Situation Report

Grenade attack in Valaichenai

Monday, 12 December 2005

A civilian was wounded when two unidentified men on a motorbike lobbed a grenade at Army personnel of road patrol at Pethalai in Valaichenai around this afternoon the police said. S. Uthayakumar, 38, who was at a bus stop waiting for a bus, was wounded and admitted to Valaichenai Hospital.

Two more Claymore attacks in North-East

Monday, 12 December 2005

Police sources said a claymore mine was detonated this morning around 7:00 a.m. near an Army post on Vavuniya - Mannar road at Varikuddiyoor.

No causalities are reported in the explosion. Police said that additional Army and Special Task Force (STF) and policemen personnel were deployed and the security was tightened in and around Vavuniya.

Meanwhile two Army soldiers were seriously injured when claymore mine was detonated at an Army foot patrol of twelve soldiers in Vantharumoolai.

The attack took place this morning around 7:30 a.m. near the Eastern University building on the Batticaloa - Valaichenai main road, police said.

Wounded personnel are identified as S. Kalaratna, 23, and Corporal T.M.G Appuhamy, 40, were rushed to Polannaruwa Hospital.

Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels attack army patrol, wound two soldiers

Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels detonated a land mine and opened fire on an army foot patrol Monday in eastern Sri Lanka, wounding at least two soldiers, the Defense Ministry said.

The attack on the 12-member army contingent occurred in the town of Vantharumoolai, 17 kilometers (11 miles) northwest of Batticaloa, eastern Sri Lanka's main town. One of the wounded soldiers was in serious condition, the Defense Ministry's Media Unit said.

The soldiers returned fire but there were no reports of rebel casualties. Tamil Tiger representatives couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, the military said Monday that about 10 rebels stormed a state-run hospital in northern Sri Lanka, killing a police guard and rescuing a comrade who was taken there after swallowing cyanide upon being arrested.

The rebels entered the hospital Sunday in the government-held town of Vavuniya, shooting an armed policeman and ordering four unarmed officers to leave, the Media Unit said.

They then took away the woman, who apparently survived after swallowing cyanide when she was arrested on suspicion of being a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Vavuniya town borders territory held by the rebels.

Tokyo's offer reflects Colombo's stand

Sri Lanka willing to hold talks outside the country

COLOMBO: Japan on Sunday offered to host direct talks between Colombo and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to "review the operation" of the ceasefire agreement (CFA).

The offer by Tokyo's visiting special representative Yasushi Akashi follows a change in Colombo's position that the talks should be held inside Sri Lanka.

"The Government told me that it is willing to have negotiations outside the country, preferably in Asia," Mr. Akashi told a press conference. "Japan is ready to host such direct negotiations, provided the two parties are agreeable to it and also with the facilitators and the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) participating as appropriate." "What is envisaged is review of the operational aspects, not the review of the agreement as such."

Colombo's call for a review ran into a deadlock as the LTTE insisted that the talks be held either in rebel-held territory or abroad. The LTTE rejected Norway's proposal to hold the talks at the international airport near Colombo.

Mr. Akashi, who announced Colombo's flexibility after meeting President Mahinda Rajapakse last week, said the new Government was giving "the highest priority" to the peace process and that was formulating a "comprehensive approach" to end the conflict, not merely an aggregation of the transitional approaches.

In a departure from his routine as Tokyo's special representative, Mr. Akashi did not meet the LTTE during his visit. "I have decided to comply with the wishes of the Government which is engaged in a very comprehensive review of the situation of peace."

Asked about media reports that India could join Norway, Japan, the E.U. and the U.S. as a co-chair for the efforts to back the peace process, Mr. Akashi said: "I don't think that question arises," as the current co-chairs had hosted the aid support conference in 2003.