs who
allegedly moved beyond the no-man zone at Palamodai, north of Vavuniya,
attacked an LTTE FDL.
|
May 17
|
LTTE snipers killed a Sri Lankan soldier at Muhamalai in
Jaffna district.
|
May 19
|
Five LTTE cadres are killed by cadres of the 'Colonel'
Karuna group in the Sampur area of Trincomalee district.
Suspected LTTE cadres in the Vavuniya district kill two soldiers.
|
May 20
|
LTTE 'pistol gang' cadres shot dead a 12-year old boy, S.
Sathyam, in the Mavadiodai area of Batticaloa district as he rejected the
outfit's demand to join the organization as a child soldier.
|
May 21
|
A 15-year old student and his companion, identified as
Chandran Linton and Rasarathinam Mohan, are allegedly killed in a claymore
attack by the SLA in the LTTE controlled area in the Mannar district.
Cadres of the breakaway 'Colonel' Karuna faction in the
Batticaloa district kill a top 'commander' of the LTTE, identified as
Ramanan. A spokesperson for the Karuna group, T. Thuyavan, claims they
killed Ramanan who was deputy head of the LTTE 'Military wing' of the
Batticaloa district. He also claims that their cadres attacked an LTTE camp
near Trincomalee, killing at least 10 cadres of the outfit.
|
May 22
|
A civilian is shot dead by unidentified assailants in the
Kopay North area of Jaffna district.
Unidentified assailants shot dead a civilian, Iknesias
Rasman Lanthilad, at Gnanasooriaym Square in the Batticaloa town.
SLA soldiers shot dead a suspected LTTE cadre, identified as
Arunachalam Suresh Gunapalan, at Vidathalpallai.
The head of LTTE Peace Secretariat, S. Puleedevan, told
Reuters that the military was pushing the island towards a "high
intensity war" and also accused the army for the death their senior
commander, 'Colonel' Ramanan, on May 21.
|
May 23
|
The LTTE kills a soldier on duty near the FDL at
Iramperiyakulam in the Vavuniya district.
SFs shot dead a LTTE cadre at Thoppur in the Trincomalee
district as he tried to escape after hurling a grenade towards troops.
|
May 24
|
Three SF personnel are killed in an LTTE-triggered claymore
mine attack in the Thandikulam area of Vavuniya district.
A LTTE cadre, Oppilamany Sankaran, is killed when SF
personnel launched an artillery attack in the Upparu area.
India on May 14 extended the existing ban on the LTTE for a
further period of two years, which was confirmed by Government of Indian
state of Tamil Nadu on May 20. It is for the sixth time that India has
extended the ban.
140 Tamil refugees arrive at Dhanushkodi in the Rameswaram
district of Tamil Nadu in southern India. With this, the number of refugees
reaching the Indian coast since January 2006 has reached 1,779, officials
said.
|
May 25
|
Four police personnel are killed in an LTTE-triggered
claymore mine attack in the Kattankudy area of Batticaloa district.
One civilian and a soldier are killed in a LTTE claymore
mine attack in the Kovukil area of Jaffna district.
A LTTE top leader, identified as Veeramani, the former
'commander' of the 'Charles Anthony Brigade', is killed in an accidental
explosion near the Nagarkovil Forward Defence Line of the outfit in the
Jaffna district.
The Government urges Gulf Arab states to ban the LTTE in
their countries in view to block the funds to the outfit.
The SLMM has decided to increase its ranks by at least 15 more monitors and
to bring in flak jackets and helmets.
|
May 26
|
The Deputy Director of Irrigation in Batticaloa district,
Nava Rathnarajah, is shot dead and his driver wounded by cadres of the LTTE
in the Kalliyankadu area.
A counter-ambush commando unit of the LTTE kill three
'Colonel' Karuna faction cadres and captured two others, when it allegedly
launched an attack on the infiltrating five-member Karuna group from the
Sri Lanka Army camp located in the Pattiaddy area of Trincomalee district.
LTTE cadres open fire towards troops in the Kopay area of
Jaffna district, injuring one soldier. In retaliatory action, the troops
kill two LTTE cadres.
The SLMC leader, Rauff Hakeem, during his meetings with the
Norwegian Special Peace Envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer told that that his party
was ready to have unofficial discussions with the LTTE to solve issues that
affect the Muslims in the North and East.
|
May 27
|
Six local tourists and their guide are killed in a suspected
LTTE landmine explosion near the Wilpattu National Wild Park,
200-kilometers north of capital Colombo.
Two boys are killed and three others injured when Sri Lankan
Army soldiers, who had allegedly moved into the Thikiliveddai area, an LTTE
controlled border area of Batticaloa district, ambushed a tractor with
farmers.
The LTTE agrees to participate in the talks with the
Government over the SLMM security measures in Oslo on June 8-9.
Norway's top peace envoy to Sri Lanka, Eric Solheim, said
that a major crisis was brewing in the country and that it could be headed
back to full-scale civil war.
|
May 28
|
A civilian, identified as K. Sawikaran, is shot dead by
cadres of the LTTE in the Dimbulagala area of Polonnaruwa district.
|
May 29
|
The Makkal Eela Viduthalai Munnawar (Eelam People's
Liberation Alliance-EPLA), a front organization of the LTTE, threatens the
entire Muslim population in Muttur to leave the area within 72 hours or
face death.
The LTTE, which agreed to participate in talks on June 8-9
in Oslo, has demanded for transport and security for its leaders. The
LTTE's political wing head, S.P. Tamilselvan, stresses that the dialogue
would be separate to the peace talks with the Government, which began in
February. He also said that the outfit wouldn't surrender their weapons
after a reported demand by the EU.
|
May 30
|
The LTTE cadres kill 12 Sinhalese villagers working at an
irrigation canal construction site in Omadiyamadu, close to the uncleared
areas of Welikanda in Pollonaruwa district.
The Sri Lanka co-chairs warn the LTTE that it would face
"deeper isolation" if it failed to change itself. They also
wanted the Government to "protect the rights and security of
Tamils" and make the required political changes "to bring about a
new system of governance."
|
May 31
|
The LTTE cadres LTTE kill a soldier and wounded two others
in the Point-Pedro area of Jaffna district.
The EU officially adds the LTTE to its terrorist blacklist,
effectively freezing the outfit's assets across the 25-nation bloc and
hindering its ability to raise money for its armed movement.
Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera informs that the LTTE
funnel contributions through Malaysia and Singapore to buy weapons in
Thailand and Cambodia.
|
June 1
|
'Pistol gang' cadres of the LTTE shot dead two members of
the EPDP, Sebastian Irayappan and Arumugam Loganathan, in the Pandarikulam
area of Vavuniya district.
The LTTE confirms that they will attend the talks scheduled
to be held on June 8-9 in Oslo.
|
June 2
|
A civilian, identified as Rasiah Kanesan, is killed when
unidentified assailants lobbed a hand grenade inside a house in the Puthur
area of Batticaloa district.
Police investigators probing the Omadiyamadu massacres of
May 30 in which 12 civilians were killed have revealed that the killings
had been part of the LTTE training for their child recruits.
The All Party Conference (APC) endorses a proposal by
President Mahinda Rajapakse to appoint a constitutional committee to evolve
a political settlement ideally suited for Sri Lanka.
The Government assures security guarantee to the LTTE, allowing them to
attend talks in Oslo aimed at strengthening the monitoring of the
cease-fire.
The LTTE accepts an invitation by peace broker Norway for talks in Oslo on
June 8-9 regarding the security of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission personnel,
but stressed that these would not be peace talks.
|
June 3
|
Two civilians, E. Sittaravel and Nalliah Wimalendran, are
shot dead by the LTTE for their refusal to pay ransom in the outfit-controlled
area at Kaluwankerni in the Batticaloa district.
The Government delegation led by head of the Secretariat for
Co-ordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP), Palitha Kohona, left for Oslo for
talks along with the LTTE team led by its political wing leader, S. P.
Tamilselvan.
|
June 5
|
LTTE cadres triggered an IED explosion targeting troops in
the Batticaloa district. In the retaliatory fire, troops killed two LTTE
cadres.
One soldier is killed when LTTE cadres opened fire targeting
the troops in the Nanattan area of Mannar district.
|
June 6
|
Two Police personnel and a civilian are killed in an
LTTE-triggered remote controlled claymore mine attack in the Bandarikulam
area of Vavuniya district. A 12-year old boy and two police personnel were
injured in the attack.
'Pistol gang' cadres of the LTTE kill two civilians in the
Serunuwara area of Trincomalee district.
A former member of the EPDP, identified as Keshaman Anandan,
and his female cousin, Rathnasingham Podini, are shot dead by 'pistol gang'
cadres of the LTTE in the Kayts area of Jaffna district.
|
June 7
|
At least 15 cadres of the LTTE are killed in an attack by
the breakaway faction of 'Colonel' Karuna in the Muttur area of Trincomalee
district.
At least six civilians and a LTTE cadre are killed in an
explosion of a pressure mine at Vadumunai in Batticaloa district. While the
LTTE blames the Sri Lankan Army for the explosion, the Army denies the
accusation.
Japan said that it would not reduce or stop economic and
humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka, despite the escalation in violence.
|
June 8
|
An entire family of four persons, including a nine-year old
girl and a seven-year old boy, are hacked to death in the Vankalai area of
Mannar district. The Government accuses the LTTE for the killing as the
family was helping Government forces. However, the outfit's spokesperson,
Daya Master, denies the allegation and accused the military for the
killing.
Two civilians are killed in a claymore mine attack allegedly
carried out by the SLA personnel in the Periayamadu-Pallamadu area of
Mannar district.
The Sri Lanka Government in a statement issued in Colombo
states that the LTTE who traveled to Oslo on June 5 for the two-day meeting
scheduled to start on June 8 refused to meet with the Government
delegation. The Sri Lankan Government has asked its delegation to come home
after the LTTE refusal to meet the delegation.
Erik Solheim, Norway's Minister for International
Development, urges the LTTE to reconsider its rejection of European Union
citizens as monitors.
The SLMM spokesperson has stressed that the LTTE has no
rights in the sea or in Sri Lanka's air space according to international
law.
|
June 9
|
The Norwegian Government said it would reconsider its role
as a facilitator in the Sri Lankan peace process after failing in an
attempt to arrange a meeting between the Government and LTTE.
The LTTE political wing leader, S.P. Tamilselvan, said that the LTTE were
firm in their decision that the EU members of a five-nation Nordic
cease-fire monitoring mission should leave the Indian Ocean Island. He
further added the countries sending monitors "must be seen to be
neutral."
Norway's Minister for International Development, Erik
Solheim, told media that the scheduled talks between the Sri Lankan
Government and the LTTE to be held on June 8-9 were a "failure"
and accused the LTTE for the breakdown.
The Sri Lanka Government in a statement blames the SLMM and also accused
its chief, Swedish Army Major General, Ulf Henricsson, of inciting
violence.
|
June 10
|
A top 'commander' of the LTTE, 'Lt Col' Mahenthi, and three
of his associates are killed in a anti-personnel mine blast in the Mannar
district.
A gunman boarded a passenger bus and shot dead an ethnic
Tamil man and a 10-year-old boy in the Muttur area of Trincomalee district.
|
June 11
|
Two civilians are killed in a claymore mine attack allegedly
carried out by the Sri Lanka Army inside the LTTE-controlled territory at
Palaipani in the Vavuniya district.
LTTE cadres shot dead a soldier, Lance Corporal H.B.S. Kumararathne, in the
Vavunathivu area of Batticaloa district.
The Norwegian Minister for International Development, Erik Solheim, told BBC
Sandesaya that it is the responsibility of both the Government and
LTTE to avoid a possible war situation in the country.
|
June 12
|
LTTE cadres shot dead a former cadre of the outfit,
identified as J. Podi Pulendran, in the Eravur of Batticaloa district area
as he threatened to desert the outfit.
The President Mahinda Rajapakse has appointed a committee to
serve in an advisory capacity to the committee of representatives, from all
parties to be appointed to work out the formalities for a lasting solution
to the ethnic conflict. The Advisory Committee, headed by H. L. De Silva,
an eminent civil and constitutional lawyer, comprises 12 members selected
from various fields of discipline.
|
June 13
|
Two cadres of the LTTE and a soldier are killed in an
encounter between the outfit's cadres and the SLA personnel, who were
allegedly planting claymore mine in the outfit's-controlled Nedunkerni area
of Jaffna district.
Unidentified assailants shot dead a home guard in the
Kanugahawewa area of Anuradhapura district.
|
June 14
|
Air Force authorities detain the LTTE delegation that went
to Oslo at the Colombo airport as undeclared items were found in their
possession.
The LTTE stated that the outfit wants fair treatment in the
country's peace process and would not give in to pressure tactics such as
the EU declaring it a terrorist organization.
The National Peace Council warns that if either the Government or LTTE
seeks to defy the international consensus on peace in Sri Lanka, not only
they but the whole country would be called upon to "pay a very heavy
price". Sri Lanka is through a revival of the peace process."
The United Nations refugee agency stated that almost 3,000
people have fled Sri Lanka for India since the start of 2006.
|
June 15
|
At least 64 civilians, including 15 children, are killed and
eighty-six others are injured when a state-run passenger bus carrying 150
passengers was destroyed in a twin side-charger claymore mine explosion in
the Anuradhapura district. The Government's spokesperson on security
issues, Keheliya Rambukwella, blames the LTTE for the attack saying,
"There is no iota of doubt that it is the LTTE." Meanwhile, the
LTTE denies its involvement and blamed the Government for the attack.
LTTE cadres kill a civilian in the Bakkiela area of Ampara
district and escapes with the deceased's one and a half-year-old child, who
was found abandoned with wounds on the neck during subsequent search
operation.
The JVP urges the Government to ban the LTTE and take
well-planned strategies to defeat terrorism without holding onto 'foolish'
hopes of false negotiations.
|
June 16
|
Three civilians are allegedly killed by the SLA personnel in
the Welgampura area of Trincomalee district.
The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister stated that the LTTE leader,
Velupillai Prabhakaran, should be tried for war crimes.
The SLMM, while condemning attack in Kebithigollewa, said, "Targeting
of a civilian bus is not only a barbaric act, but also jeopardizes the
freedom of innocent people in their everyday life."
Senator Steve Hutchins of the Labour Party in Australia in
his speech to the Federal Parliament in Canberra urges the Australian
Government to proscribe the LTTE as a terrorist organisation under domestic
law.
|
June 17
|
At least 30 Sea Tigers, six sailors and six civilians are
killed in the Talaimannar islet of Mannar district as heavy fighting broke
out between security forces and the LTTE. Eight sailors are missing in
action. One civilian among those who sought refuge in a church in the
aftermath of the sudden flare-up is also killed and several others are
injured. The LTTE, however, claims that 12 sailors and two of its cadres
are killed in the offensive.
Five LTTE Sea Tigers are arrested on the outskirts of
Colombo following a tip-off by civilians when they were planning to attack
naval patrol craft with "magnetic sea mines."
|
June 18
|
Three Police personnel are killed in a LTTE triggered
claymore mine explosion targeting a bowser carrying water to Dutuwewa
Police station on the Vavuniya- Kebithigollewa road.
Two soldiers are killed by the LTTE in the Welioya area of
Batticaloa district.
The Sri Lankan Government describes the LTTE as an 'eternal
killing machine' that kills innocent civilians without rhyme or reason and
urges the outfit to instead re-enter inclusive talks with the Government.
