Sri Lankan troops have moved closer to dismantling the Tamil Tigers' de facto state after months of heavy clashes, but the battles ahead could be even bloodier, officials and analysts say. Monsoon rains expected to intensify in the coming weeks could bog down tanks and make artillery less effective in soggy terrain, forcing both sides to engage in close combat, according to military experts. Sri Lanka has poured a record 1.5 billion dollars this year into battling the rebels, who are fighting for a separate homeland for ethnic minority Tamils, with the aim of crushing the insurgency by the middle of next year. [ full story | comments ]

Even as the security forces and the LTTE were locked in fierce battles in the Wanni last week with heavy casualties suffered on both sides, President Rajapakse was well aware of the political importance of taking Killinochchi before the year's end. While government websites gave huge figures of LTTE cadre dead and the Defence Ministry said forces had killed 54 rebels with 12 army personnel reported dead or missing, Tamilnet last Tuesday claimed 75 army personnel had been killed and 100 more wounded in Nachchikuda and between Akkaraayan and Vannearikku'lam last Monday and Tuesday and some 50 soldiers wounded in Vannearikku'lam. [ full story | comments ]

United Nations agencies in Sri Lanka have said they are unable to advise civilians to vacate LTTE-controlled areas despite a government request to this effect. Heavy fighting in the Wanni has forced thousands of civilians to move deeper into guerrilla-dominated areas. “UN officials are in the area only to ensure humanitarian assistance to those in need,” UN spokesperson Gordon Weiss told The Sunday Times adding that they were not there to advise the people on which direction they should move. “Any person has the freedom of movement, and they can move where and when they want in search of safety and assistance,” Mr. Weiss said. [ full story | comments (2) ]

A conference on Sri Lankan diaspora that took place last week in Kuala Lumpur provided an opportunity to understand the broad perspectives of the Eezham Tamil diaspora, its universal aims and development agenda on one hand and to witness the subtle efforts by certain elements to nullify its identity and hijack its noble agenda to the diplomatic benefit of the Sri Lankan state on the other hand, according to a Malaysian Tamil scholar. "The Colombo government and its abettors either believe or want others to believe that the course of military solution opted by them to end the Tamil crisis in Sri Lanka has become successful and very near its goal," the scholar told TamilNet. [ full story | comments (15) ]

85 Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were killed in Vannearikku'lam and 280 wounded in the fighting, according to informed sources close to the hierarchy of the Sri Lankan military. Meanwhile, Jayaratna florist, one of the leading florists in Colombo, took in charge 56 remains of SLA soldiers on Wednesday, before the 29 dead bodies handed over by the Tigers to the ICRC had reached Colombo. The high toll was not anticipated by the top brass of the SLA, which deployed elite Special Forces with high-powered rockets and explosives during the offensive push at Vannearikku'lam on Monday. [ full story | comments (24) ]

Today, the 61st session of the NGO conference is taking place in Paris at the headquarters of UNESCO. France-based Tamil Centre for Human Rights – TCHR is participating in this conference, in its official capacity along with another 425 NGOs from 80 countries with 2250 participants. This is the first time that the NGO conference has taken place out side the USA. The main speakers at this conference are – UN VIPs, Ministers, Academics, Intellectuals, Religious leaders, Human rights defenders and many others. The theme of the conference is "Reaffirming Human Rights for all – the Universal Declaration at 60". [ full story | comments (6) ]

As heavy fighting between armed forces and Tamil separatists in northern Sri Lanka continues to claim heavy casualties, the United Nations has called for greater protection for those displaced by the conflict. The UN said it is committed to work with the government to provide humanitarian assistance to civilians whether they remain in the strife-torn region in the north or leave. Last month the UN High Commissioner for Refugees expressed alarm about the safety of tens of thousands of civilians and urged both sides to ensure the protection of those who were not involved in the conflict. [ full story | comments ]

"The roles played by the major powers in overlooking the state terrorism and human rights violations of the Sri Lankan state, will stay permanent in the Tamil memory for ever," said Rev. Prof. Dr. S.J. Emmanuel, the former Vicar General of the region, in an open letter from Germany, reacting to the silence of the International Community to the unfolding catastrophe of civilian sufferings in the districts of Mullaiththeevu and Ki'linochchi, overcrowded with IDPs seeking protection from the atrocities of the Sri Lankan forces. His statement comes as Sri Lanka Army's artillery shells reached Ki'iinochchi in the early hours of Thursday. [ full story | comments (27) ]

Fierce combat across Sri Lanka's north killed at least 41 people when separatist Tamil Tiger insurgents fought back against an unceasing army push into their strongholds, the military said on Wednesday. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels told the pro-rebel web site www.tamilnet.com that they had killed 12 soldiers and seized a large weapons cache in fighting this week, among the heaviest this year. At several locations, the military said it had killed 28 rebels and wounded 10 on Wednesday against the loss of one soldier and eight injured. [ full story | comments (1) ]

