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December 11: At least two persons are
killed and 15 others sustain injuries during a bomb blast at the
end of a concert by Shahrukh Khan, an Indian film actor, in the
capital Colombo.
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November 26: Two Sri Lankan Army soldiers
are attacked and severely wounded by the LTTE. According to an Army
spokesperson, the two soldiers were on their way to the Army camp
when they were attacked at Nunawil in Chavakachcheri, Jaffna.
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November 24: LTTE cadres abduct the
secretary of the Governor of North-East, S Amirthalingam from Trincomalee.
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November 18: Suspected LTTE cadres
shot dead an army intelligence officer and a Tamil civilian in Polonnaruwa,
85 kilometers northwest of Batticaloa.
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November 17: A 'political worker'
of the LTTE is shot dead by unidentified gunmen at Valaichenai,
32 kilometers north of Batticaloa.
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November 4: A former member of the
People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam, Velayutham Dayalakumar,
is shot dead by suspected LTTE cadres at a Colombo suburb.
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October 25: The pro-LTTE website,
Tamilnet, reports that a suspected cadre of the 'Colonel' Karuna
faction was shot dead and two others were injured when unidentified
gunmen opened fire in the predominantly Tamil suburb of Wellawatte
in Colombo.
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October 20: LTTE cadres shot dead a
suspected member of the 'Colonel Karuna' faction at Anpuvallipuram,
a Tamil settlement, three kilometer off Trincomalee.
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October 19: Suspected LTTE cadres
shot dead former Tamil National Alliance Member of Parliament, Kingsley
Rajanayagam in the Kalviyankadu area of Batticaloa town.
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October 17: An ex-LTTE cadre, Sinnavan
Maheswaran, is killed in a grenade attack carried out by suspected
LTTE cadres in a high security suburb of Batticaloa town.
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October 12: Announcing the launch
of a political party, Tamileela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal, the former
military 'commander' of the LTTE, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias
'Colonel' Karuna, tendered his "apologies to the Tamil people" for
past killings and asserted that he would "never leave the liberation
struggle." Karuna also claimed that his former leader, V. Prabhakaran,
was "solely responsible" for the Tamils not reaching the LTTE's
goal of Tamil Eelam.
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October 9: The LTTE have recruited
1,424 children, out of which 45 have been abducted during the last
28-month truce period ending August 31, while 359 adults were abducted
during the same period, said a spokesperson of the SLMM.
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October 2: The pro-LTTE website, Tamilnet,
reports that LTTE cadres of the 'Jeyanthan Regiment' attacked a
group of heavily armed paramilitary cadres belonging to the 'Colonel'
Karuna faction at Omadiyamadu, northwest of Batticaloa, killing
two and wounding three.
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October 1: A close associate of 'Colonel'
Karuna, identified as Ruben, is shot dead by a LTTE 'special jungle
warfare unit' operating in Kulaththu Madu near Vakaneri, 40 kilometers
north of Batticaloa.
Several hundred Muslim civilians in Mannar reportedly set fire to
and destroyed two LTTE political offices at Pesalai and Mannar following
the murder of a Muslim civilian on September 30.
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September 29: Five LTTE cadres and
a civilian are killed during clashes between the warring factions
of the outfit in Batticaloa district.
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September 27: Suspected LTTE cadres
shot dead a member of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation
Front (EPRLF-Varathar faction), Valli Sundaram, on KKS Road between
Maruthanamadam and Inuvil in the Jaffna district.
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August 24: An associate of the rebel
LTTE 'commander' Karuna is shot dead inside the Akkaraipattu court
premises, 64 kilometers south of Batticaloa.
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August 20: The pro-LTTE website Tamilnet
has reported that two leaders of the outfit were shot dead and two
cadres injured in the eastern Batticaloa district during an ambush
by unidentified gunmen, allegedly supporters of the expelled military
'commander' of the outfit, 'Colonel' Karuna.
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July 31: An anti-Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam intelligence operative, Kandiah Yogarasa (better
known as `PLOTE Mohan') was shot dead on Duplication Road in Colombo
city by suspected LTTE cadres. Mohan, who joined the People's Liberation
Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) in 1983, had left the group
in 1994, and emerged as a key anti-LTTE operative. More recently,
he was reportedly linked to the military's Long Range Reconnaissance
Patrols before the February 2002 ceasefire agreement was signed.
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July 25: Seven suspected cadres of
the LTTE faction led by 'Colonel' Karuna and a Sinhalese person
are shot dead at a house in Kottawa, 15 kilometers from the Sri
Lankan capital Colombo.
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July 9: Two cadres belonging to the
'Colonel' Karuna group were allegedly executed by the LTTE at Illupadichchenai
in the Batticaloa district. Balasundaram Sritharan and Thillaiampalam
Suthanthirarajan were reportedly arrested earlier on suspicion of
carrying out attacks on LTTE members and supporters in the east.
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July 7: A woman suicide bomber of the
LTTE blows herself up at the Kollupitiya Police station next to
the Sri Lankan Prime Minister's official residence in Colombo killing
herself and four police personnel and injuring nine persons.
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July 5: A LTTE cadre is shot dead and
three others, including a senior political functionary, were wounded
in two separate incidents in the Batticaloa district of eastern
Sri Lanka. The shootings, carried out by unidentified gunmen, occurred
on the day when the LTTE held its annual commemoration for its 'Black
Tiger' suicide cadres throughout the northern and eastern provinces.