The LTTE issues handouts threatening people returning to Allaipiddi, at a
time when the displaced are sheltered in two churches in Jaffna and are
getting ready to return to their homes on the assurance given by Minister
of Social Services and Social Welfare, Douglas Devananda.
|
June 19
|
An unidentified civilian is shot dead by a LTTE 'pistol
gang' cadre in the Arunagiri-Llyod Avenue Road junction area of Batticaloa
district.
The LTTE said that they would resort to any strategy,
including suicide bombers, if all-out civil war resumes, and that the
effects would be felt across the country.
The Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera rules out
parity of status between the Government and LTTE.
|
June 20
|
Eight LTTE cadres are killed during an overnight clash with
the ‘Colonel’ Karuna group cadres in the Trincomalee district.
A civilian, identified as Nirmalakumaran, is shot dead by
cadres of the ‘Colonel’ Karuna group in the Kommathurai area of Batticaloa
district. Another civilian, Jeyaraj Suthaharan, is shot dead by
unidentified assailants in the Urani area of Batticaloa district.
The LTTE reaffirms their commitment to the truce, but said
that the future of cease-fire monitors from Denmark, Finland and Sweden is
still in the balance.
|
June 21
|
Unidentified assailants shot dead a civilian, identified as
Milred Roy Weld, and injured his father in the Jeyanthipuram area of
Batticaloa district.
The Sri Lankan Government states that it has no plans to ban
the LTTE as demanded by the JVP party.
The LTTE informs the Norwegian peace facilitators that
cease-fire monitors from EU countries should leave.
The LTTE said it wants India to "accept and recognise
the freedom struggle of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka and extend its moral
support" by condemning the "atrocities"' of the Lankan
Government.
|
June 22
|
Two civilians, Kanthasamy Thavarajah and Shanmugam
Jeyaratnam, who were abducted earlier in separate incidents, are shot dead
by unidentified assailants in the respective areas of Santhiveli and
Vinayagapuram in the Batticaloa district.
The Commanding Officer in charge of the Muhamalai road, Lt.
Col. A. G. N. P. Ehelamalpe, is reported to have said that the LTTE has
earned over Rupees 40 million by way of taxes imposed on goods sent to the
North for civilians in Jaffna passing through the outfit’s checkpoint in
Puliyankulam during the last four months.
The UNICEF states that the LTTE breakaway faction led by
‘Colonel’ Karuna faction are abducting and recruiting children as soldiers.
|
June 23
|
The Sri Lankan Government said that the LTTE demand to
remove EU members from the SLMM is a violation of the CFA.
|
June 25
|
An expatriate Tamil civilian from Switzerland, who was on a
short visit to the country, is shot dead by unidentified cadres of the LTTE
in the Valaichchenai area of Batticaloa district.
‘Pistol gang’ cadres of the LTTE shot dead a member of the
PLOTE, identified as Jayahulabdeen Mohamad Wazeer, near the Jaffna
Hospital.
President Mahinda Rajapakse offers a two-week cease-fire to
the LTTE.
|
June 26
|
A suicide bomber kills the SLA Deputy Chief of Staff, Major
General Parami Kulathunge, the third highest appointment in the SLA, and
three others at Pannipitiya, a suburb of capital Colombo.
Eight persons are wounded in the explosion. A civilian,
identified as Kandiyah Yogeswaran, is shot dead by LTTE cadres in the Kayts
area of Jaffna district.
One soldier is killed and another wounded in a LTTE fire in
the Kantale area of Trincomalee district.
Norway stated that it would continue its mediation efforts
in Sri Lanka despite the increasing violence in the country.
|
June 27
|
Three civilians are shot dead by unidentified assailants in
the Mailambaweli area of Batticaloa district. Four LTTE cadres are killed
in an attack by the breakaway faction of ‘Colonel’ Karuna in the Vakarai
area of Batticaloa district.
Ambassador Alan Rock of Canada will serve as a special
advisor to a UN fact-finding mission in Sri Lanka on the "continuing
recruitment and use of child soldiers" by the LTTE. The SLMM stated
that the June 26-assassination of Major General Parami Kulatunga had been
carried out by the LTTE as the suicide bombing bore the hallmarks of the
outfit.
The SLA declares that it is reverting to security
arrangements prevalent prior to the February 2002 CFA with the LTTE in the
wake of the stepped up violence by the outfit.
The LTTE said that it deeply regrets the May 21, 1991
assassination of the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, and described it
as a "monumental and historical tragedy."
Indian Government says forgiving LTTE for the killing of
Rajiv Gandhi would amount to endorsing the LTTE ideology of terror.
|
June 28
|
At least 12 LTTE cadres and five SLN personnel are killed in
the sea off Kalpitiya in Puttalam district.
Three civilians are killed in a claymore explosion in the
LTTE-controlled area of Musali in the Mannar district.
LTTE denies that it had owned responsibility for the
assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
|
June 29
|
SLA personnel allegedly kill a woman, identified as
Sathasivam Mathuri, and injured her father in the Athiyady area of Jaffna
district.
The Norwegian International Development Minister and former
Special Peace Envoy to Sri Lanka, Erik Solheim, stated that Norway does not
foresee a large Norwegian presence in Sri Lanka to replace the 37 SLMM
members from EU countries, who are under pressure from the LTTE to vacate
their posts.
Sri Lankan Government decides to make knowledge of Sinhala
and Tamil compulsory for new recruits to public service at all levels as
part of its efforts to "faithfully" implement the dual language
formula.
|
June 30
|
One SLN personnel and a LTTE cadre are killed in an exchange
of fire near the Jumma Mosque in Mannar town.
|
July 2
|
The LTTE claims it had checked the list and determined that
more than 800 of those child soldiers named in the UNICEF release are aged
over 18.
|
July 3
|
Seven persons, including five SF personnel, are killed and
14 wounded in a LTTE-triggered claymore mine explosion at Anuradhapura
junction in the Trincomalee district.
The LTTE sets September 1 as the deadline for cease-fire
monitors from Denmark, Finland and Sweden to leave the Sri Lanka Monitoring
Mission.
|
July 5
|
One soldier is killed in a landmine explosion targeting
troops at Pirappamadu near Vavuniya town.
Policy Planning Minister Keheliya Rambukwella announces that
a 12-member multi-ethnic committee has been set up to advice President
Mahinda Rajapakse on power sharing in the Tamil dominated north and east.
Rambukwella informs that the new committee would study models from all over
the world, including India and Canada.
|
July 6
|
A fisherman belonging to the Malay Muslim community, Thuwan
Vahid Ali, is shot dead by the LTTE along Ganesh road in Trincomalee
district.
The Sri Lankan Parliament is reported to have voted
overwhelmingly to extend an emergency law for another month to counter
rising violence by the LTTE.
|
July 7
|
The house of a Norwegian journalist, Nina Johnsrud is
attacked with gunfire in Oslo. Nina, who works for the daily Dagsavisen had
earlier written about the LTTE leader, Yogaraja Balasingham, rigging the
last Oslo municipal election.
At least 245 Muslim families from the Musali area and 43
families from Mannar Island in Sri Lanka's Northern Province have fled
their homes and reached the Kalpitty and Puttalam areas.
|
July 8
|
M.I.M.Nizar, the bodyguard of Digamadulla District MP and
Deputy Minister, Anver Ismail, of the ruling UPFA is shot dead by two
unidentified men in the Amparai district.
|
July 9
|
The number of Sri Lankan refugees, who have taken asylum in
Tamil Nadu in India since January 12, has increased to 4,528, with arrival
of the fresh batch of 139 refugees.
|
July 11
|
Sri Lankan Navy personnel in a retaliatory fire destroyed a
Sea Tiger boat in the Kilaly lagoon area of Batticaloa district, killing
four LTTE cadres on board.
The SLMM reveals that the LTTE has violated the cease-fire
on 3,754 occasions since February 2002. Nearly half of the violations
relates to child recruitment. In all, the SLMM has received 7,308
complaints against the LTTE up to-date.
|
July 12
|
Two police personnel are killed and seven persons are
wounded in a LTTE triggered claymore mine blast at Nallur in Jaffna.
A PLOTE leader, Sebastian Irudarajan, is shot dead by the
LTTE near Wembadi Girls School in Jaffna. A soldier, W.R.
Weerasinghe, is killed by a LTTE sniper at Nagarkovil
Forward Defence Line in the Jaffna district.
|
July 13
|
Two soldiers are killed and another wounded by the LTTE in
the Katkulem area of Vavuniya district.
LTTE cadres abducted and later shot dead a leader of the
PLOTE, R.S.S.Bavan, at Kappachchi in Vavuniya district.
|
July 14
|
At least 12 soldiers and four LTTE cadres are killed in
clash between the two sides in the Vakaneri area of Batticaloa district.
The Government declares that it will not attempt to disarm
the LTTE breakaway faction led by ‘Colonel’ Karuna, because it does not
want to get entangled in another war.
The Government SCOPP discloses that up to 20 per cent of
foreign funds channeled to the Northeast have been siphoned off by the
LTTE.
|
July 16
|
Three civilians, identified as Joshep Jude, Anton Densil and
Pakyarasa Aruldas, are hacked to death by unidentified assailants in the
Arialai area of Jaffna district.
Two civilians, Navarathnam Sasidharan and Nawarathnam
Wasikaran are shot dead by unidentified assailants in the Point Pedro area
of the Jaffna district.
The SLMC Constitutional Affairs Committee finalizes its
framework for solving the ethnic conflict in the country.
A total of 64 Tamil refugees arrive at Arichamunai in the
Ramanathapuram district of Indian state of Tamil Nadu, raising the total
number of refugees who arrived in the country since January 12 up to 5,051.
|
July 18
|
A civilian is killed and two others sustained injuries at
Kodikamam in the Jaffna district in a LTTE-triggered claymore mine
explosion. Four soldiers are also injured in the attack.
|
July 19
|
Three Sri Lankan Army personnel are killed after their bus
was hit by a claymore mine in Jaffna. Eleven others, including two police
constables, are injured.
Government authorities arrested four women suspected to be
suicide bombers at Tissamaharama in the Hambantota district.
The four are trained LTTE operatives, who were intending to
carry out attacks in the south of the country. The LTTE is entrenched in
Canada and uses a Toronto-based "front organization" called the
World Tamil Movement (WTM) to raise money for arms, says a summary of an
ongoing Royal Canadian Mountain Police (RCMP) investigation.
The RCMP 58-page document released today refers the WTM as
"the Canadian arm" of the LTTE.
|
July 20
|
Five LTTE cadres are killed and three NGO officials are
injured in a claymore mine explosion in the uncleared area (area not under
Government control) of Silavathura in the Mannar district.
A sympathizer of the EPDP, Selvar Yogan, is shot dead by
unidentified assailants in the Valigamam East area of Jaffna district.
|
July 21
|
A woman, identified as Murukaiah Sukirtha, is shot dead by
unidentified assailants at Kanthapasegaram road in the Jaffna town. LTTE
political wing leader, S.P.
Tamilselvan, rejects the Swedish special envoy Anders
Oljelund’s demand of accepting the continuance of EU members as SLMM
officials. He reiterates that the deadline issued by the outfit till
September 1, 2006 with regard to the removal of the three officials from
the EU countries from the SLMM would remain unchanged.
|
July 23
|
A senior member of the EPDP, Emily Janoos, is shot dead by
unidentified assailants at Uoorkavatturai in the Jaffna district.
Two dead bodies of civilians are found in the Thonikkal area
of Vavuniya district. Sunday Times quoting Eliyathambi Pararajasingham, in
charge of the LTTE legal system, reported that the outfit is drafting their
own anti-terrorism laws to deal with the Sri Lanka Military and Police
personnel who enter their territory.
The law is expected to be finalised by the end of year 2006.
|
July 24
|
Two LTTE cadres are killed when a group of ‘Colonel’ Karuna
faction cadres attacked them at an outfit-held village in the Ampara
district.
An activist of the EPDP, identified as Kanapathipillai, is
shot dead by unidentified assailants in the Wellawatta area of Colombo
district. Suspected LTTE cadres triggered a bomb blast killing one soldier
and injuring two others in the Vavuniya district.
|
July 25
|
SFs in a retaliatory fire kill two LTTE cadres who lobbed
hand grenade towards troops near Urumpirai junction in the Jaffna district.
|
July 26
|
The SLAF conducts air strike, using Kfir fighter jets, on
known LTTE targets in the general areas (areas under Government control) of
Verugal in the Trincomalee district where the outfit were keeping the
sluice gate closed without allowing water to flow into thousands of
Sinhalese, Muslims and Tamil villages since July 20.
A person identified as Niranjan Claude Fabian, a member of
the VVT, a Tamil gang active in the Toronto area, and described by Toronto
Police in Canada as a gang leader and a "trained assassin" of the
LTTE outfit is secretly deported to his native Sri Lanka after an
eight-year court battle to stay in Canada.
|
July 27
|
Sri Lanka Air Force fighter crafts struck selected LTTE
targets in the east of Mullaittivu district, where the LTTE was reportedly
constructing an illegal airstrip, killing six cadres and injuring five
civilians.
The UNHCR estimates there are 315,000 long-term internally
displaced people in Sri Lanka due to the protracted conflict, 67,000 of
whom live in camps and around 247,000 of whom live with relatives and
friends. There are another 125,000 Sri Lankan refugees abroad, 68,000 of
them in neighbouring India.
|
July 28
|
The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation reports that 30 LTTE
cadres are suspected to be killed in a suicide attack launched by the
breakaway faction led by ‘Colonel’ Karuna in the Vavunathivu area of
Batticaloa district.
Three home guards are killed in a LTTE-triggered claymore
mine explosion in the Kebethigollewa area of Anuradhapura district.
Finland and Denmark announce that they will withdraw their
observers from the SLMM, given the security situation on the ground, said
the Finnish Foreign Ministry.
|
July 29
|
Eight LTTE cadres are killed and 12 others sustain injuries
in an air strike by the Sri Lanka Air Force at the outfit’s Thenaham
conference centre in the Karadiyanaru area of Batticaloa district.
|
July 30
|
Chief of the SLMM Major General Ulf Henricsson said that the
four-year-old CFA is dead and far from a real cease-fire.
|
July 31
|
In a fierce fighting between the LTTE and SLA close to the
disputed Mavil Aru sluice gates in the Kallar area of Trincomalee district,
40 LTTE cadres and seven SLA personnel are killed.
Sri Lanka Air Force jets destroy a Sea-Tiger base in the
Vakarai area of Batticaloa district, killing at least 30 LTTE cadres.
Suspected LTTE cadres ambush an army bus with a claymore
fragmentation mine in the Trincomalee district, killing 18 soldiers.
Four LTTE cadres were reportedly killed in Jaffna district.
Defying the United States ban on the LTTE as a terrorist organisation, one
of its fronts reportedly held a sports festival in New York last week and
the event was marked by the hoisting of the official LTTE flag (Tamileelam
National flag).
|
August 1
|
At least five SLN personnel are killed and 30 others sustain
injuries when LTTE cadres fired artillery at the Trincomalee naval base and
in the subsequent air strike the Government in the outfit-held Sampoor area
targeting Mavilaru, Verugalaru and Kathirveli claims to have killed 50 LTTE
cadres.
The SLN reportedly repulsed a LTTE attempt to destroy a
troop carrier transporting 854 unarmed military personnel when it was
returning from Kankesanthurai harbour and entering the mouth of Trincomalee
harbour.
The SLN boats blocked a fleet of Sea-Tiger boats approaching
the troop carrier, destroying three and damaging another. However, the LTTE
claims that it destroyed a SLN boat, killing eight sailors on board.
