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| Allaipiddy church damaged by Sri Lankan army rocket fire. |
Jaffna Bishop House and several Catholic organizations in Jaffna peninsula have again appealed to the Sinhala-dominated government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) to rebuild St. Philips Narrie’s church in Allaiappiddi in the islets of Jaffna which was destroyed in the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) rocket fire in August 2006.
in August 2006, sources in Jaffna said. The church, which serves more than 80 resettled families in Allaipiddi, was blasted by Multi-barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL) fire killing scores of people.
Allaippiddi’s residents had sought protection in the above church during SLA offensives in August 2006.
Rocket fire, launched at the church from several SLA bases in Jaffna peninsula, killed 40 and seriously injured more than hundred others who had sought protection in the above church during the offensive.
The bodies of the dead were left abandoned and the injured brought to Jaffna and this incident triggered the displacement of the entire village to Jaffna where they were offered shelter in St. Our Lady of Refuge (OLR) and Navvaanththu'rai churches.
Many were also placed in interim refugee camps in Jaffna.
Rev. Fr. Jim Brown, Allaippiddi Parish Priest, went missing after he was last seen at the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) check point, on his way to perform religious duties in St. Philips Narries church in Allaippiddi.
He is believed to have been arrested and murdered by the security forces.
An estimated 10 million rupees (US$100,000) will be needed to rebuild the church.
The landmines sown in Allaippiddi village have been completely cleared with the assistance of Jaffna Secretariat and its former residents are gradually retuning to take up permanent residence again, civil society sources in Jaffna said.
