The continuing ‘shadow’ war between Sri Lanka’s security and paramilitary forces and the Liberation Tigers claimed scores of lives over the past two weeks amid widespread violence across the Northeast and also in Colombo.
Apart from a suicide bombing inside the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) headquarters in Colombo that claimed 11 lives and the subsequent government air strikes against Tamil villages in the east that claimed 18 lives, the shadow war claimed at least 90 lives over the past two weeks whilst many others were wounded.
These include several paramilitaries killed by LTTE commandos who overran their camps in government controlled part of the eastern province.
Additional several hundred Tamils have been arrested as the Sri Lanka military stepped up mass cordon, search and detention activities both in the Northeast and in Colombo.
May 1
Two Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) soldiers and four Tamil civilians were killed when a claymore fragmentation mine attached to a bicycle was detonated in Trincomalee town. Three SLN personnel and two civilians were wounded.
April 30
On Sunday evening, a 29-year old woman, who was shot and seriously injured by unknown gunmen near the old bus-stand in the Jaffna Islet of Velanai, succumbed to her injuries at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital. Two gunmen riding in a motorbike had fired at the woman as she was walking along the main road in the Army-controlled town.
Two SLN personnel were seriously injured in a claymore attack near Allaipitti in Kayts, within the SLN’s High Security Zone (HSZ). The injured soldiers were airlifted to Palaly military hospital.
The conductor of a private bus was shot dead at Power House road in Jaffna town, about 100 metres from SLA’s 51-2 Brigade HQ. The dead man was identified as M. Prakash, 25, of Columbuthurai who plied a bus between Muhamalai and Jaffna town.
Also on Sunday, a claymore mine was recovered by Valaichenai Police in Kiran, Batticaloa. Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports said that a high level Sri Lanka Army (SLA) officer and an SLA trooper were killed when their vehicle hit a mine after the pre-dawn attack on paramilitary camp in nearby Welikande.
Meanwhile, unidentified attackers lobbed a grenade at a check post located inside the high security area of the SLA’s 22-3 Brigade headquarters in Batticaloa Sunday, wounding a soldier. A cordon and search operation was launched following the attack, but there were no reports about arrests.
But in the island’s west, seven Tamil youths staying in Pesalai refugee camp, located along Talaimannar and Mannar road, were taken into custody by the SLN Sunday in a cordon and search operation. Pesalai refugee camp provides shelter to displaced villagers in 1990 violence from the districts of Mullaitivu and Killinochchi.
April 29
On Saturday a civilian injured in a claymore attack by an SLA Deep Penetration Unit in Thetchanamadu area of LTTE controlled Madhu area succumbed to his injuries. Mr. M. Jeevananthan, 24, was injured during the attack on Thursday and was transferred to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital Saturday morning for urgent surgery, but died during the operation.
Meanwhile, the SLA fired mortar shells towards LTTE-controlled Vavunathivu on Saturday, Daya Mohan, Head of Batticaloa district LTTE Political Wing told reporters. Several homes of residents of Mankikattu, Navatkudi and Puliyadikuda villages have been damaged but no one received any serious injuries, he said.
The attacks started when residents displaced by the earlier artillery shelling were returning to their residences, the LTTE district political had said. The mortar attacks continued for more than two hours and stopped only when members of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) visited the areas attacked, he added.
In another incident, two cadres of the Tamileelam Auxiliary Force were killed in a claymore attack carried out by a DPU of the SLA on Saturday in an LTTE-controlled part of the Manalaru region in the Mullaitivu district.
April 28
On Friday, gunmen on a motorbike shot and killed a Tamil youth at Urelu in Valikamam, Jaffna, and then rushed into the SLA camp in the area, villagers who chased the gunmen said. More than a hundred enraged villagers surrounded the SLA camp Friday night and Urelu was shut down in protest Saturday as the villagers launched a protest hartal against the killings. Protesting villagers say that the Urelu SLA intelligence camp is behind the killings in a terror-campaign targeting auto rickshaw drivers and traders.