Sweden announces the withdrawal of its monitors from the
SLMM, joining Finland and Denmark who announced their withdrawal on July
28. The United States embassy in Colombo states that US authorities
couldn't have prevented the Tamil sports festival in New York, as there was
no evidence to indicate the organization behind this event had any links
with the LTTE.
|
August 2
|
Troops repulse LTTE firing in the Kattaparichchan,
Selvanagar and Mahindapura areas of Sampoor region in the Trincomalee
district, killing 40 LTTE cadres and injuring 50 others.
Four soldiers are also killed and 38 others sustain injuries
in the clashes. Sri Lanka Navy foils a LTTE suicide attack in the seas off
Pulmudai in the Welioya region of Moneragala district. However, no
casualties were reported.
|
August 3
|
15 civilians taking refuge at the Al-Nuriya Muslim School in
Thoppur and Arabic School in Muttur are killed and more than 30 injured
when LTTE cadres indiscriminately fire artillery at two different times.
Government Defence Affairs Spokesman Minister Keheliya
Rambukwelle said Muttur town is under total control of the SFs.
|
August 4
|
The LTTE massacres over hundred civilians in the Trincomalee
district who were fleeing fighting from the Muttur town.
Troops foil a major LTTE attack on a strategic jetty in the
Muttur area of Trincomalee district, killing 152 cadres of the outfit. 15
Tamils working for a French aid agency, Action Against Hunger, are found
dead in the Muttur town of Trincomalee district.
Five Muslim civilians are killed when a shell fell near them
at the 64th milepost in the Pachchanoor area of Muttur town. President
Mahinda Rajapakse has stressed that his Government is ready to solve any
issue through negotiations at any time but would not allow anyone to solve
any problem by using guns.
The Government is compelled to take action to open the Mavil
Aru anicut (irrigational channel) as the LTTE had deprived the basic rights
of 15,000 families by forcibly closing the anicut, the President adds
further.
Norway announces a pledge of $US1.5 million to help
civilians caught in the latest violence.
|
August 5
|
Intercepted LTTE radio transmissions reportedly confirmed
that the LTTE has lost 330 cadres during fierce fighting that erupted
during the past four days.
Trincomalee LTTE military leader Soornam had been heard
desperately calling for more reinforcements from Batticaloa, the
transmissions have revealed. Security forces kill five LTTE cadres who
infiltrated the security forces forward defence lines at Kothweli in the
Kilali region of Jaffna district.
|
August 6
|
The pro- LTTE website Tamil Net alleges that at least 15
Tamil civilians were killed when SFs fired on LTTE cadres controlling the
Mavil Aru reservoir.
The head of the SLMM, Ulf Henricsson, has a narrow escape
when the Army opened artillery fire at the time he was approaching the
Mawilaru sluice gate along with a LTTE leader to open the gate.
|
August 7
|
Suspected LTTE cadres killed a top elite Police Commando,
Senior Superintendent of Police Upul Seneviratne, in a claymore mine
explosion in the Kandy region of Jaffna district.
His driver is wounded in the incident. Heavy fighting is
reported from Mawil Aru in the Kallar region of Trincomalee district as the
Government forces continued its offensive in the area to open the sluice
gates closed by the LTTE since July 20. Sri Lanka Government invites the
LTTE to return to the negotiation table and expressed its commitment to
find a solution for the ethnic conflict.
Australia pledges an initial $1,000,000 for immediate
humanitarian relief supplies for displaced residents of Muttur in the
Trincomalee district but voices concern about the ongoing violence in Sri
Lanka.
|
August 8
|
Three persons, including a two-year old child, are killed
and eight others, including former EPDP Parliamentarian S. Sivadasan, are
injured when a bomb planted by suspected LTTE cadres exploded, targeting
the vehicle transporting Sivadasan at Milagiriya in the capital Colombo.
Two more employees of a French charity are found dead in the
Muttur town of Trincomalee district, raising the toll to 17. One soldier
and a Police constable are killed when a claymore mine hit the water
carrier truck along the Uganthai Poththuvil road in Amparai District.
The LTTE unilaterally lifts the waterway blockade in the
east even as the Army continued to target outfit positions in and around
the waterway.
|
August 9
|
Five civilians, including a doctor and two nurses, are
killed when the LTTE explodes a claymore mine targeting an ambulance near
Nedunkerny in the Vavuniya district.
Sri Lankan Government announces that the military had
re-opened the controversial sluice gates near the Mawilaru anicut
(irrigational channel) around 8 p.m. on August 8.
Earlier, the LTTE claimed that they have opened the gates
around 5 p.m. but area people said that the military had re-opened the
gates. The LTTE breakaway faction led by ‘Colonel’ Karuna opens an office
in Colombo, aiming to eventually contest elections.
|
August 10
|
At least 30 LTTE cadres are killed as troops retaliated LTTE
mortar fire in and around Mawilaru in the Trincomalee district.
Four soldiers are also killed and 31 others sustain injuries
in the incident. However, the pro-LTTE website Tamil Net claims that the
Army advancing into the LTTE-controlled areas has lost 41 soldiers and also
alleges that Sri Lanka Air Force pounded civilian populated areas killing
more than 40 civilians and injuring a large number of them.
An unspecified number of troops fighting the LTTE in the
Trincomalee district are feared dead or wounded after an ammunition dump at
an army camp apparently exploded accidentally, military sources said.
Norway said that it has worked out a temporary arrangement
to tide over the crisis resulting from the expected exit of the EU members
from the truce monitoring team following the September 1 deadline set by
the LTTE.
LTTE spokesperson Daya Master told the media that attacks by
the Government in the Mawilaru area of Trincomalee district amount to a
declaration of war.
|
August 11
|
At least 128 people, including 28 army and navy personnel,
are killed in the battle between the SLA and the LTTE in the east and
north.
Clashes occur when the LTTE attempted to overrun the army's
FDL in the Jaffna peninsula. Five soldiers who were injured in a clash
between troops and the LTTE on August 10 in the Mawilaru area of
Trincomalee district succumbs to their injuries today.
The LTTE claims many of their cadres are killed as the Sri
Lanka military opened a new front against them bombarding their camp in the
Tharavai area of Batticaloa district.
|
August 12
|
Kethesh Logananathan, Deputy Secretary-General of the
Government's SCOPP and former EPRLF member, is shot dead by unidentified
gunmen near Vandervet place in the Dehiwela area of Colombo district.
Loganathan had taken part in the negotiations between the
Government and Tamil militant groups, from the Thimpu Peace talks of 1985
to the Mangala Moonesinghe Parliamentary Select Committee of 1992.
LTTE cadres open artillery fire on the naval base in Trincomalee
district, killing one civilian and a sailor. Three civilians and three
sailors are injured in the incident. One LTTE cadre commits suicide and
another one is killed by troops after they failed to proceed to Jaffna
defying the curfew enforced by SFs in the Kaithadi area of Jaffna district.
|
August 13
|
Twenty-five more LTTE cadres are killed raising the death
tally of the outfit cadres to 125, while Army has lost four of its troopers
raising the tally to 32 during the continued between troops and the LTTE in
the Jaffna district.
SLN personnel foils a LTTE attempt to over run Allapiddy
village in the Kayts area as a flotilla of about 50-60 LTTE Sea-Tiger boats
attempted to over run the village.
A LTTE cadre commits suicide as Wattala Police in the Jaffna
district arrested two LTTE suspects. Later, on the information revealed by
the surviving cadre, Police recovers a cache of arms and ammunition packed
inside a lorry.
The LTTE alleges that 15 civilians are killed as rockets and
artillery shells fired by SFs hit a church in the Allaipiddy area of Jaffna
district. It also alleges that seven more civilians are killed in a
separate artillery fire by the SFs.
The Sri Lanka Peace Secretariat states that the SLMM has
officially informed that it is withdrawing from monitoring the cease-fire
between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE. The Government has
requested all child recruits and other LTTE cadres to surrender to the
nearest security forces camp or Police Station and that the Government
would take full responsibility for their safety.
|
August 14
|
At least seven persons, including four soldiers of the SLA,
are killed and 17 others sustain injuries in a suicide attack carried out
by the LTTE targeting Pakistan High Commissioner Bashir Wali Mohammad in
the capital Colombo.
The envoy, returning from the Pakistan Independence day
function at the mission, escapes unhurt though his vehicle suffered minor
damage. The LTTE alleges that at least 61 school children were killed and
150 injured in an aerial attack by the SLAF in the outfit-controlled
Mullaittivu district.
However, the Government claims that the SLAF attacked a LTTE
training camp in Puthukudirippu and killed more than 50 LTTE cadres.
According to Sri Lankan Army reports, 88 SF personnel are killed in
fighting between the troops and LTTE since August 11 in Jaffna. Another 120
are injured in the confrontations. The confrontations have also killed more
than 200 terrorists and injured over 300, according to the reports.
|
August 15
|
The Sri Lankan Military said that at least 250 LTTE cadres
are killed and another 300 injured in continued fighting in the Jaffna
peninsula during the past 72 hours.
During search operations at the Velanithurai village in the
Kayts area of Jaffna district, SLN personnel kill five LTTE cadres hiding
in the Grama Sevaka (local village official) office of the village and
subsequently recovered a cache of weapons, including T 56 weapons, GPS,
ammunition and communication equipment and some maps.
Two medical students, identified as Sivasankar and Theepan,
are shot dead by unidentified assailants inside the Jaffna University
campus. The UNHCR informs that more than 135,000 people have fled renewed
fighting in Sri Lanka between Government forces and LTTE since April 2006.
|
August 16
|
Troops kill at least 98 LTTE cadres in retaliation when the
latter attacked the FDL in Kilaly area of Jaffna district. The SLA has
reported that three soldiers are also killed and 15 others wounded in the
incident.
An elite Police unit kills three LTTE cadres who had
attacked a Police patrol in the Akkaraipattu area of Ampara district.
A one and a half year-old infant, identified as Nilushan,
the son of a former LTTE cadre Nimalan, is killed in LTTE firing in the
Sittandi area of Batticaloa district. Nimalan and his wife are also injured
in the incident.
Two civilians are killed and another sustained injuries when
LTTE cadres open fire at a tractor carrying civilians in the Morawewa area
of Ampara district.
President Mahinda Rajapakse states that the Government is
not engaged in a war and forces are retaliating against the LTTE offensive
to safeguard the sovereignty of the country.
|
August 18
|
Two Sri Lanka Navy personnel who sustained injuries due to
LTTE firing at Salliya Sambalathivu in the Trincomalee district succumbed
to their injuries today.
SFs foil an attempt by the LTTE to abduct 50 child inmates
from the Revatha Children’s Home in Trincomalee.
Three SF personnel and a home guard sustained injuries in
the exchange of fire. Iceland announces that it would increase the SLMM’s
Icelandic contingent from the existing 4 to 10.
The decision comes in the wake of Norway’s decision to
increase its SLMM contingent from 16 to 20. The Government announces that
it will extend all facilities for medical treatment to injured LTTE cadres
on humanitarian grounds.
|
August 19
|
Three civilians
are shot dead by unidentified assailants in separate incidents in the
Jaffna district.
|
August 20
|
Suspected LTTE cadres shot dead former Tamil Parliamentarian
of the TULF, Sinnathamby Sivamaharajah, at his temporary residence in
Tellippalai in the Jaffna district.
A Sri Lanka Red Cross employee, Nagarasa Thavaranjitham, is
shot dead at his residence at Chettikulam in the Vavuniya district.
The Government arranged immediate humanitarian assistance to
the internally displaced in the Jaffna peninsula in the wake of the
conflict situation.
A vessel carrying 3,800 tons of essential food items under
the International Committee of the Red Cross flag is dispatched from
Colombo to be distributed through the Government Agent in Jaffna.
|
August 21
|
The former Norwegian Army chief, Major General Lars Johan
Solvberg, will take over as head of the SLMM from Swedish Major General Ulf
Henricsson by the end of August 2006.
Solvberg retired from the post of Chief of Staff of the
Norwegian Army in 2005. The Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse
reaffirming commitment to the 2002 CFA told the envoys of Co-Chairs of the
island nation that his Government will seriously consider any initiative
incorporating a clear and explicit commitment to a comprehensive and
verifiable cessation of hostilities to be made by the LTTE chief V.
Prabhakaran.
|
August 22
|
Three civilians are killed by unidentified assailants in
separate incidents in the Trincomalee district. Unidentified assailants
shot dead two civilians in separate incidents in the Jaffna district.
According to the United Nations estimates, the number of the
displaced has swelled to 1.7 lakh.
13 suspects with close links to the LTTE have been charged
in the US for plotting to buy surface-to-air missiles, according to US
federal prosecutors.
Other charges include the use of "front"
charitable organizations and U.S. bank accounts for money laundering and
fund raising on behalf of the LTTE and attempts to bribe U.S. public
officials to remove the LTTE from the U.S. State Department's list of
officially designated foreign terrorist organizations.
|
August 22-23
|
Two more Tamil Canadians, Ramanan Mylvaganam and Piratheepan
Nadarajah, are arrested in an alleged conspiracy to buy weapons for the
LTTE in Sri Lanka on August 22 and 23 respectively.
|
August 23
|
A woman, identified as Manoharan Rajini, is shot dead by
unidentified assailants in front of the welfare centre at Sakkotai in the
Vadamaradchchi division of Jaffna district.
Unidentified assailants shot dead a civilian, Thammugaraja
Prabhakaran, in the Trincomalee town.
One police personnel is killed and another one sustained
injuries when LTTE cadres carried out a claymore mine attack and
subsequently opened fire at a police foot patrol in the Ottamavady area of
Batticaloa district.
Chicago Tribune quoting law enforcement officials reports
that the money for a trip to Sri Lanka in 2005 of a U.S. congressman, Danny
Davis, and an aide allegedly came from the LTTE.
The LTTE reiterates that it has no connection with the eight
persons arrested by the U.S. authorities on charges of attempting to
mobilise military and material support for it.
The UNHCR informs that nearly 180,000 people in Sri Lanka
were displaced by violence since April 2006.
|
August 24
|
Five cadres of the LTTE and a STF personnel are killed in
the Urani area of Batticaloa district.
An aid worker attached to the United Office Project Firm,
which is a New Zealand-funded aid agency working for Tsunami-affected
civilians, identified as P. Lesly, is abducted and subsequently killed by
the LTTE ‘pistol gang’ cadres in the Thirukkovil area of Ampara district.
An attack launched by LTTE cadres towards the
Mahakachchakodiya Forward Defence Line in Vavuniya district killed one
soldier.
Troops kill one cadre of the outfit in the retaliatory fire.
The Sri Lanka Military informs that 159 soldiers and 487 LTTE cadres are
killed in 11 days of fighting over the last fortnight on the Jaffna
peninsula.
The Sri Lankan Government has stated that it would consider
a new CFA with the LTTE only if it is offered by their chief, Velupillai
Prabhakaran. The outgoing SLMM head, Ulf Henricsson, criticizes the EU for
imposing a ban on the LTTE.
The US court documents alleges that the LTTE was filling a
shopping list of deadly arms to be used to blow up Indian aircraft, ships
and even submarines.
A LTTE operative in Canada, identified as "Waterloo
Suresh" Sriskandarajah, allegedly used student couriers to smuggle
war-related items to the outfit. The FBI documents claim that he told the
students to hide the contraband with "teddies and chocolates."
|
August 25
|
Unidentified assailants shot dead a civilian, identified as
C. Lingeswaran, near Kaddudai Junction in the Manipay area of Jaffna
district.
