The Ceylon News

This is the destiny of the innocent Tamil civilians who tried to escape into government controlled areas. If caught they will be burned alive! Extreme brutality of LTTE…… Burning their own people alive.




































This is the destiny of the innocent Tamil civilians who tried to escape into government controlled areas. If caught they will be burned alive! Extreme brutality of LTTE…… Burning their own people alive.

Advancing Sri Lankan forces made fresh advances into the small areas still held by Tamil Tigers in Pudukudiyirippu killing nine militants in fierce clashes, the defence ministry said on Saturday.

LTTE militants continued mounting heavy artillery and mortar attacks from the no-fire zone yesterday at the troops advancing towards general area Vellamullivaikkal, it claimed.

"At least eight LTTE cadres were killed and nine others reported injured during the initial confrontations," the military said citing intercepted LTTE communication.

"The Tiger rebels were also reported arguing with rear assault groups for delaying of reinforcements to stall the advancing Army infantrymen," the defence ministry said.

At Kokkuthuduwai in Mullaittivu, troops last evening recovered a rebel's body, a tiger motor bike and 50 rounds of Multi Purpose Machine Gun (MPMG) ammunitions.

Meanwhile, troops in Puthumathalan and Kariyalwal recovered eight claymore mines, one Rocket Propeller Grenade, two T-56 weapons, 30 hand grenades, one barrel filled with TNT high explosives.

The also took into their possession one mobile phone, three cyanide capsules, six identification dog tags, one passport and one driving license in similar searches yesterday.

A Sri Lankan soldier was wounded due to the explosion of an anti-personnel mine at Andakulam area in Mullaittivu yesterday, the defence ministry said.

Troops conducting search operations from last morning recovered a huge cache of weapons from Kariyalawayal area in Mullaittivu, the Media Centre for National Security said.

Sri Lankan soldiers manning their defences in the Puthumathalan area, northern anterior of the no-fire zone yesterday rescued 130 civilians held hostage by the LTTE. The group of rescued included 60 children, 38 women and 32 men.

The soldiers after providing the civilians with foods and basic medical treatment, sent them to the welfare centres at Kilinochchi, the ministry said.

Tamil protesters who staged a seven-day hunger strike outside the Australian prime minister's home have announced the end of their protest following assurances their demands had been heard.

The five men called off their fast late Friday after a mass demonstration involving up to 8,000 people outside the foreign affairs department in Canberra, a spokeswoman for the protest movement said.

Sam Pari said the men ended their hunger strike as a department representative "had been receptive to their calls and had assured them the Australian government would do what it could to pressure Sri Lanka."

A department spokesman said he could not comment on "what concession was made there" but welcomed the end of their protest.

"There have been demonstrations throughout the world by members of the Sri Lankan community," he told AFP.

"We note the protests in Australia have been peaceful and welcome this.

"We note that there were young men on a hunger strike among the protesters yesterday and we urged those young men to consider other means to express their concerns."

The spokesman said Australia had welcomed a two-day ceasefire called earlier this week, and that its position had always been that a political solution to the conflict was essential for long-term peace in Sri Lanka.

"Australia continues to call on the Sri Lankan government to put forward credible political reforms to engage Tamils and other minorities without delay."

The hunger strikers -- two of whom had been hospitalised with dehydration prior to the rally -- were calling on Australia to pressure Sri Lanka for an immediate and lasting ceasefire with the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, said Pari.

They also wanted food, medicine and aid to be allowed into the conflict zone, and for Tamil people to have freedom of movement, she added.

Similar protests have been held around the world, including a march involving some 100,000 demonstrators through central London last weekend.

Sri Lanka's government says it is in the final stages of defeating the Tamil Tiger rebels, who launched a campaign in 1972 to create a separate Tamil homeland on the Indian Ocean island.

The UN fears that thousands of trapped civilians could be killed or wounded as the Sri Lankan military moves to crush the Tigers.

The Sri Lankan Government on Friday said 68,270 Tamil civilians have crossed over from the LTTE-held territories in the island's embattled North to the government-controlled areas in the last over three months.

"As many as 68,270 Tamil civilians have crossed over from the LTTE-controlled territories to the government held areas since January this year," Minister of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services Rishad Badiuddin said here today.

Badiuddin said of these civilians, as many as 57,930 people are temporarily residing in 30 welfare centres and two IDP villages in Vavuniya, while others are settled in Mannar, Jaffna and Chalai camps.

Addressing the media here, he said the government has made all arrangements to provide the necessary facilities to these civilians.

It may be recalled that only 815 Tamils crossed over to the Army-held areas during the truce period on Monday and Tuesday.

The minister said three committees have been appointed to look after the welfare of these persons. While the first committee will look into their food requirements, the second is entrusted with providing infrastructure such as health, education and drinking water and the third will see the construction of temporary houses.

The government said it has delivered over 1200 metric tonnes of food and other essential items to Mullaittivu in the first week of April.

Meanwhile, a report said all efforts are on to provide facilities for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) fleeing Mullaittivu and coming into the Jaffna camp.

In March itself, over 3,000 IDPs fled the Wanni and arrived in Jaffna. Tents were pitched in some camps to accommodate the IDPs until the construction of proper shelter units is complete, said a report of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee for Sri Lanka.

It said a new site, Palmyra Research Camp, has been identified, where 106 individual shelter units have been constructed for people coming from Mullaittivu to Jaffna and it will be extended to accommodate up to 1,500 IDPs.

Meanwhile, the Lankan Government has decided to provide telecommunication facilities to welfare camps and villages in Vavuniya.

Disaster Management and Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said this facility would enable the Tamils to establish contacts with their relatives.

"We put in place a new system through which displaced families are identified and arrangements are in place to expedite their reunification," Samarasinghe said.

Over 1,108 families were reunited under this program and officials have identified more than 100 such families seeking reunification with their family members, he said.