Meanwhile, Sellathurai Asokan, 36, alias Asok, a former member of the LTTE, was shot dead by SLA commandos Friday at Mandur in the Wellaveli police division in Batticaloa. Asokan, a father one who had lost a leg in a battle during his seven year membership with the LTTE, was shot dead while he was riding his bicycle.
Separately, suspected Army-backed paramilitaries shot and killed two Tamil youths Friday near Kinnayadi Nagathambiran temple, Valaichenai. Two motorbike riding gunmen had killed the victims while they were crossing the river near the SLA camp in Kinnayadi.
In another incident, two men entering into the market on the Valaichenai-Kalkuda road on a motorcycle were shot at Friday by suspected paramilitaries travelling in a white van, residents in Kalkuda said. No one was injured and the gunmen sped away. The fleeing gunmen dragged in a youth into their white van, in front of the Valaichenai Annur National school and assaulted him. They fired shots into the sky before leaving the scene, said eyewitnesses.
Mr. A. G. Hussain Ismail, Vice Chancellor of the South Eastern University located in Oluvil in Amparai district, escaped an assassination attempt Friday, during which unidentified gunmen on a motorbike fired at his car four times when he was on his way to the varsity from his official guesthouse. Three bodyguards and another person travelling with the Vice Chancellor also escaped unhurt.
In a separate incident, two civilians were wounded when their water bowser was attacked by a claymore mine inside the LTTE controlled area at Madhu junction Friday. The bowser was returning after supplying water to personnel at the LTTE Forward Defence Line in Madhu.
Separately, unidentified attackers lobbed a grenade and shot at an SLA unit in Nanattan, 20 km south of Mannar town, wounding four soldiers on Friday. The soldiers opened fire for 15 minutes following the attack. More than 50 families fled into the nearest church.
Unidentified gunmen also shot dead a Tamil civilian Friday at Kallaikaadu in Mannar. SLMM monitors visited the scene and conducted an inquiry. About fifty-five families residing in the village are about to leave due to fear following the killing, press reports said.
April 27
In Jaffna, auto rickshaw driver Suresh Fernando, 35, was found shot dead Friday morning in Urkavathurai (Kayts). Shots were heard after he left home Thursday night, his relatives said. Fernando’s killing is the fourth murder of rickshaw drivers in Jaffna in the past few days - the first in Nelliyady, killing two and the second in Irrupalai, killing another.
Meanwhile, eleven youths arrested by Eravur police in the roundup of the Eravur public market Thursday remained under police detention and are yet to be produced at the Courts. More than 70 Tamils had been taken into custody for investigations by Eravur police in a cordon and search of the Eravur Muslim Public market. 21 Tamil youths were detained for further inquiries, including the 11.
Separately on Thursday, two men on a motorcycle lobbed a hand grenade into the SLA sentry point at the Thadatheru junction on the Kankesanturai road in Jaffna, seriously injuring two troopers. The soldiers fired at the attackers who escaped in their motorcycle. A Tamil youth passing by the place of the grenade attack after the roadblock was arrested by the SLA. His parents have registered a complaint with the Human Rights Commission office in Jaffna.
Two SLN troopers on a road clearing patrol in Urkavathurai, Jaffna, were killed in a claymore ambush Thursday.
In another incident, three SLA soldiers travelling to Vallakkulam near Vankalai in Mannar district were killed and three others seriously wounded in a claymore ambush Thursday. Two civilians bathing in Vallakkulam, including a 40 year-old woman, are missing.
Three Special Task Force (STF) elite troopers were injured in a claymore blast that targeted a road patrol at Kaddukarai kulam in Mannar Thursday. The STF is the elite counter insurgency arm of the Sri Lankan armed forces.
April 26
In Colombo, SLA soldiers and police arrested 97 Tamils from residences in the suburbs of Bambalapitiya, Collpetty, Dehiwela and others last Wednesday night through Thursday morning, and have detained them in Police stations across Colombo. The security forces and police conducted thorough search of several residences and lodges.