One LTTE cadre is killed when police personnel retaliated
LTTE fire in the Thirukkovil area of Ampara district.
The new chief of the SLMM, Lars Johan Sølvberg, accompanied
by the outgoing head of the SLMM, Ulf Henricsson, visits the LTTE-held
Kilinochchi and held talks with the political head of the outfit, S.P.
Tamilselvan. Following the meeting, the LTTE decides to release the third
Sri Lankan police personnel, B.W. Bopetigoda, detained since October 11,
2005.
Sri Lanka's Upcountry People's Front leader P.
Chandrasekaran, who joined the Government and was sworn in as the Minister
of Community Development and Social Inequity Eradication, told the media
that prior to taking this decision, he discussed it with the LTTE leader
S.P. Tamilselvan.
|
August 26
|
Troops kill 12 cadres of the LTTE in a retaliatory fire
following LTTE mortar fire targeting the Chenkalady Army detachment in the
Batticaloa district, in which five civilians are injured as the mortars
missed their intended target and fell on a nearby village.
Six soldiers are killed and four others sustain injuries
when an IED planted by the LTTE exploded in the Muhamalai area of Jaffna
district. Troops were conducting clearing operation in the area.
LTTE cadres shot dead a civilian, identified as Sinnaraja,
and his sister Wimalakumari Komalan inside their home at Mavadiwembu in
Batticaloa district.
|
August 27
|
The death toll of soldiers in the LTTE-triggered Improvised
Explosive Device blast at Muhamalai in Jaffna rose to nine.
The LTTE hands over the Sri Lankan Police personnel,
B.W.Bopetigoda, who was detained by the outfit since October 11, 2005 to
the outgoing SLMM chief Major General Ulf Henricsson.
The Sri Lanka's High Commissioner in Canada, W.J.S. Karunaratne,
states that the LTTE is collecting funds in Canada using various front
organizations, despite the ban against them.
President Mahinda Rajapakse calls for a bigger role by India
in Sri Lanka's peace process.
The UNHCR informs that the number of people dislodged from
their homes since April 2006 has surged to around two hundred and five
thousand.
The former Norwegian army chief, Lars Solvberg, will take
over as the new chief of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission next week.
|
August 28
|
At least 31 persons are killed and 105 are wounded, when
troops backed by multi-barrel rocket launchers and artillery guns,
retaliate a LTTE attack at Sampur in the Trincomalee district.Six soldiers
are killed and 28 others injured due to LTTE artillery and mortar attacks
as fighting continued.
A British doctor, Murugesu Vinayagamoorthy alias Dr Moorthy,
a senior LTTE intermediary is arrested in New York, for aiding the LTTE by
facilitating the purchase of American rockets and British submarine
technology.
The SLMM said that they would remain in their present
stations in all conflict affected districts including Kilinochchi, denying
reports of alleged threats from the LTTE.
|
August 29
|
At least 66 cadres of the LTTE and 13 SF personnel are
killed in continued fighting between troops and the LTTE cadres in the
Trincomalee district till last reports came in.
Troops on duty at FDL in the Poovarasankulam area of
Vavuniya district confronted more than 20 LTTE cadres who tried to
infiltrate the FDL. During the subsequent search operation in the area in
the area, SFs recover 16 dead bodies of LTTE cadres and one weapon.
Five accused Sri Lankan gang members are behind bars in
Canada in connection with a massive fraud scam that police suspect may have
milked thousands of Mississauga residents. Detectives are probing the trail
of stolen cash to determine whether loot was sent to Sri Lanka for the
LTTE.
|
August 30
|
LTTE ‘pistol gang’ cadres shot dead a woman home guard,
identified as Jayasooriya Arachchige Sujeewa Damayanthi in the Mamaduwa
area of Vavuniya district.
The Indonesian police claim that it has arrested 13 LTTE
suspects during a recent raid in the southern Java coast. The suspects were
reportedly moving to Australia, the report added.
Two more Sri Lankan men - bringing the total charged to
seven – are arrested by the Toronto Police in connection with a massive
fraud scam. Detectives are probing the trail of stolen cash to determine
whether loot was sent to Sri Lanka for the LTTE.
The UN threatens to end aid operations in Sri Lanka unless
its Government discloses what it knows about the killing of 17 aid workers
on August 4, 2006.
The SLMM formally accuses the SFs of being behind the
execution-style murders of 17 local staff of French aid agency, Action
Contre La Faim. It blames that Sri Lankan authorities obstructed their
efforts to investigate. The SLMM also accuses LTTE for the June 15 attack
of a civilian bus at Kabitigollewa in the Anuradhapura district.
Secretary to the Pakistan Interior Ministry, Kamal Shah,
said that the Pakistani Government would consider the proscription of LTTE
on its territory if there were evidence that the latter is engaged in
assisting or is drawing assistance from terrorist groups in Pakistan.
|
August 31
|
119 LTTE cadres and 14 soldiers are killed in the continued
fighting between SFs and the outfit since August 28 in Trincomalee
district.
Military spokesperson Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said
that troops engaged in the operation to neutralise LTTE artillery and
mortar gun positions in the Sampur region brought Kaddaparichchan, a
stronghold for mortar and artillery gun positions of the outfit, under
their full control.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera calls for a
"more independent and more impartial role" by the SLMM. He
reiterates that there were no conditions for the LTTE to return to
negotiations but there has to be a verifiable guarantee from the outfit
chief V. Prabhakaran that the hostilities will be ceased.
The Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse meets British
Prime Minister Tony Blair in London and discussed the current situation in
Sri Lanka.
|
September 1
|
SFs find a heap of Tsunami relief items at the
Kattaparichchan mortar location of the LTTE in the Trincomalee district.
Defence spokesperson Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said, “Those relief
items have been pilfered by the LTTE from the areas affected by Tsunami
waves in the North and East in December 2004.”
The Sri Lanka Government enforces new controls on foreign
aid workers. Local and foreign non-government organisations are told to
obtain work permits for expatriate staff by September 1, before the
deadline was extended by a week, the officials said.
Three inmates of the Chencholai 'orphanage' as claimed by
the LTTE, injured in the August 14 aerial bombing in Mullaitivu and
undergoing treatment at a hospital in Kandy, told police that it was not an
orphanage as claimed by the LTTE but a LTTE camp where hundreds of youth
were given weapons training.
|
September 1-2
|
The Sri Lankan military said it has sunk 12 boats of the
LTTE and killed 80 of its cadres in a sea battle off the northern Jaffna
peninsula in a retaliatory action as 20 LTTE boats, including five suicide
boats laden with explosives, had attacked a patrol near the Kankesanturai
harbour.Two Government boats are slightly damaged and two sailors are
wounded.
Four civilians are killed in the Jaffna peninsula by the
LTTE.
|
September 2
|
One soldier is killed and two others sustain injuries in a
LTTE artillery fire targeting troops at Nagarkovil Forward Defence line.
A civilian, who was shot at and injured by an unidentified
assailant at Chithra Lane in Colombo, succumbs to his injuries later.
|
September 3
|
Unidentified assailants shot dead three civilians - two in
Jaffna and one in Batticaloa district - in separate incidents.
The Sri Lanka Navy has increased patrols off Mannar in the
Palk Strait between Sri Lanka and India to curb the illegal migration of
Sri Lankan Tamil refugees to the Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu to
upset the plans of the LTTE to use the refugee problem and the pro-LTTE
politicians in Tamil Nadu to put pressure on the Indian Government.
The Sri Lanka Government freezes bank accounts of TRO, a
non-government organisation and a registered charity with the Government
with its head office at Kilinochchi that operates mainly in the northeast
and is believed to be a front organisation of the LTTE. The Financial
Intelligence Unit of the Central Bank has begun investigating the TRO
financial transactions under the recently introduced Financing of Terrorism
Law.
The Australian police has launched investigations into
several Tamil organisations in the country after the United States FBI
accused the Tamil community here of supporting LTTE in Sri Lanka.
President Mahinda Rajapakse said that the Government will
invite an international independent commission to probe abductions,
disappearances and extra-judicial killings in all areas in the country.
|
September 4
|
Three civilians are killed in separate incidents by
unidentified assailants in the Jaffna district.
The Sri Lankan military claims that it had taken control of
the strategically crucial town of Sampur in the Trincomalee district. The
military backed by air support had launched an offensive to take control of
Sampur over a week ago to halt attacks by the LTTE on the strategic port of
Trincomalee harbour and the naval base.
The Sri Lankan Central Bank states that the probe on the TRO
is triggered by the arrest of TRO members in several foreign countries for
their suspected involvement in terrorist financing. The United States,
United Kingdom and Australia have started investigating this
internationally registered charity organisation, which is reported to run
active branches in 28 countries, including Switzerland, France, Germany,
Norway and Denmark, for any terrorist links.
President Mahinda Rajapakse formally announces the capture
of the Sampur town. However, the LTTE spokesperson, S. Elilan, insists that
the outfit has not relinquished control of Sampur and that fighting is
continuing, adding, “The battle is going on. The army has come to the area
and we are also there.”
|
September 5
|
One soldier is killed and eight others are injured when the
bus they were traveling in struck a claymore mine at Siruppiddy junction in
the Jaffna district.
An active member of the EPDP, Nallathambi Punarathnam, is
shot dead by LTTE cadres in the Valaichchenai area of Batticaloa district.
According to sources from Muttur in the Trincomalee
district, the people displaced due to the attack by the LTTE a month ago,
are returning back home. More than 10,000 are believed to have returned to
date, sources said.
|
September 6
|
At least three civilians are killed and 10 others injured in
artillery fire by SLA troops towards the LTTE held territories in the
Kathiraveli town of Batticaloa district.
LTTE cadres, hiding in jungles of Kadiravely area in the
Trincomalee district, south of Mavilaru, open artillery fire towards troops
near the Mavilaru sluice gate, killing two soldiers and injuring 16 others.
Heavy fighting erupts between LTTE and its breakaway faction
led by ‘Colonel’ Karuna in the jungles in the Kanchankudi area of Ampara
district in which six LTTE camps, including the Kanchikudichchuaru, Pavata
and 73 Camp, are overrun by hundreds of Karuna cadres. However, the LTTE
blames SFs for the incident.
The LTTE political head, S.P. Tamilselvan states that with
the capture of Sampur town by the SFs, the 2002 CFA has ended and there was
no scope for talks unless the troops returned to pre-CFA positions. He also
warned that the Sinhala population would soon have to face the consequences
of the ongoing clashes between the LTTE and the security forces in the
country's north and east.
|
September 7
|
One soldier is killed and six others, including three
officers, are wounded in a LTTE mortar and artillery fire in the Muhamalai,
Kilaly and Neravilkulam areas of Jaffna district.
A US Government report on Child Labour says that the LTTE
recruited Tsunami-orphaned children into its fighting units picking them
from survivor’s camps in the North and East.
The SLMM disputes the claim of the LTTE that it only
responded to artillery strikes launched by the Government troops and that
the Government triggered the recent Jaffna battle which claimed the lives
of about 700 combatants and wounded about 1,000. The mission said,
“Considering the preparation level of the operations it seems to have been a
well prepared LTTE initiative.”
Army Headquarters reported that 180 soldiers died in action
and about 500 were wounded. Over 500 LTTE cadres died in action, some of
them during sea-borne attacks on heavily fortified security forces
positions on Mandaitivu and Kayts islands.
|
September 8
|
One civilian and a soldier are killed and three other
civilians, including a woman and a child, sustain injuries when LTTE cadres
activated an explosive device using a remote control in the Chenkalady town
area of Batticaloa district.
Police recover two bullet-riddled dead bodies of civilians,
identified as Karadeepan Anandan and Karadeepan Mawanseelan, from the
Savukkadi area in Batticaloa district.
The LTTE warns the Government to immediately withdraw from
Sampur or face war.
|
September 9
|
Two soldiers are killed and 15 sustain injuries when SFs
launch an attack on LTTE artillery and mortar positions near the de facto
border between Government and the outfit-held areas in the Jaffna
peninsula.
Two LTTE cadres, Sutha and Viji. P. Thayamohan, are killed
by SFs in the Valaichenai area of Batticaloa district.
|
September 9- 10
|
At least 150 LTTE
cadres are killed in the continuing battle between SFs and the outfit at
Muhamalai, the northern gateway to the Jaffna peninsula on the A-9 main
supply route, and its surroundings areas. 28 soldiers are killed while 120
others sustain injuries in the incident.
|
September 10
|
Three soldiers are killed in a LTTE-triggered-pressure mine
explosion in the Asikkulama area of Vavuniya district.
Unidentified assailants shot dead a Tamil civilian,
identified Thiruchelvam Sebastian, along the Nanattan-Vankalai road in
Mannar.
The LTTE leadership has ordered three months of compulsory
combat training for Ordinary and Advanced Level students in Sri Lanka's
North and East and also rejected sending more cadres to the East.
|
September 11
|
Two soldiers are killed in LTTE artillery fire towards Army
detachments in and around Muhamalai, Kilaly, Kodikamam in the Vidattapalai
area of Jaffna district.
Unidentified assailants in the Trincomalee district kill an
aid worker, identified as Ragunathan Ramalingam, for the Seattle-based
non-profit group, World Concern.
Two female cadres of the LTTE, arrested from Nelliady in the
Jaffna district, swallowed cyanide capsules and tried to commit suicide
while in Police custody. One of them died later.
The Sri Lankan Army said that at least 163 persons,
including 130 LTTE cadres and 33 soldiers, were killed in the
confrontations in Jaffna since September 8. Reports added that 130 LTTE
cadres are among the 260 wounded.
|
September 12
|
An infant and her father were shot dead by Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres at their home in the Adikovil area of Jaffna
district.
A civilian, Sellaiyana Nadaraj, is stabbed to death by LTTE
cadres in the Nelliady area of Jaffna district.
A LTTE cadre who tried to lob a hand grenade towards troops
in the Ganeshapuram area of Vavuniya district is overpowered and killed by
troops.
A Government official stated that 185 combatants are killed
over the past six days of battle between SFs and LTTE in the Jaffna
district. Military spokesperson Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said that SFs and
LTTE cadres traded artillery fire across their front lines at Muhamalai on
Jaffna Peninsula since September 7 and sporadic exchanges of fire continued
on September 12. He added that the 35 soldiers and 150 cadres were killed
in the fighting. However, the LTTE peace secretariat leader, Seevanatnam
Puleedevan, claims that only 12 of the outfit’s cadres were killed and said
the military's toll was 78.
The Sri Lanka Government denies that it had agreed to
unconditional peace talks with the LTTE and criticises the Norwegian peace
facilitators for announcing a possible time frame for the talks.
|
September 13
|
The dead bodies of two of the three home guards, who went
missing since September 11-afternoon after LTTE terrorists opened fire at
them while they were on duty in the Kuriniyankulam area of Trincomalee
district, are recovered. Another missing Home Guard is found lying injured
beside the two dead bodies.
Two police personnel who are shot at and wounded by two LTTE
‘pistol gang’ cadres who boarded a bus on its way from Kalawanchikudy in
the Batticaloa district, disguised as passengers, on September 12, succumbs
to their injuries today.
LTTE cadres attack SFs foot patrol in the Nagarkovil area
close to Muhamale in Jaffna district, killing two soldiers.
SFs kill two LTTE cadres when they attacked a military camp
in the Vavuniya town.
The Sri Lanka Government states that it remains fully
committed to participating in peace talks with the LTTE, but said the
specific modalities relating to dates and venue must be discussed and
agreed on by the Government and the Norwegian peace facilitators.
