30 Sri Lanka Army soldiers were killed, five dead bodies of SLA troops were recovered after heavy fighting at Ka'rukkaaykku'lam Friday morning, according to LTTE's Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan. Two PK Light Machine Guns, one AK LMG, five T-56 assault rifles and military hardware including ammunitions were seized by the Tigers. The SLA, while pulling back was towing an Armoured Personnel Carrier that had caught fire, the Tigers said. Ka'rukkaaykku'lam is located 2 km east of Adampan.

The Sri Lankan government has launched a fundraising drive amongst Sinhala expatriates in support of its military. The initiative was formally launched Tuesday at the Sri Lankan High Commission in London and is to be continued in other capitals with Sinhala Diaspora. Several businessmen came forward to contribute towards the UK target of GBP 100,000, press reports said. The Sri Lankan High Commissioner in London, Mrs. Kshenuka Seniwiratne, bought the first ticket in a raffle for the project.

Campaign for Free and Fair Election (CAFFE) said at press briefing held Tuesday that it has received complaints that Pillaiyan armed group has been threatening Tamils to vote only for their candidates, and CAFFE feels that the opportunity for a free and fair election in the east, especially in Batticaloa district is very dim, the Head of CAFFE executive committee, Attorney-at-Law Shiral Lakthilakie, was quoted as saying by media sources.

Unidentified armed men lobbed a hand grenade Wednesday night 7:00p.m. targeting a group of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers patrolling along a street in the vicinity of the students hostels of Jaffna university campus and fled the scene prompting the troopers to fire at the attackers and launch a large scale search operation in the area, sources said.

A coalition of Human Rights organizations including Human Rights Watch, International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Article 19, and Reporters Without Borders, in a letter to the member states of the UN Human Rights Council, urged respective governments to "not vote for Sri Lanka for membership in the U.N. Human Rights Council in the election in the General Assembly on 21 May 2008 because of Sri Lanka’s failure to meet the Council’s membership standards." Meanwhile, FreedomHouse, a Washington-based Rights organization, in a press release issued Tuesday, expressed alarm that Human Rights abusers are poised to take seats on UN Council.