Meanwhile, SLA soldiers arrested Ms Bhavani Balasubramaniam, 47, a medical doctor from Jaffna, at the Colombo National Hospital last Wednesday morning. She had travelled to Colombo the previous day on a work related visit to the Colombo hospital. Other reports said she was arrested after she had accidentally wandered into the area where the SLA commander, Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka was being treated.
Also on Wednesday last week, three Tamil civilians were hacked to death and two children were abducted by Sinhala home guards at Thanganagar in Seruvila police division. The Sinhala home guards covered their faces with black clothes entered the houses of Tamil civilians and pulled up the inmates and cut them to death. Women in these houses had fled from the area, reports said.
SLA soldiers cordoned off and search the premises of the International Students Union office near Parameswara Junction, Wednesday morning. Soldiers ransacked the building and damaged students’ property.
Separately unconfirmed reports said a SLA trooper was injured in a grenade attack in Sithankerni area in Jaffna last Wednesday.
SLA soldiers also ransacked Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Mr. S. Gajendran’s office located inside the building, reports said. SLA soldiers also arrested one student who was later released and admitted to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital to receive treatment for injuries received while in SLA custody, student leaders told TamilNet.
In Vavuniya a senior member of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), Mr. S. K. Senthilnathan, was shot by paramilitary gunmen last Wednesday and succumbed to his wounds at Vavuniya hospital. Mr. Senthilnathan, a popular trader, was a candidate for the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in the local elections to be held in Vavuniya.
April 25
Amid escalating violence following the suicide bombing in Colombo and army bombardment of Muttur east in Trincomalee, violence escalated elsewhere in the Northeast also.
Two civilians and two SLA soldiers were killed in Jaffna district Tuesday night. One was shot dead by unknown gunmen at his relatives’ residence in Urumpirai, Jaffna Tuesday night and the other was shot by SLA soldiers during a cordon and search operation near the fish market in Chavakachcheri.
Two SLA soldiers were killed when they were attacked by unknown gunmen in Inuvil, Thuraiveethi area. Following the attack, additional SLA troops arrived at the scene and arrested several traders from the area.
A Tamil civilian, Mr. S. K. Raveendran, 36, was shot and killed inside the SLA High Security Zone (HSZ) in Omanthai on April 25.
Also on Tuesday, Dr. S. Arulanantham, 44, a qualified doctor who ran a private medial clinic at his home in Mattakuliya, Colombo, was shot dead by two unknown gunmen inside his clinic.
Three SLA soldiers and three civilians were injured in four incidents of grenade attacks in Jaffna peninsula Tuesday. In one attack by unknown assailants near the Kondavil,, two SLA soldiers were seriously injured near the Uppumadam SLA camp. In another grenade attack on the Point-Pedro-Palaly Road, near Ariyakulam junction, one SLA soldier was injured and three pedestrians were wounded. There were two other attacks on SLA positions near Sangilian Road close to Nallur Temple and another at Arasady Road Jaffna, but details of casualties were not available.
April 24
On Monday last week, two policemen and three civilians were wounded in a grenade attack on a police post in Eravur. The previous day, a three and a half year old child was killed and her mother was wounded in Polonnaruwa Muslim Colony when two unidentified gunmen entered a house searching for a man and shot his family members.
A Vavuniya trader was abducted by unidentified armed men in a white van that Monday. Around 7 to 9 persons were in the white van, eyewitnesses told TNA parliamentarian Vino Noharathalingam. The MP, who lodged a complaint at Vavuniya police, said there were again reports of paramilitary men demanding large ransoms from traders in Vavuniya town.
On the same day unidentified gunmen shot a Sinhalese man in the Seruvila police division, while an attempt by two unidentified people to kill a civil servant in Muttur was foiled. Also that day, two armed home guards were shot dead in Thutuwewa, south of Vavuniya and a former member of LTTE was shot dead by unknown gunmen in the Maravankulam area of Vavuniya. The home guards were returning home for vacation when they were shot dead by unknown gunmen.