The LTTE political wing leader S. P. Tamilselvan states that
it is the responsibility of the Norwegian facilitators and international
community to ensure that the Sri Lankan Government adheres to the
territorial demarcations, terms and conditions of the cease-fire agreement
and thereby create a conducive atmosphere for talks.
|
September 14
|
Three civilians are shot dead by suspected LTTE ‘pistol
gang’ cadres in the Mathawathakulam area of Vavuniya district.
Unidentified assailants shot dead two civilians at Manipay
road in the Jaffna town.
The ‘Colonel’ Karuna faction states that any talks between
the LTTE and the Government should be restricted to strengthening the truce
and ending the outfit's "violent conduct."
Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake, reiterating the
Government’s commitment to resume peace talks, says that if the LTTE was
willing to resume negotiations with the Government it should first lay down
its weapons.
The Government officially lodges a complaint against the
arbitrary statement by Norwegian Minister, Erik Solheim, and the Co-Chairs
imposing a deadline for peace talks, with the facilitator's Chief of
Mission.
|
September 15
|
A Naval personnel was killed by LTTE cadres in the
Trincomalee town.
Unidentified assailants shot dead a member of ‘Colonel’
Karuna faction, identified as Samithambi Thirumal, in the Chenkalady area
of Batticaloa district.
The newly appointed chief of the SLMM, Larse Solveberg,
visits the LTTE administrative headquarters at Kilinochchi and hold
discussions with the head of the outfit’s political wing leader, S.P.
Tamilselvan.
President Mahinda Rajapakse appoints Mahanama Tillekeratne,
a retired High Court Judge, to inquire into the increasing instances of
abduction, disappearances and killings in the country.
The LTTE imposes conditions for the proposed talks between
them and the Government by saying that the Government should fully
implement the CFA before commencing the talks and that the Government
withdraw from the areas captured recently, including the strategically
important Sampur.
|
September 16
|
One civilian is killed and two others sustain injuries when
unidentified assailants attacked a pick-up truck carrying Ceylon
Electricity Board workers near Chunnakam power station in Jaffna district.
One LTTE cadre is killed by troops in a retaliatory fire in
the Valachchenai area of Batticaloa district.
|
September 17
|
The Sri Lankan Navy and Air Force in a coordinated attack on
September 17 sank an suspected LTTE ship carrying weapons in the sea off
Kalmunai in the Batticaloa district. Unconfirmed reports suggest that 12 to
15 LTTE cadres were on board the ship, when it sank.
Two civilians, including a child, are killed and three
others, including a woman, are injured when unidentified assailants opened
fire at them in a house located along Ambal Road in the Anpuvallipuram area
of Trincomalee district.
|
September 18
|
At least 11 civilians, belonging to the Muslim community,
are killed at Pottuvil town in the Amparai district. Both the LTTE and Sri
Lankan Army accuse each other of being involved in the killing.
The Sri Lankan Government asks for a personal assurance from
the LTTE chief, Velupillai Prabhakaran, on the outfit’s commitment to peace
and requested the global community to play a more active role in checking
LTTE’s international operation.
|
September 19
|
A group of journalists escape unhurt but four soldiers are
killed when the LTTE fired mortars at a vehicle convoy carrying journalists
in the Muhamalai area of Jaffna district.
Unidentified assailants shot dead two civilians, V.
Mathiaparanam and M. Sanoon, in the Kantalai area of Trincomalee district.
President Mahinda Rajapakse during his talks with
Switzerland President Moritz Leuenberger, express hope that the Swiss
Government will take measures to curb disinformation and fundraising
activities by the LTTE in Switzerland.
The Sri Lankan Government states that the LTTE ship that was
destroyed by the Navy on September 17 in the sea off Kalmunai in the
Batticaloa district originated in Indonesia.
The new U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Robert O. Blake Jr,
says in Colombo that Norway is persuading the LTTE to return to the
negotiating table with credible guarantees that it would not use fresh
talks to strengthen itself militarily. He adds the Co-Chairs are not in
position to furnish guarantees on behalf of the outfit and such guarantees
would be credible only when they came from the LTTE.
|
September 20
|
Three LTTE cadres are killed by the police in an encounter
that lasted for five hours at Isamalai in the Murunkan area of Mannar
district.
14 Muslim civilians are injured in a gunfire incident in the
Pottuvil town of Ampara district when a group of Muslim civilians had been
protesting near the anicut (irrigational channel) where a massacre of 11
Muslim youths occurred on September 17.
President Mahinda Rajapakse calls on the LTTE to give up
violence and embrace democracy and the peace process, including
international negotiations brokered by Norway.
The President told the U.N. General Assembly that the LTTE
is a ruthless terrorist outfit that devotes its full force to violence,
suicide bombings, massacre of civilians, indiscriminate armed assaults, and
conscription of young children for war.
|
September 21
|
The dead bodies of three civilians, identified as Ilambaram
Lewd Kumara, Selvadorei Kadeeshwaran and Kumar, are recovered by troops
from the Illavali area in Jaffna district.
A woman, identified as Rajendran Yaso, is shot dead by LTTE
‘pistol gang’ cadres while she was in the general area (area under
Government control) of Petale-Valaichchenai in the Batticaloa district.
The Sri Lanka Government said that it will hold any future
peace talks only with the LTTE leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran and will not
hold talks according to the outfit’s wishes.
The APRC set up to formulate a political solution to the
ethnic problem unanimously resolved that the Muslim community is a
stakeholder in Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict entitled to be represented at
future peace negotiations.
|
September 22
|
Two LTTE suspects are killed when they detonated a hand grenade
while the Police were trying to arrest them in the Udappuwa area of
Puttalam district.
Police arrests a suspected LTTE cadre at a checkpoint in the
Medawachchiya town of Vavuniya district along with two suicide explosive
belts, a claymore mine, detonators, remote controls and timers while on the
way to the capital Colombo in an alleged plot to attack high-ranking Army
or Government officials, the military said.
Elections for the local bodies in the districts of Jaffna,
Vavuniya, Kilinochchi, Batticaloa, Mullaitivu and Mannar district, which
did not have local bodies elections this year, will be held on June 30,
2007.
|
September 24
|
At least 70 LTTE cadres are killed by the SLN as they
attacked a flotilla of 24 boats of the LTTE and sunk eight of them loaded
with outfit’s cadres and weapons in a fierce sea- battle that started on
late September 24-night and lasted for five hours.
The battle occurred off the coast of the eastern town of
Pulmoddai in the sea 50-miles north of the Trincomalee harbour. Police
chief Percy Perera said that a top LTTE commander is believed to be killed
or injured during the clash, adding, the boats were bringing in
reinforcements.
At least 15 LTTE cadres are killed as SFs launched artillery
fire on a group of LTTE cadres who had opened fire towards troops in the
Pulipanchikal area of Batticaloa district. Troops retaliate LTTE fire in
the Iluppkulam area of Trincomalee district and recovered the dead bodies
of two outfit cadres from the incident site during the subsequent search
operation.
President Mahinda Rajapakse states that he is ready to share
power with minority communities.
The Sri Lankan Government informs Norway that it would
participate at the proposed meeting demanded by Sri Lanka's key financial
backers, including Japan, the United States, Britain and European Union,
who threatened to cut off aid.
According to reports, thousands of Muslims are fleeing their
homes in Muttur after a previously unknown suspected rebel front, Tamileela
Thayaga Meedpu Padai, distributed leaflets in the town warning residents to
leave immediately. "The final preparations have begun to recapture
Mutur," the leaflet said, adding, "Do not remain in Mutur. You
will only face destruction." Meanwhile, the LTTE denies any
involvement in the distribution of leaflets warning residents to leave
immediately.
|
September 25
|
A civilian, identified as Mohammed Musur, is shot dead by a
suspected LTTE cadre in the Trincomalee town.
|
September 26
|
One soldier is killed in a LTTE fire in the Eluthumadduval
area of Jaffna district.
A LTTE suspect, identified as Piratheepan Nadarajah, who
faces extradition to the U.S. on terrorism charges is granted bail in
Canada.
Nadarajah is alleged in U.S. court documents, as a scientist
and technical expert who intentionally conspired to provide material
support to the LTTE.
The Government said they would explore possibilities of
opening the Puttalam-Mannar-Pooneryn road as an alternative to the A-9 main
Jaffna-Colombo highway.
|
September 27
|
Unidentified assailants shot dead a civilian, Arumugam
Puvanendran, who was working in a tourist hotel located along the Nilaveli
coast in the Trincomalee town.
A civilian, identified as Keyzer Rome Dias, is shot dead by
unidentified assailants in the Pesalai area of Mannar district.
|
September 28
|
One soldier is killed and two others sustain injuries when
LTTE cadres fire artillery towards the SF Forward Defence Line at Muhamalai
in the Jaffna district.
The Sri Lankan government states that the LTTE has informed
them that the outfit chief, V. Prabhakaran, has agreed to resume the
stalled peace talks.
Commenting on the closure of the A-9 highway Defence
spokesperson, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, said that it is the LTTE that
forced the closure of the highway by attacking the troops in the Muhamalai
area, the last entry point from South of cleared areas to uncleared Wanni.
He rejects the LTTE's demand for opening the A-9 highway,
but proposed to open a land route through Mannar.
President Mahinda Rajapakse said that the country's
population in the East should decide their own future through a referendum.
He emphasised that the people in the East have to decide their own future
and it is a crystal clear established fact that a referendum should be held
in accordance with the India-Sri Lanka Pact, he adds.
|
September 29
|
Three soldiers and a civilian were killed as cadres of the
LTTE launch a mortar attack on the Black bridge Army camp in the Chenkaladi
area of Batticaloa district.
Two more soldiers sustain injuries in the incident. The SLN
claims to have destroyed a Sea-Tiger boat killing four cadres and recovered
a large cache of armament from the Velanithurai area of Jaffna district.
The bullet riddled dead bodies of three civilians,
identified as Sellaiya Navaratnaraja, Chandralingam Devaneshan and
Kandasami Sri, are recovered from the Vinayagapuram area in the Batticaloa
district.
Police said one of the victims is beheaded and that a group
calling itself ‘People's Tamil Organization’ has claimed responsibility for
the killings in a note near the bodies. According to federal officials,
arms brokers for the LTTE and other customers in Indonesia are charged with
trying to buy surface-to-air missiles and other weapons through undercover
agents in Maryland.
The Government decides to withdraw visas issued to members
of four INGOs, which through their alleged clandestine dealings with the
LTTE are posing a threat to national security. The committee has
recommended withdrawal of the visas issued to MSS France, MSS Spain, MDM
France and Doctors of the World USA.
|
September 30
|
Government officials claim that 16 LTTE cadres, including
its Koaveli leader Kannan, are killed in an encounter with the STF at the
Pillumale Police post in the Amparai district.
However, the LTTE military spokesperson, Irasiah
Ilanthirayan, states that 11 outfit cadres were killed in an ambush carried
out by the STF inside outfit-held territory in the Batticaloa district and
that the bodies of the dead cadres were transferred in Military vehicles
into the STF-controlled area.
Eight LTTE cadres, including a senior cadre identified as
Malarvan, who led the attack, are killed and 15 others wounded by SFs in a
retaliatory fire at the Thamparaveli outfit base following a LTTE attack on
the Chenkaladi Army camp in the Batticaloa district.
Three Police personnel are killed when suspected LTTE cadres
detonated a claymore fragmentation mine in the Vavuniya district. SLN
personnel kill three LTTE cadres in an encounter at Kannathivu island in
the Jaffna district.
The dead bodies of three civilians are recovered from the
Uthankulam and Tharanikulam areas in the Vavuniya district. A former member
of the EPDP, Ponnaiya Srikaran, is shot dead by suspected LTTE cadres in
the Point Pedro area of Jaffna district.
The Sri Lanka Government states that any future peace talks
with the LTTE would hinge on its chief, Velupillai Prabhakaran, agreeing in
writing or verbally to three major conditions.
The conditions include a specific time frame to resume and
conclude talks, an assurance to the Donor Co-chairs that it will not use
sea routes to smuggle in military hardware and a commitment not to resort
to any violence during the period of talks.
|
October 1
|
A curfew is imposed following a clash between two Muslim
factions at Kathankudi in the Batticaloa district in which at least three
civilians are injured and nearly 32 houses are damaged.
The leader of the LTTE breakaway faction party Tamileela
Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP), ‘Colonel’ Karuna, has said that the
majority of the LTTE military commanders are becoming old and infirm and
Prabhakaran has lost good calibre recruits and committed leadership. The
failure was due to lack of leadership, he maintained. He added that TMVP is
not for a separate state of Eelam, but for a united Sri Lanka under a
federal constitution.
|
October 2
|
Suspected LTTE cadres shot dead a police officer at Pottuvil
police station in the Amparai district.
The Interpol is reported to have unanimously adopted a
resolution proposed by Sri Lanka to fight against recruitment and use of
children as combatants by non-state actors.
|
October 3
|
Police personnel retaliate LTTE firing in the Murunkan area
of Mannar district and during subsequent search operation recovers the dead
body of one LTTE cadre.
The Government accuses the LTTE of having links with six
organised criminal gangs and being responsible for the series of recent
abductions in Colombo. It also stated that a Presidential Commission of
Inquiry is probing the matter.
LTTE states that they have agreed to unconditional peace
talks with the Sri Lankan Government but warned that they would pull out of
the 2002 cease-fire agreement (CFA) altogether if the Government continues
with its Military campaign.
|
October 4
|
A civilian is abducted along with his vehicle and
subsequently shot dead by LTTE cadres in the Kondavil area of Jaffna
district.
Federal prosecutors at Baltimore in Indonesia announce that
six men, who were charged with attempting to export weapons to Indonesia
and to the LTTE, are facing additional charges.
The Sri Lanka Government agrees to hold unconditional peace
talks with the LTTE in Geneva.
|
October 5
|
LTTE cadres trigger a claymore mine explosion targeting
troops on route clearing duty at Kokkeliya in the Vavuniya district, killing
one soldier and injuring two others.
Nine soldiers sustained injuries in LTTE mortar and
artillery fire towards troops in the Eluthumadduval, Nagarkovil and
Muhamalai areas of Jaffna district.
Peace talks between the Sri Lanka Government and LTTE will
be held on October 28-29 in Switzerland.
|
October 6-7
|
At least 60 LTTE cadres are killed and an unspecified number
of them injured when clashes between SFs and the LTTE in the Batticaloa
district erupted on October 6 when the outfit cadres launched a heavy
ground attack using artillery, mortar and small arms on Army detachment at
Mankerni and Kajuwatta. 2 soldiers area also killed and 15 others sustained
injuries, while 12 others are reported missing.
A fleet of five LTTE Sea-Tiger boats transporting additional
cadres and weapons to Mankerni are blocked and attacked by the SLN craft in
the seas off Kadiraweli in the Trincomalee district destroying two of them
completely with LTTE cadres on board.
LTTE cadres blast the Panichchankerni Bridge causing
inconvenience nearly to 30,000 civilians.
|
October 7
|
A former member of the EPDP, Nagarasa, is shot dead by LTTE
cadres at Mallakam in the Jaffna district.
LTTE cadres fire upon troops who were on a route clearing
operation in the Thirunaveli junction area of Jaffna district, killing one
soldier.
|
October 8
|
Five SLA soldiers are killed and four others sustain
injuries when cadres of the LTTE launch an artillery and mortar attack
towards troops in the Muhamalai area of Jaffna district.