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May 31: A senior journalist, G. Nadeshan,
is shot dead by suspected LTTE cadres at Manmunai junction in the
Batticaloa district.
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May 30: The Indian Home Minister Shivraj
Patil dismisses demands for a review of the proscription on the
LTTE and stated that the ban would continue. "Our stand is already
there (ban on LTTE), what is there will remain." India had outlawed
the LTTE in 1991 after the outfit assassinated former Prime Minister
Rajiv Gandhi in the State of Tamil Nadu and the ban was recently
extended for a further period of three years.
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May 24: An Eastern University lecturer,
K. Tambiah, is shot dead at his residence in Batticaloa town by
unidentified gunmen. The killing is reportedly seen as a fall-out
of the factional fighting within the LTTE that erupted since the
rebellion of the outfit's former 'special commander' for Batticaloa,
V. Muralitharan, in March 2004.
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May 20: According to the Colombo-based
Daily News, a LTTE cadre was killed in an explosion in the outfit-controlled
area of Aalankerni in Batticaloa district.
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May 15: The United States Assistant
Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs, Christina B. Rocca,
says in Colombo that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam "will
remain'' in Washington's list as a "foreign terrorist organisation''
until it renounces violence and terrorism in "word and deed.''
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May 9: A Lance Corporal attached to
the Sri Lanka Army Intelligence Unit is shot dead by suspected cadres
of the LTTE at Thandamveli in the Batticaloa district. April 26:
A suspected LTTE cadre blew himself up when a bomb believed to have
been attached to his body exploded at Polattapitiya. Police also
found a 2 1/2 kg claymore bomb, a hand grenade and a forged passport
of the suspect alongside the dead body.
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April 25: The LTTE alleges that seven
of its cadres were killed in Batticaloa district by cadres loyal
to the renegade faction headed by 'Colonel' Karuna'.
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April 13: The UNICEF facilitates release
of nearly 150 child soldiers by the LTTE in Sri Lanka's eastern
region.
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April 9: At least 22 people are reported
killed as heavy fighting erupted between the LTTE factions of Velupillai
Prabhakaran and Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias 'Colonel' Karuna
near the Verugal River, 78 Kilometers from Batticaloa.
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March 11: The Reuters has reported
that LTTE breakaway leader 'Colonel' Karuna has denounced the outfit's
leadership, saying they were no longer the sole representatives
of the Tamil people. Karuna said that LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran
lacked the leadership to bridge the gap the two sides were facing.
"I cannot see any positive leadership qualities in him (Prabhakaran)
now. He took some improper steps, which is not a characteristic
of a good leader," Karuna said.
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March 10: Spokesperson for Prime Minister
Ranil Wickremesinghe's caretaker Government, Prof. G. L Pieris,
said that the Government would not exploit the current situation
in the east to gain political mileage. He added that his Government
would not interfere in Karuna's matter because it is an internal
affair of the LTTE.
The SLMM has ceased patrolling in areas held by breakaway LTTE 'Eastern
Commander' Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias 'Colonel' Karuna in
Batticaloa and Amparai, as Karuna reportedly insisted on a fresh
ceasefire agreement with the Government. "For the time being we
are not patrolling in the areas claimed to be under Karuna's control",
said SLMM spokesperson Agnes Bragadottir and added that, "Karuna
says he is not bound by the truce agreement".
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March 8: Life in Batticaloa, Amparai
and Valachchenai in the East, came to a standstill as shops, schools
and government offices were closed reportedly as a mark of support
to breakaway Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Eastern 'Commander'
Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias 'Colonel' Karuna, media reports
stated. Reports added that there were several mass demonstrations
in Batticaloa, Amparai and Valachchenai in solidarity with Muralitharan.
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March 5: According to Daily News, the
split in the LTTE widened with their break away Eastern Commander
'Colonel' 'Karuna reportedly taking over the LTTE apparatus in the
Batticaloa and Amparai districts. The report stated that Ramesh,
Karuna's deputy, had been replaced by 'Rabat', while Karikalan sacked
by LTTE chief Prabhakaran had been reinstated by Karuna as the political
wing leader of Batticaloa, replacing Kausalyan.
In a letter published in Thamil Alai, the daily published by LTTE
from Kokkaddicholai, 15 kilometers southeast of Batticaloa town,
Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, better known as 'Colonel' Karuna,
suggested an administration structure for Batticaloa parallel to
the other divisions of the LTTE functioning directly under Prabhakaran's
command. "I want to function directly under you, avoiding the divisional
heads of Thamil Eelam," Karuna said in the letter to his leader.
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March 1: An activist of the Eelam People's
Democratic Party, identified as Ponniah Yogendran, is reportedly
shot dead by suspected Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam cadres at
Valachchenai in the Batticaloa district.
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January 9: Three people are killed
and 38 others sustain injuries when a hand grenade allegedly lobbed
by two LTTE cadres exploded at a funeral house in the LTTE-held
Vakaneri area of Batticaloa district.
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January 5: Four LTTE cadres, between
15 and 17 years of age, who had trained at the Thoppigala LTTE camp
surrender to the Kandegama police.
