Remembrance events were held across the North-East today to remember the Sencholai massacre, where four Sri Lankan air force jets flew over the Vanni and dropped sixteen bombs over the Sencholai children's home for orphans, killing 53 school girls and 3 teachers.
The children's home had been designated a humanitarian zone and its GPS coordinates had been passed to the Sri Lankan military via the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, and the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC).
Read more on the massacre here: Remembering the Sencholai massacre 17 years on.
In Vallipunam, relatives of the victims lit a flame and laid flowers by photographs of the school children and teachers who were killed in the attack.
Tamil families of the disappeared in Vavuniya, also paid tribute to the 53 school children and 3 teachers as they marked 2367 days of continuous roadside protest.
In Jaffna, former Northern Provincial Councillor N Shivajilingham also commemorated the massacre.
Students at the University of Jaffna observed a minute's silence and laid flowers to mark 17 years since the massacre by the Sri Lankan army.