The LTTE hands over the dead bodies of 11 SLA personnel, who
went missing during the continued clashes between SFs and the LTTE in the
Batticaloa district which erupted on October 6 when the outfit cadres
launched a heavy ground attack using artillery, mortar and small arms on
Army detachment at Mankerni and Kajuwatta to the ICRC.
SFs re-capture areas west of Muttur in the Trincomalee
district, where LTTE activities were confined to since the military
regained control of Sampur last month.
|
October 9
|
Addressing the Sri Lanka-based Ambassadors of the Peace
Process Co-Chairs, President Mahinda Rajapakse reiterates his firm
commitment to a negotiated settlement and to make the forthcoming talks
with the LTTE and expresses the hope that the Co-Chair countries would be
able to persuade the LTTE to abandon their violent approach and return to
negotiations.
LTTE cadres shot dead a civilian, identified as Selvarajah
Idayarajan, in the Kokuvil area of Jaffna district.
A soldier on duty at Averikadu in the Jaffna district is
killed in a LTTE mortar fire.
The Sri Lanka Government states that it wants the new round
of talks with the LTTE, scheduled to be held on October 28-29 in Oslo, to
focus on core issues such as human rights and development.
|
October 10
|
Three civilians are killed and three others injured when
LTTE cadres allegedly detonate a claymore mine fixed inside a van in the
Poonthottam area of Vavuniya district.
LTTE cadres detonate a claymore mine and subsequently open
fire towards troops in the Vandaramoole area of Batticaloa district. In
retaliatory fire, two LTTE cadres are killed and five others are wounded.
Troops after observing a large gathering of LTTE cadres who
were poised to attack the Kiran Army camp, pounds artillery and mortars
successfully on their movements causing death to two of their cadres and
injuring three others.
The LTTE informs Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar in
Kilinochchi that they are ready to resume peace negotiations with the
Government but if security forces continue the offensive they would
reconsider.
Following an in-depth inquiry, the HRC in their report rules
that the Sencholai Camp in the Mullaitivu was in fact an LTTE recruitment
station and the 500 children and young adults had been receiving motivation
training on August 14, the day of aerial attacks. The HRC report points out
that their evidence proves the State supported education system is
exploited by the LTTE for child recruitment and combatant training as it
provides a ready made 'pool' of vulnerable children.
|
October 11
|
At least 50 SLA personnel, including seven officers, are
killed and another 214 are injured in continued fighting between Government
troops and LTTE at the Muhamale and Kilaly FDLs of SFs.
An 81-year old woman, Manniyakka, sustains injuries in a
LTTE artillery fire and later succumbed to her injuries in the Kodikamam
area of the Jaffna district.
Chief Government negotiator, Minister Nimal Siripala de
Silva, states that the LTTE has no right to lay claim to any part of Sri
Lankan soil, which is sovereign territory under the Sri Lanka Government.
Norwegian Ambassador, Hans Brattskar, informs the Government
that the LTTE is ready for unconditional talks though should Government
forces capture any territory occupied by the LTTE, the latter would
withdraw from the peace process.
The Government confirms to Norway, official facilitator of
the peace talks, that it is agreeable to meeting the LTTE for talks on
October 28 and 29 and said the exact location of the talks in Switzerland
would be determined later.
|
October 12
|
The Sri Lankan Military claims that at least 478 persons,
including 78 soldiers and 400 LTTE cadres, were killed in a five-hour
battle in the Jaffna peninsula along the FDLs in the Kilani and Muhamalai
sectors on October 11.
LTTE 'pistol gang' cadres shot dead four civilians,
including three EPDP members, on the Electricity Board road in Jaffna town.
Three civilians and two police personnel are killed when a
LTTE laid claymore mine on Kachcheri road in the Jaffna district, targeting
a vehicle that was carrying EPDP members, hit the victims standing nearby.
The ruling SLFP, led by President Mahinda Rajapakse, and
opposition UNP under the leadership of the former Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe,
agrees to pursue a national consensus on all issues, including federal
solution to the ethnic issue.
|
October 13
|
The SLA confirms that it lost 129 soldiers in fighting with
the LTTE in Jaffna peninsula on October 11. It also confirmed that the
outfit buried 196 of its cadres in the uncleared areas (area not under
Government control) of Sunokkai, Kilinochchi, Mannar, Omanthai and
Mullaithivu. 283 soldiers and 312 LTTE cadres were inured in the
confrontation.
The SLA informs that the outfit has handed over 74 dead
bodies of the soldiers to the Red Cross.
The LTTE chief, Velupillai Prabhakaran, refuses to meet the
Japanese special peace envoy, Yasushi Akashi, who is scheduled to hold
talks with the outfit on October 18.
In the annual Human Rights Report issued by the British
Government, the Government of Sri Lanka and LTTE are blamed for carrying
out violations of basic human rights in Sri Lanka.
|
October 14
|
Three civilians, Vaithilingam Mahenthiran, Nadarasa Navarasa
and Navaneethan, are killed and another injured by unidentified assailants
at Samalankulam in the Vavuniya district.
Two persons are killed and an equal number of them injured
when an unidentified assailant opened fire at a group of civilians in the
Oluvil area of Jaffna district.
LTTE launches artillery attacks to Muhamale, Nagarkovil and
Kilaly areas in the Jaffna district, killing two soldiers and wounding 13
others.
|
October 15
|
The SLN destroys a LTTE trawler transporting weapons,
ammunition and explosives, about 35 nautical miles in the seas off Arippu
West in the Mannar district, killing six of the outfit's cadres.
Three Sinhalese civilians, identified as P.K. Gunawardane,
P.K.Upali and Ranjith, who along with two Muslim civilians were on a van collecting
fruits in the Madavaithyakulam area of Vavuniya district are dragged inside
a jungle patch and shot dead by LTTE cadres. The Muslim civilians are set
free.
Germany officially froze any new aid for projects in Sri
Lanka in a bid to put pressure on the Government and LTTE to restart peace
talks.
|
October 16
|
At least 98 sailors of the navy are killed and 100 injured
as suspected LTTE cadres rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a naval
convoy at Digampatana in the Habarana area of Matale district.
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court declares the temporary merger of
the northern and eastern provinces, effected in 1987 and extended annually,
"null and void and illegal." It said the President has no powers
to effect a merger of provinces under Emergency Regulation, and only
Parliament could decide on the subject.
|
October 18
|
Suspected LTTE cadres carries out a suicide mission on
Dakshina Naval Base in Galle. Troops, however, successfully repulse the
attack killing 15 LTTE cadres, while one sailor also died in the incident.
Another 15 sailors and 14 civilians are injured in the confrontation.
Yasushi Akashi, Japanese peace envoy, after meeting
Tamilselvan in Kilinochchi said, "We obtained commitments from Mr.
Thamilchelvan that LTTE has prepared to go to Geneva for talks on the 28th
October… I was able to get LTTE's willingness and preparedness to go to
Geneva."
|
October 19
|
Two SF personnel are killed in a LTTE triggered mine attack
at Thandikulam in the Vavuniya district.
The LTTE administration in Kilinochchci bans the use of
mobile phones in uncleared areas (area not under Government control).
LTTE agrees to attend the peace talks scheduled to be held
at Geneva on October 28-29.
President Mahinda Rajapakse asserts that for the first time
ever, political parties in the South are now prepared to set aside
political differences, sit together, reach a consensus and formulate a
framework through which all could work on resolving the ethnic crisis to
reach a sustainable and honourable peace.
The annual publication of the International Institute for
Strategic Studies, London, 'Military Balance 2005/2006', refers to emerging
links between the LTTE and al Qaeda.
|
October 20
|
Sri Lankan navy boats destroy seven vessels of the LTTE in a
sea battle off the coast of Jaffna peninsula, killing at least 35 cadres of
the outfit. Two sailors are wounded in the battle.
Unidentified assailants shot dead three civilians,
Kulasingham Kunarasa, Vellupillai Thiyagarajah and Illayathamby
Kirupananthan, at Rasa Veethy in the Jaffna district.
|
October 21
|
A 17 year-old boy, Suresh Kumar, who was earlier abducted by
the LTTE, is killed by its cadres when he attempted to escape in the
uncleared areas (area not under Government control) of Batticaloa district.
|
October 22
|
The dead bodies of two civilians, Savarian Robinson Koonja
and Sahayam Ajith Croos, are recovered from the Pesalai area of Mannar
district.
The head of Government's Peace Secretariat, Palitha Kohona,
said that the LTTE is trying to intimidate the Sri Lankan Government ahead
of peace talks scheduled to be held on October 28-29 in Geneva by launching
high-profile attacks.
President Mahinda Rajapakse and leader of the Opposition
Ranil Wickremesinghe on October 22-evening agreed on a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) for cooperation on six points pertaining to crucial
issues facing the country.
|
October 23
|
Suspected LTTE 'pistol group' cadres shot dead a lorry
driver and injure another at Poonthodam in the Vavuniya district.
'Pistol gang' cadres of the LTTE shot dead a civilian,
Nadarajah Indran, in the Serunuwara area of Trincomalee district.
A civilian, Sewapada Sharma, is shot dead by a LTTE cadre in
the Poontottam area of Vavuniya district.
The SLFP and the opposition UNP sign a Memorandum of
Understanding on collaboration on key national issues, at Temple Trees in
the capital Colombo.
|
October 24
|
Troops on route clearing patrol shot dead a LTTE cadre when
he attempted to lob a hand grenade towards them in the Velvetithurai area
of Jaffna district.
The Sri Lankan Government has released casualty figures
showing nearly 3000 deaths in fighting between the Army and the LTTE over
the past eleven months. The breakdown lists more than 1300 outfit cadres
killed, with Government losses over seven hundred. The period covers from
December 1, 2005 until October 10, 2006. There were also above six hundred
civilian deaths. The figures exclude some recent incidents, which claimed
another two hundred lives, according to the report.
The Sri Lanka Navy issuing a special announcement totally
bans all dinghies and other small boats in the sea along the coastal zone
from Wellawatta, south of Colombo to Uswetakeyiyawa, north of Colombo.
The Government and LTTE delegations on October 24 left for
talks to be held on October 28-29 at Geneva. Health Minister Nimal Siripala
de Silva leads the Government delegation, while the LTTE delegation is led
by their political wing leader, S.P. Tamilselvan.
|
October 25
|
LTTE 'pistol gang' cadres shot dead a Sinhalese civilian, D.
M. Padma Kumara, on Galwalamatha Kovil road in Vavuniya.
A hartal (strike) is observed in the Trincomalee, Mannar,
Batticaloa, Ampara and Vavuniya districts in the north and east of Sri
Lanka to protest the de-merger of the Northern and Eastern Provinces.
Switzerland authorities will not allow the LTTE to raise funds
or carry out any campaign against the Government and people of Sri Lanka in
Switzerland after the peace talks this time, said official sources.
|
October 26
|
Three cadres of the TMVP, a LTTE breakaway faction led by
'Colonel' Karuna, are killed and eight others sustain injuries in a LTTE
attack on the TMVP political office on the Chenkalady-Badulla road in
Batticaloa.
Two civilians are shot dead by suspected LTTE cadres in the
3rd Mile Post area of Trincomalee district.
Indonesian Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono is reported to
have said that Sri Lanka has expressed its suspicions that weapons supplied
for the LTTE were illegally sent through Indonesia.
|
October 27
|
'Pistol gang' cadres of the LTTE shot dead a civilian,
identified as Weerasinghem Chandra Mohan, at Anjisandi in Jaffna town.
British newspaper The Times, quoting international and local
aid workers, reported that the LTTE-breakaway faction led by 'Colonel'
Karuna has abducted between 300 to 900 children - some as young as 12 -
since March, 2006.
|
October 28
|
LTTE cadres shot dead two soldiers in the Mirusuvil area of
Jaffna district. Troops retaliate as LTTE cadres opened fire towards them
in the Ampara district.
During subsequent search operations, two dead bodies of LTTE
cadres and two weapons are recovered.
The two-day peace talks between the Sri Lanka Government and
the LTTE begins in Geneva with a message from Norway that the former faced
the danger of losing the goodwill and foreign aid if the situation did not
improve.
Head of the Sri Lankan delegation Nimal Siripala de Silva
issues a 6,600-word statement at the inaugural of the peace talks, blaming
the LTTE for the current situation.
In his 3,000-word counter, the LTTE political head and
leader of the delegation, S. P. Tamilselvan sought to hold the Sri Lankan
Government responsible for the ground situation and declared the peace
talks were contingent upon implementation of the 2002 CFA.
|
October 29
|
Five civilians and a suspected LTTE cadre, carrying the
bomb, are killed and two more civilians sustain injuries when a claymore
mine fixed to a bicycle exploded in the Uduuppidy area of Jaffna district.
LTTE cadres shot at and injured four members of a family,
including an infant, one 11-year old girl and a woman, in the Eravur area
of Batticaloa district.The 11-year old girl, identified as Pathmanathan
Vinodini, succumbed to her injuries later.
The two-day talks between the Sri Lanka Government and LTTE
concludes in Geneva without an agreement on any of the issues or future
engagement. The dialogue reportedly collapsed on the subject of the closure
of the A9 Highway, which links Jaffna peninsula and the rest of Sri Lanka.
The LTTE insisted that the peace process was contingent on re-opening of
the highway, while the Government said it was compelled to close the
highway for security reasons and that the LTTE was raking up the issue as
it was not serious about discussing "core political issues."
|
October 30
|
A Pradesiya Sabha member (local councilor) of Illangai Tamil
Arasu Katchi party, identified as Kopala Sundaram, is shot dead by
unidentified assailants near Serunuwara Junction in the Trincomalee
district.
The UNCEF in a report has said that the prolonged conflict
between the LTTE and Sri Lankan Government has affected nearly six lakh
people in the country's Jaffna Peninsula who are now facing food and fuel
shortages due to closure of many businesses.
|
October 31
|
STF soldiers kill two LTTE cadres, Pavakkannan and Satha,
belonging to the outfit's political wing at Vinayagapuram in the Ampara
district.
Two of the six persons wounded in the bomb blast on October
26-morning in a vegetable field located on Chelvi Cinema Theatre road at
Chenkalady in the Batticaloa district have reportedly succumbed to their
injuries.
|
November 1
|
A family of three, Sivarajah Yathavan, his wife Abirami
Yathavan and, P. Senthuran, father-in-law of Yathavan, has reportedly taken
full control of the LTTE operations in the state of Victoria in Australia.
Government Defence spokesperson, Keheliya Rambukwella,
states that the Government will assist LTTE cadres deserting its ranks and
surrendering to the SFs by offering them foreign employment after they are
provided a few months of rehabilitation and vocational training. According
to Army statistics, more than 500 LTTE cadres have surrendered to the SFs
following the signing of the cease-fire agreement in 2002.
Troops retaliate when four LTTE cadres opened fire towards
them in the Vakaneri area of Batticaloa district, killing two of them,
while the other managed to escape.
The number of Sri Lankan refugees to India has crossed the
15,000-mark despite a drop in arrivals in October 2006. The total number of
refugees in camps in Tamil Nadu is now 15,912, sources said. It includes
6,027 men, 5,451 women, 2,312 male children and 2,122 female children.
|
November 2
|
Seven LTTE cadres are killed and ten others sustain injuries
during a clash between the SFs and LTTE cadres in the Kiran area of
Batticaloa district.
Five civilians are killed when SLAF jets dropped four shells
near a hospital around 3-km from the LTTE headquarter in Kilinochchi.
Government chief negotiator, Nimal Siripala de Silva assured
the Co-Chairs of the Tokyo donor conference that it would seek an
alternative land route to ensure an unrestricted flow of essential items to
the North within a couple of days if the LTTE delays the reopening of the
A9 highway with continuing attacks.