The military in Sri Lanka said 19 bodies of Army soldiers killed by Tamil Tigers rebels were handed over to the Army through the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) officials on Wednesday in the north. The Ministry of Defence said in a statement that Army authorities serving the Omanthai Entry/Exit received the partly disfigured and decomposed corpses of Army soldiers, which have been delivered to ICRC officials by the Tigers in the Mullaittivu district. [ full story | comments (5) ]

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi Sunday expressed anguish over the alleged killings of Indian fishermen in the Palk Strait by the Sri Lankan Navy and requested the central government to ensure its immediate cessation. 'In spite of assurances given by the government of India, the fishermen of the state feel insecure for fear of attack from Sri Lanka without any warning,' Karunanidhi said in a personal letter addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, requesting him to intervene in the matter. Providing statistics, Karunanidhi said: 'From January 2006 till date, 27 incidents of shooting (in the Palk Strait) have resulted in the killing (and injuries) of eight (locals) and 24 fishermen (respectively). The number of those apprehended during this period is 342.' [ full story | comments ]

The most decisive phase of Eelam War IV began this week. The Security Forces and Tiger guerrillas fought some of the bitterest battles on Monday and Tuesday. Guns have fallen silent since then. Both sides are reviewing their options. The worst fighting was in the western flank of the Wanni. Troops that had re-captured vast chunks of territory further north and east of Mannar in the past many months and weeks are now on the doorsteps of guerrilla strongholds. They are meeting with stiff resistance on two important fronts. [ full story | comments (5) ]

The UNP significantly is going pro war. Ranil Wickremesinghe the UNP leader said so in a statement last week, and this was a significant departure from previous UNP policy. But the UNP rebels are now singing a different tune and seem to be saying yet again, Ranil did the wrong thing at the wrong time. Jayalath Jayewardene for instance, said at a party pow-wow that the army lost as much as 80 soldiers in fierce fighting on Wednesday alone — - “but all this is “concealed’’ from the masses as the President has dazzled the people into thinking that the war is a success.’’ [ full story | comments ]

Human rights violations are occurring in Sri Lanka, a senior government minister has admitted. Minister in charge of Investment Development, Prof. GL Peiris, told BBC Sandeshaya that the international community should understand the context in which these abuses taking place. The minister who is in London to promote investment in Sri Lanka said the government has a duty to protect civilians ‘from explosions, things of that kind’. [ full story | comments (25) ]

The action taken by the Sri Lankan Government to indict Tissainayagam, for stating the truth and exercising the right of fair comment he enjoys as a journalist, make it impossible for any dissent from the governments point of view to be published by the press in Sri Lanka. Tissainayagam is the first journalist to be caught up under the Draconian twins, the Prevention of Terrorism Act No:48 of 1979 (PTA) as amended, and the Emergency Regulations (EMR). [ full story | comments (1) ]

Over 30 schoolgirls have become pregnant in the Badulla district. There are several well organised groups in the Badulla district who track down innocent poor school girls coming to Badulla town for tuition classes and abuse them, a reliable high ranking health official said. He said the 30 cases are the only reported cases to the State hospitals and other State health institutions of the Badulla district and there may be several more similar cases which did not report. There are over 200 `guest houses' in the Badulla district. [ full story | comments (15) ]

Setting aside an earlier ruling of the Court of First Instance, the European Court of Justice (ECJ), Wednesday, annulled the Council Regulation freezing the assets of Yassin Abdullah Kadi, a resident of Saudi Arabia, and the Al Barakaat International Foundation of Sweden, part of the 'Hawala' banking system used by the Somali Diaspora to transfer funds internationally. The ECJ recognised that "the rights of the defence [of those in "terror list"], in particular the right to be heard, and the right to effective judicial review of those rights, were patently not respected." [ full story | comments ]

Sri Lanka's military court Tuesday jailed 305 army deserters for failing to respond to the general amnesty offered by the military since May. 'Sri Lankan Army's Courts Martial, following imposition of punishment on 106 convicted army deserters, have handed them over to the Welikada Prisons Headquarters Tuesday for imprisonment. One more batch of 199 convicted army deserters are also scheduled to be handed for imprisonment on Wednesday upon completion of their legal proceedings,' the military said in a statement here. [ full story | comments (8) ]

A Sri Lankan lawmaker who attempted to smuggle an illegal entrant into Japan under guise of a "personal assistant" has been compelled by his party to resign his parliamentary seat, news reports said Thursday. Anuruddha Polgampola, a member of the radical Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (People's Liberation Front), tendered his resignation Wednesday to the legislature's secretary general in line with a decision of his party's disciplinary committee. Polgampola admitted to the committee that he had helped Kodithuwakku Aratchige Rohan enter Japan to work there illegally. [ full story | comments ]

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) repulsed an attempt by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to advance into LTTE territory Tuesday around 7:00 a.m, killing eight soldiers and injuring 14 at Paalamoaddai, LTTE Vavuniyaa command said. LTTE combatants confronted SLA that began the advance with rocket launcher fire ground support until 6:00 p.m, Tuesday.SLA troops withdrew to their positions unable to stand the onslaught of the LTTE, the source added. [ full story | comments ]