Essential Services Commissioner, S.B. Divaratne, said that
the closure of the A9 highway has not caused any breakdown in the supply of
essential food items to the Jaffna peninsula since the Government has
supplied essential food items to Jaffna by sea since August 17.
The UNP decides to participate in the All Party Conference
called by the President Mahinda Rajapakse to make a southern consensus to
seek a solution for the ethnic conflict.
|
November 3
|
Unidentified assailants shot dead a civilian, Marimuthu
Chandrasegaram, inside his house at Aachikulam in the Samalankulam area of
Vavuniya district.
The Indonesian Government is to investigate claims that its
waters are being used to ship illegal weapons to the LTTE in Sri Lanka.
|
November 4
|
One STF soldier, identified as M. Jayawardana, is killed and
two others sustain injuries when LTTE cadres trigger a claymore mine
explosion and subsequently opened small arms fire targeting a STF jeep near
the 12th mile post on Ampara-Pothuvil road in the Ampara district.
LTTE releases 22 underage recruits who lied about their age
to join the separatist campaign. The outfit claims that the youths
"joined the movement by lying about their age."
|
November 5
|
LTTE cadres kill a woman, Nagamani Rajani Devi, employed in
the EPDP office at Putur in the Jaffna district.
An EPDP supporter, identified as Raju, is killed by LTTE
cadres in the Valaichchenai area of Batticaloa district.
The SLMM states that Sri Lanka Government has violated the
CFA by the closure of A-9 highway and its continued air attacks on the
LTTE-held territory. The SLMM also notes that the LTTE has violated the CFA
by launching claymore mine attacks against Government troops.
India has reportedly agreed to a recent request by the Sri
Lanka Government for supply of relief goods to internally displaced persons
in the North and East in the aftermath of the closure of the A-9 highway
since August 11. The supplies would be undertaken through the Indian Red
Cross and Sri Lanka Red Cross.
The Sri Lankan Defence Ministry states that 3300 people have
died in Sri Lanka since December 2005 due to the escalation of violence as
fighting erupted between Government SFs and the LTTE. Between November 17,
2005 and October 25, 2006, 860 SF personnel and 549 civilians have been
killed, the Defence Ministry said. The number of LTTE cadres killed by the
SFs has been estimated at 1880. Another 1303 are believed to have been
injured.
|
November 6
|
Dead bodies of three civilians, including two identified as
Yogarajah Jayalan and Abdul Jabar Mohamed Mansoor, killed by the LTTE are
recovered by the Uppuveli Police in Trincomalee district.
Troops retaliate as two LTTE cadres open fire towards them
in the Thirunaveli area Jaffna district. Both of them are killed during the
encounter.
A suspected LTTE front organisation has threatened to attack
civilian targets, including hospitals and water reservoirs, in southern Sri
Lanka in retaliation against military strikes on LTTE areas. The High
Security Zone Residents’ Liberation Force, which claimed responsibility for
a series of attacks on troops in the north earlier this year, said it is
giving the military a final warning to halt attacks on LTTE territory.
A former Chief Justice of India, P. N. Bhagwati, has been
nominated to head an international panel to supervise a human rights
investigation in Sri Lanka.
|
November 7
|
The SLMM spokesperson, Helen Olafsdottir, said 1,076
civilians have been killed since violence escalated at the start of 2006.
Parliament votes to extend an emergency law to deal with the
surge in violence by one month.
The CID said that according to information available to
them, nearly 1000 people have disappeared throughout the island since the
recent upsurge in violence between the LTTE and Government forces.
|
November 8
|
More than 45 civilians are killed at Vakarai in the
Batticaloa district as a welfare centre was allegedly hit by the
retaliatory fire of the military. The SLMM spokeswoman Hellen Ollafsdottir
said that monitors who visited the incident site had counted 23 bodies at
hospitals where also 135 injured were treated. However, the LTTE claimed
that 50 to 100 civilians are killed when "indiscriminate fire" by
the military hit a school building where the displaced are housed.
The LTTE has reportedly rejected the Government proposal for
an "alternate route" to the A-9 highway. The outfit claims it is
not fit for travel.
|
November 9
|
The SLN foils a major LTTE attack on the civilian passenger
vessel 'Green Ocean I' with 300 Jaffna bound civilians from Trincomalee in
the sea off Nagarkovil destroying a flotilla of Sea-Tiger boats, including
three suicide boats. "We believe more than 40 LTTE cadres were killed
in the attack," told SLN spokesperson Commander D.K.P. Dasanayaka,
adding, two suicide boats rammed into to two Dvora fast Attack Craft
escorting ‘Green Ocean I’, destroying one and damaging the other. However,
LTTE's military spokesperson, Irasiah Ilanthirayan, claims that a Sea-Tiger
flotilla clashed with the SLN, killing 25 SLN soldiers, capturing four
alive and destroying two Dvora Fast Attack Crafts when Sea-Tigers engaged
in training activities were provoked by the SLN vessels.
LTTE cadres activate a claymore mine targeting an army
motorbike in the Anaipathi area of Jaffna district, killing two soldiers,
identified as Sergeant G.A.S. Ganepola and Corporal Bandara.
The Sri Lanka Government expresses its regret over the
killing of civilians in Vakarai and accused the LTTE of using civilians as
a human shield. Denying media reports, it said that only 23 civilians died
and 125 others were injured.
|
November 10
|
Unidentified assailants shot dead Jaffna district TNA
parliamentarian, Nadarajah Raviraj, and his personal security officer near
his home at Borella in the capital Colombo. TNA is regarded to be a proxy
party of the LTTE.
The SLN destroys one weapon laden LTTE suicide craft and
captured another that were sailing in the seas off Nilaveli coast in the
guise of ordinary fishing boats in the Trincomalee district. At least six
Sea-Tigers aboard are killed, according to the SLN. Sources confirm that
one of the boats was also carrying the remains of Ariv Charles, a senior
military leader attached to the Charles Anthony Brigade of the outfit, who
was killed in a security forces retaliatory fire in the Batticaloa district
a few days back.
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan emphasizes the
urgent need to end the spiraling violence in Sri Lanka and called on both
sides to immediately return to the peace process.
|
November 11
|
LTTE 'pistol gang' cadres shot dead one civilian, Swarna
Kumara, and injured another on the Tihppankulam road in the Jaffna
district.
LTTE 'pistol gang' cadres shot dead one civilian, identified
as Egodawatte Aratchchige Podimahathmaya, at Kantale in the Palauththu area
of Trincomalee district.
Suspected LTTE cadres shot dead a civilian, Krishnapiallai
Mohandas, and injured another in the Kaththankudi area of Batticaloa
district.
|
November 12
|
Two civilians, identified as Thumb Ayyahjegan and Kangarupan
Kelli, are shot dead by the LTTE 'pistol gang' cadres in the Anaipanthy
area of Jaffna district.
The civilian influx from Uncleared areas (area not under
Government control) to cleared areas (area under Government control) is
continuing in the North and East, as the LTTE has intensified their
military preparations for more attacks on the security forces.
A suspected LTTE frontal organization, High Security Zone
Residents' Liberation Force, vows to kill majority Sinhalese civilians in
southern Sri Lanka in retaliation for the alleged Army bombing of a refugee
camp in the Batticaloa district on November 8. It claims to represent
Tamils displaced by Army high security zones in the Jaffna peninsula.
LTTE military spokesperson Rasaiah Ilanthirayan says that
the Government's plan to bring food from India to Jaffna was a clever
device to divert attention from the issue of re-opening the A-9 main
highway at Muhamalai, adding, the best solution would be to lift the
barriers at Muhamalai and allow food to come from the Wanni and South Sri
Lanka. Opening the A-9 would obviate the need to get supplies from abroad,
he claims.
|
November 13
|
One soldier, Private L.R M. Sampath Kumara, is killed and
two others sustain injuries when LTTE cadres opened mortar fire towards
troops at Ponnar in the Kodikamam area of Jaffna district.
Alan Rock, Special Advisor to the UN Special Representative
for Children and Armed Conflict accuses elements within the SFs of helping
the breakaway faction of the LTTE led by 'Colonel' Karuna to abduct
children to recruit as child soldiers and said that there is 'credible
evidence' that the Government soldiers have forcibly rounded up the
children for the Karuna group.
|
November 14
|
SLN destroys a large trawler carrying massive quantities of
arms, ammunition and explosives and killed eight LTTE cadres on board in
the seas off Kalpitiya, West of Kudiramale, in the Puttalam district.
Three soldiers are killed in a LTTE-triggered improvised
explosive device explosion at Mantottam roadblock in the Mannar district.
The architect of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, which
ended the subversive activities of the IRA, Paul Murphy, reportedly arrives
in Sri Lanka to assist the peace negotiations between the Sri Lankan
Government and LTTE.
A newly released UNICEF report states that as of October 31,
2006, there were 142 outstanding cases of under age recruitment by the LTTE
and all of them were boys.According to UNICEF statistics, as of October 31,
2006, there were 1598 outstanding cases of under age recruitment by the
LTTE. Of these, 649 are under the age of 18, and 949 were recruited while
under 18 but have now passed that age.
|
November 15
|
Four LTTE cadres are killed and one is wounded by SFs at
Ethawetunuwewa in the Welioya area of Moneragala district.
President Mahinda Rajapakse states that India "need not
play a direct role" in the peace process in Sri Lanka. He said,
"India need not intervene directly. It will be enough if it carries
out a global campaign against the collection of funds and arms by the
LTTE", adding, "We are determined to devolve power to the
Northern and Eastern Provinces. We are examining various models, including
the Indian model (of federalism). We are ready to talk about the Panchayati
Raj system, which devolves power to the villages."
|
November 16
|
18 LTTE cadres are killed and three soldiers wounded in
three separate clashes between troops and LTTE cadres in the Batticaloa
district.
Security forces in a retaliatory action killed nine LTTE
cadres when they opened fire towards troops' forward defence line at
Kadjuwatta in the Batticaloa district.
President Mahinda Rajapakse urges the LTTE to lay down their
arms and resume talks to pursue peace, democracy and development in the
country. He cites increased violence for the spike in spending.
British peace envoy Paul Murphy, the architect of Irish peace
talks, urges parties to keep the lines of communication open and says that
there is striking similarity conflicts in Northern Ireland and Sri Lanka.
Defence spokesperson and Minister, Keheliya Rambukwella,
said at a media briefing that it had been proved that the LTTE harassed
Indian fishermen and used their trawlers to transport war material to
strengthen its bases. "Since January 2006 there have been eight such
sea attacks, six of them in the seas off Mannar. This shows how the LTTE
cadres are harassing and making use of Indian fishermen. The Indian
Government should move fast and act to protect their fishermen," he
added.
|
November 17
|
The LTTE rejects President Rajapakse's offer to lay down
their arms and resume talks to pursue peace, democracy and development in
the country, calling it "joke."
Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India, C.R. Jayasinghe,
accuses the LTTE of "spreading misinformation globally to hide the
reality that the violence in Sri Lanka was solely instigated by it."
The IDMC of the Norwegian Refugee Council, releasing a
report on displacement in Sri Lanka, announced that some 130,000 internally
displaced people - more than half of those uprooted by the current
intensification of violence in Sri Lanka - are cut off from international assistance
and exposed to serious human rights abuses.
According to statistics, 1623 civilians have entered into
the Government-controlled areas since November 2006, said Military
spokesperson Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe.
|
November 18
|
At least 23 persons are killed in continuing fighting
between the Sri Lanka military and LTTE in the northern and eastern parts
of the country. The military sources claim to have destroyed three LTTE
gunboats, killing at least 15 cadres at Mannar. However, the LTTE claims
that its cadres sank two navy boats, leaving 10 sailors dead.
An explosion targeting a military truck killed four soldiers
and four students from a nearby agriculture institute in Vavuniya.
|
November 19
|
The dead bodies of four unidentified civilians are recovered
from the Trincomalee district.
Three bodies are recovered from Allesgarden, a suburb in
Trincomalee town, and one from Pattithidal in the Muttur division.
Two civilians, Sebasthiyan Moisath Sivakumar and I. M.
Rohith Laxman, are shot dead by LTTE cadres in the Varadayanagar area of
Trincomalee district.
The SLMM states that Sri Lankan troops opened fire on a
group of agriculture students at close range in Vavuniya district on
November 18, killing five, after a LTTE ambush on Government forces. The
Sri Lankan Government orders opening of the A 9 highway that links rest of
the country to the Jaffna peninsula for transportation of essential
commodities.
|
November 21
|
Unidentified assailants trigger a claymore mine explosion at
Gnaniyar Valavu in the Varani Thenmaradchi area of Jaffna district, killing
one soldier and injuring three others.
The Co-Chairs of the Tokyo Donors Conference, the U.S.,
European Union, Japan, and Norway, issuing a joint statement after meeting
in Washington in U.S., condemns the systematic ceasefire violations by both
the Sri Lanka Government and LTTE and urges both parties to immediately
cease hostilities.
The TNA parliamentarians from Batticaloa district have
written a letter to the Parliamentary Speaker, saying they have received
death threats over the phone and were informed specifically that if they
did not resign from being Members of Parliament, they would be killed.
|
November 22
|
Suspected LTTE 'pistol gang' cadres shot dead two civilians,
identified as Ponnadorai Ramakrisnan and Kannanthambi Sathrarajah, close to
the rail tracks at Sangama in the Trincomalee district.
The Sri Lankan Government states that it is willing to
immediately resume stalled peace talks with the LTTE, but accused the
outfit of not cooperating. The political wing of the LTTE-breakaway faction
led by 'Colonel' Karuna, TMVP, announces that it is ready to lay down arms
provided the 'repressive acts' of the LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran are
brought 'under control'.
The 'Colonel' Karuna group has officially been added to the
U.N. Secretary General's "list of shame", that aims to discredit
Governments and armed groups committing grave crimes against children.
The LTTE rejects a Government request for a guarantee that a
convoy of essential items to be sent to the northern Jaffna peninsula by
road would be allowed to pass safely through the LTTE-held territory.
Government spokesperson Rambukwella said that Nordic truce monitors and a
U.N. envoy have misled Sri Lanka's main financial donors about cease-fire
violations by the Military.
The LTTE ideologue, Anton Balasingham, is reportedly
suffering from an advanced stage of cancer and is battling for his life. He
was the chief negotiator for the LTTE in all major negotiations until his
illness worsened.
|
November 23
|
Three home guards are killed when cadres of the LTTE opened
small arms fire towards home guards on duty at Atambagashandiya in the
Vavuniya district.
At least 12 LTTE cadres are killed when the STF opened fire
on a group of LTTE cadres who shot dead three Police personnel and a home
guard in the Ampara district. Five security force (SF) personnel sustained
injuries in the incident.
The Sri Lankan Military foils a major LTTE attack on SF's
defence positions in the Kirimichchi and Kadjuwatte areas of Batticaloa
district, in which seven soldiers are injured.
The LTTE has reportedly planted thousands of anti-personnel
mines in and around Vakarai in the Batticaloa district to block civilians
leaving the area, reveals a surrendered LTTE cadre to the SFs.
Troops kill at least nine LTTE cadres following the killing
of two civilians by LTTE in Batticaloa. Four policemen died in the
encounter.
Four SF personnel are killed and five others injure in an
LTTE attack at Bakkiella in Ampara.
Three SF personnel guarding a checkpoint at Kebitigollawa
are killed by the LTTE.
|
November 24
|
The dead bodies of five LTTE cadres are recovered from
Piramanayankulam area in the Vavuniya district on November 24. The slain
terrorists are suspected to have been killed in retaliatory firing after
they opened fire on a Sri Lankan military foot patrol on November 23-night.
|
November 25
|
Elite police commandos kill four LTTE cadres in an encounter
in the eastern district of Ampara. The outfit, however, claims four
soldiers are killed.
|
November 26
|
Sri Lankan Army shot dead at least 21 LTTE cadres in
separate incidents in the Batticaloa district.
A sympathiser of the EPDP, Shankarpilla Senasaran, is killed
by LTTE in the Northern Province.
|
November 27
|
In his annual Heroes’ day statement delivered at an
undisclosed location in the northern part of the country, the LTTE chief
Velupillai Prabhakaran accuses the Sinhala leaders of "duplicity"
and said this left the Tamils with no choice but to strive for "political
independence." According to copies of his speech made available to the
media, Prabhakaran said, "Both our liberation movement and our people
never preferred war to a peaceful resolution. We have always preferred a
peaceful approach to win the political rights of our people. We have never
hesitated to follow the peaceful path to win our political rights. That is
why we held peace talks, beginning in Thimpu right through to Geneva, on
several occasions, at various times, and in many countries." He asserted
that the LTTE will continue the ‘freedom struggle’, and claimed that
President Mahinda Rajapakse had rejected his final call in his Heroes’ Day
statement last year to find a resolution to the Tamil national question
with urgency.
Sri Lankan Naval troops destroy a LTTE trawler engaged in
smuggling weapons and ammunition and claim to have killed six of its cadres
on board at Negombo in the Colombo district.
|
November 28
|
Suspected LTTE cadres shot dead a civilian, identified as
Somasuntharam Inban, and injure two others at sixth mile post in the
Trincomalee district.
The LTTE kills one SF personnel and injure two others at
Kadjuwatta, in the Batticaloa district.
|
November 30
|
Two unidentified gunmen shot dead Gilbert Anandarajah,
a Grama Sevakar (local government official), at Jaffna
divisional secretariat in the Jaffna district.
The Cambodian Prime Minister, Hun Sen, has promised the Sri
Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake to choke the flow of weapons
from his country to the LTTE, during the latter’s visit to Cambodia. Hun
Sen reportedly admitted that for the first time in 2005 arms were smuggled
out of his country for terrorist activities in Sri Lanka, and assured Sri
Lankan Prime Minister to trust Cambodia that "no more weapons would
enter Sri Lanka."
|
December 1
|
A suicide attack by the LTTE targeting the Defence Secretary,
Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, who is also the brother of President Mahinda
Rajapaksa, at Dharmapala Mawatha in Colombo injure seven army personnel and
seven civilians. Two of the injured army personnel subsequently succumb to
their injuries. The suicide bomber rammed his three-wheeler into the convoy
of the Defence Secretary. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, who was en route to the
Presidential Palace for an official meeting, escapes unhurt. The headless
body of an unidentified person, believed to be the suicide bomber, is
recovered from the incident site. At least eight vehicles, including that
of the Defence Secretary, are damaged in the attack.
Two Sri Lanka Police constables are killed in a claymore
mine attack by unidentified assailants near the junction of Clock Tower
road and Hospital road near Jaffna town.
|
December 2
|
One soldier, Private A.M.H. Athapaththu, is killed and
another sustains injuries when LTTE cadres hurl a hand grenade at an Army
foot patrol in Velvettithurai in the Jaffna district.
SLAF bombs a civilian settlement in the Mullathivu district,
a day after the unsuccessful attempt on the life of Defence Secretary
Gothabaya Rajapakse by a suspected LTTE suicide bomber. One civilian is
reportedly killed during the aerial raid.
|
December 3
|
A woman, Pakkianathan Calista Nirmala, is shot dead by
unidentified gunmen in her house along Antony Road at Palaiyootu in the
Trincomalee district.
|
December 4
|
At least six LTTE cadres are killed in retaliatory fire when
the outfit cadres ambush the STF personnel at Sangaman Kanda in the Ampara
district. One soldier succumbs to his injuries while four others sustain
bullet injuries during the ambush.
|
December 5
|
Sri Lankan troops kill at least 16 LTTE cadres in the
Vaharai region of Batticaloa district. Two soldiers are reported to have
died in the incident.
LTTE cadres shot dead two civilians in the Vavuniya
district.
|
December 6
|
Four civilians are killed and another injured when LTTE
cadres trigger claymore mine explosions targeting SF personnel and hit
civilians instead, at the Telecommunication Department in the Jaffna
district.
At least three civilians, including a teacher, are killed
and nine students sustain injuries, when the LTTE cadres fire artillery
targeting the Somadevi School and Kallar village in the Trincomalee
district.
Two soldiers are killed when LTTE cadres trigger a claymore
mine explosion targeting an army tractor at Putukkulam in the Vavuniya
district.
|
December 7
|
Two civilians, identified as Bernard Kingsely and Velu
Jeyakanthan, are shot dead by unidentified gunmen at Aathimoddai village
along the Trincomalee-Nilaveli road.
The Sri Lankan Government rejects the SLMM’s request for a
clarification regarding the re-imposition of the PTA.
At least 2203 civilians has crossed over to the un-cleared
areas in the Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts through Manthai and
Uyilankulam checkpoints while an estimated 2539 civilians has arrived in
Vavuniya from un-cleared areas from between December 1 to December 7.
|
December 8
|
A civilian, Sithamparapillai Pathmanathan, is shot dead by
unidentified gunmen at Sithandy under Eravur police division in the
Batticaloa district.
The Sri Lanka Government has allowed the Norwegian special
envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer and Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar to visit
Kilinochchi.
|
December 9
|
At least 45 people are reported to have died during clashes
between Sri Lankan troops and LTTE cadres in the northeastern district of
Trincomalee.
A suspected LTTE cadre shot dead a civilian, Sellaiya
Thangarasa, at VadukodaI in the Jaffna district.
|
December 10
|
At least 19 civilians are killed and 25 others sustain
injuries when SLA personnel fire artillery shells at Kandalady Government
School in the Vaharai area of Batticaloa district.
At least 12 soldiers are killed and 51 others sustain
injuries when the LTTE cadres directed heavy artillery and mortars towards
Kaddimuravikulam, Kadjuwatta, Kirimichchiya and Madurankerni in the
Batticaloa district. A Sri Lankan military spokesperson said that a large
number of LTTE cadres are also killed and many more are reportedly injured
when the troops retaliated.
|
December 11
|
Government troops clashed with the LTTE in the Eastern
province leaving at least 24 soldiers dead and 69 injured. Unconfirmed
reports quoting civilians who are in the process of leaving LTTE-held areas,
adds that as many as 50-60 LTTE cadres also died in the retaliatory fire by
the troops and similar numbers sustain injuries.
|
December 12
|
LTTE cadres trigger a claymore mine explosion leaving one
soldier dead and injuring two others at Kallady area in the Mannar
district.
A soldier is shot dead by suspected LTTE ‘pistol gang’
cadres at a newspaper office in the Jaffna District.
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December 13
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Troops clashed with the LTTE cadres leaving at least five
cadres dead at Meeyankulam and Welikanda area in the Batticaloa district.
During a subsequent search operation, 11 of the 12 soldiers who went
missing after a clash with the LTTE cadres on October 5 were found dead,
and one among them, Sergeant K.M.S. Rathnayake, was found injured and
abandoned by the LTTE at the incident site.
Troops found bunkers constructed and abandoned by the LTTE
cadres using canopies supplied by the UNHCR meant to provide shelter for
IDP at Kajuwatte and Panichchankerni in the Batticaloa district.
The SLA chief Sarath Fonseka has said that the LTTE would be
driven out of the Eastern province "so that civilians could pursue
their daily lives peacefully."
The SLA said that the strength of the LTTE has been weakened
since the Karuna faction broke away in March 2004. "But, this is not
the first instance the LTTE has lost its hold in the Eastern province.
During the period 1993 - 1994, LTTE influence was swept away under then Commander
Eastern province Brigadier Lucky Algama," it said.
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December 14
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The UNICEF officials in the Batticaloa district hand over at
least 12 LTTE cadres, including five injured, who had been forcibly
recruited, to the Batticaloa Police.
Hindustan Times quoting the pro-LTTE Website Tamil Net reports
that the LTTE had lost 818 cadres (including 250 women cadres) during
various operations this year alone. Since the death of ‘Lieutenant’ Sanker,
the first LTTE cadre to be killed in military action on November 27, 1982,
the LTTE has lost 18,742 cadres, the report added.
Anton Balasingham, political adviser of the LTTE, passes
away in London after a spell of illness. A close associate of LTTE chief
Velupillai Prabakaran, Balasingham had participated as chief negotiator of
the LTTE in almost all political negotiations, beginning with the Thimpu
talks in 1985.
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December 15
|
Seven internally displaced civilians traveling from
Kathiraveli to Vaharai in the Batticaloa district in a tractor are killed
when an artillery shell fired by the SLA explodes their vehicle.
Four unidentified assailants shot dead a civilian,
identified as Ambikaipahar Manickavasagar, in the Vepankulam area of
Vavuniya district.
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December 17
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The LTTE is believed to be facing its worst shortage of
ammunition, particularly mortar and artillery rounds, as troops continue to
intensify pressure on the outfit in the Eastern region. Quoting a recent
LTTE signal monitored in the East, an unnamed official said the LTTE is
desperately seeking to smuggle in fresh consignments of ammunition. Senior
military officials said the LTTE would not be able to mount major
offensives in the Eastern province due to a shrinking arsenal.
The CID investigating the mysterious disappearance of the
Eastern University V.C., Sivasubramanium Ravindranath, since December 15,
has uncovered that his temporary driver had maintained links with the LTTE.
SLA states that a total of 13,910 civilians have vacated the
un-cleared areas (areas not under Government control) of Vakarai in
Batticaloa district and reached troops at Riditenna and Valachchenai since
November 1.
The U.S. is to release financial aid to Sri Lanka to meet
with the unexpected refugee situation in the country, the White House
announced.
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December 18
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Three civilians are shot dead by ‘pistol gang’ cadres of the
LTTE at Chenkaladi in the Batticaloa district.
The LTTE warns the Army that they would resort to
pre-emptive strikes if the military pushes ahead with a declared plan to
drive them out of the outfit-held territory in the East.
The Army accuses the LTTE of forcibly detaining the refugees
and civilian population in the areas under its control and using them as
"human shields".
The military has hemmed the LTTE in to a 14-mile (22-km)
stretch of coastline around Vakarai and has already driven the outfit out
of territory near the strategic northeastern port of Trincomalee further
north.
Australian Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, addressing a
gathering on terrorism and Islamic extremism at the IISS in London stated
that Australia is considering a ban on the LTTE.
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December 19
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LTTE cadres lob a hand grenade at the Kalmunai political
office of the TMVP in the Ampara district, the political wing of the
outfit’s breakaway faction led by ‘Colonel’ Karuna, killing two of the TMVP
cadres and injuring another.
The LTTE breakaway faction led by ‘Colonel’ Karuna warns it
would be forced to take its fight against the LTTE to Government-controlled
areas in the East if the Government failed to assure the security of
political cadres of the group.
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December 20
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At least three cadres of the LTTE breakaway faction led by
‘Colonel’ Karuna are killed in a clash with the LTTE in Vavuniya district.
Military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe accuses LTTE of
abducting at least 455 underage combatants from Government-controlled areas
this year and asked the outfit to stop the practice.
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December 22
|
The LTTE warns that ongoing violence in Eastern Sri Lanka
would escalate into a full-scale war.
The Media Center For National Security said that troops are
determined to drive out the outfit from Vakarai, Kadiraweli, Komathalamadu,
Palchanai and Panichchankerni north in the Eastern Province ‘until the last
civilian is freed from the clutches of the LTTE.
The establishment of the IIGEP of Sri Lanka has come to the
final stage with the EU announcing its nominee for the monitoring panel. EU
Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner has nominated
former French Minister Bernard Kouchner as the EU nominee for the IIGEP.
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December 23
|
Unidentified assailants shot dead two civilians, identified
as Navaratnam Sivendran and Sellathamby Gunasingham, injure six others in
the Puthukudiruppu area of Batticaloa district.
The Northern Province Governor, Rear Admiral (Retd) Mohan
Wijewickrama confirms that the de-merger of the northeast province is
proceeding as planned.
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December 24
|
Two local LTTE cadres, Jegan and Maradijaan, are killed and
six others sustain injuries in a retaliatory fire by STF personnel in the
Kanchanakuda area of Ampara district.
Suleiman, the general manager of the Jordanian ship, Farha
III, owned by the International Al Salam (Peace) Company for Trade and
Transport, states that the ship's 25 crewmembers have been released and are
handed over to the ICRC and would be heading to the Sri Lanka capital of
Colombo.
The SLN brushes off speculation that the Jordanian ship,
which drifted towards Mullaitivu seas following a technical failure, was
carrying arms to the LTTE.
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December 25
|
Three soldiers, identified as Lance Corporal P.A.A. Pushpa
Kumara, Private H.R. Dayarathna Bandara, and Private A.M.P.K. Ariyarathne
are killed when the LTTE cadres triggere a claymore mine targeting an Army
patrol in the Kudamiyan north area of Jaffna district.
Security forces retaliate when LTTE cadres lob two hand
grenades towards troops who were conducting a search and clear operation at
Nayanyurai, injuring nine soldiers. During subsequent search, troops
recovere four dead bodies of the outfit cadres.
The LTTE releases the 25-member crew, including 13
Jordanians, 11 Egyptians and an Iraqi captain, of the captured Jordanian
ship Farha 111, which was carrying rice from India to South Africa.
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December 27
|
Two LTTE cadres are killed in a clash that ensued between
SFs and the outfit’s cadres when they attempted to infiltrate the Muhamalai
FDL in the Jaffna district.
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December 28
|
Three soldiers are killed and an equal number of them are
injured in a LTTE-triggere claymore mine explosion at Chavakachcheri in the
Jaffna district.
The TULF President, V. Anandasangaree, urges President
Mahinda Rajapakse to put the de-merger of the northeast province on hold on
the plea that it would only strengthen the LTTE.
According to the MCNS figures, 23095 civilians have arrived
to the Government controlled areas in the Eastern Province since November
1.
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December 29
|
Galgamuwa Police in the Puttalam district recovers the dead
bodies of two PLOTE members, abducted earlier by the LTTE on December 27,
from the Simbalangamuwa area on the Kurunegala – Anuradhapura main road.
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December 30
|
LTTE cadres, hiding inside the IDP’s camp, open fire towards
a group of soldiers distributing foodstuff and medicine to the refugees at
the Parangiyamadu IDP centre in the Kiren area of Batticaloa district. In
the retaliatory fire, troops kill three LTTE cadres.
One soldier is killed and two others sustain injuries in a
LTTE artillery fire towards Kaddu Murivlikulam in the Welikanda region of
Polonnaruwa district.
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December 31
|
President Mahinda Rajapakse states that his Government was
committed to keep the process of negotiations with the LTTE open in order
to solve the ethnic separatist conflict.
The SLMM said it would curtail its monitoring activities for
a "short period" as it re-groups and reconsiders its operations
in the wake of continuing hostilities between Government troops and the
LTTE. All SLMM district offices will remain open during the workshop early
this month but the monitoring activities will be reduced though not
completely suspended, an SLMM spokesperson said adding that the monitors
were yet to fix a date for the regrouping in Colombo.
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