Late that Monday, SLA soldiers opened fire on a mini bus at Kanakampuliyady junction in Jaffna, killing its civilian driver. The fate of at least four passengers was not known, but residents, who heard gunfire and screaming from the vehicle, had expressed fear that all inside the bus were killed and the traces removed from the attack site. The attack on the civilian bus took place 2 km from a claymore explosion site at Sarasalai-Meesalai border where an SLA soldier was killed and another wounded earlier that Monday evening.
Large numbers of soldiers were deployed at Kanakampuliyady junction following the claymore attack and the traffic had ceased. On Monday night, SLA officials said that their troopers shot at the bus after gunshots were fired at them from the bus. However, on Tuesday, SLA officials said the mini bus was fired upon as it did not stop at a roadblock set up by the soldiers.
On the same day, a bomb fixed under a bridge exploded on the Nelliyadi-Point Pedro Road, but no casualties were reported. Nelliyadi continued to be tense from the previous Saturday when two auto rickshaw drivers were shot and killed as part of a terror campaign targeting auto rickshaw drivers in Jaffna.
Also on Monday, paramilitaries who entered the Education Office in Valaichenai shot and killed a clerk from Vaharai Education Office and injured another official. The gunmen were covering their faces with helmets, witnesses said.
Meanwhile SLA troopers gunned down a youth and another was reported killed by the blast when SLA soldiers detected a claymore attack in Vantharumoolai, north of Batticaloa. The SLA claimed that the youths killed were attackers, and reported that a soldier was wounded in the attack.
A former Vice President of the Kayts Pradesiya Sabah was also shot dead by unknown gunmen Sunday, April 23. Nagamuttu Tharmarajah, 71, was appointed to the Kayts PS by the paramilitary Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) and was a well known supporter of the group.
Also in Jaffna, an ice-cream seller was seriously injured when gunmen fired at the van in which he was travelling. The driver and his front-seat passenger said that the gunfire was from SLA soldiers who were stationed near the junction. The soldiers blocked ambulances from taking the injured to the hospital for more than half an hour, local witnesses said.
That afternoon an auto rickshaw owner was shot dead by gunmen at Irupalai junction on the Jaffna-Pt.Pedro main road. “The victim was sitting inside his vehicle. He was chased by the assailants when he tried to escape. He was shot and killed near Vairavar temple. Army soldiers were standing by,” an eyewitness told TamilNet.
April 23
Five Sinhalese people were killed, four injured and six others were reported missing when a group of gangsters attacked a suburb in the Morawewa police division along the Trincomalee-Anuradhapura main road. The attackers had set fire to a paddy harvester and attacked people in the village.
A former member of the PLOTE, Amirthanathan Kennady,35, was gunned down at Navanthurai, in Jaffna, around noon, Sunday.
Also that Sunday, a 54 year old Tamil man was seriously injured and his lorry severely damaged in a claymore explosion triggered by a SLA deep penetration unit in LTTE controlled area in the Vavuniya district. In the weeks prior to this attack, five Tamils were killed in six separate claymore attacks by SLA deep penetration units in the LTTE controlled areas of the Vanni and three Tamils who went hunting were hacked to death by a SLA DPU, press reports said.
Also that day, three cadres who were repairing the bunkers at LTTE controlled Vavunathivu were wounded by SLA gun and mortar fire, the LTTE’s Political Head of Batticaloa District, Mr. Daya Mohan, said. However, the SLA officials claimed that the Tigers were wounded when SLA troopers counter-attacked an LTTE penetration team attempting to enter government controlled area.
Meanwhile, unidentified attackers lobbed a grenade into the police check post located in front of the Batticaloa Police Headquarters wounding a Sub Inspector, a sergeant and a Police Constable. Another police sergeant was wounded in a grenade attack the previous night at Navalkuda police sentry in Kalmunai in Batticaloa district. Also, two SLA soldiers were wounded when unidentified gunmen launched an ambush attack on a check post southeast of Welikanda, with gunfire exchanged for about 30 minutes.
That Sunday also saw the funeral of a seventeen year old Tamil youth from Kanniya who had been taken into custody by the SLA the previous Friday and shot by soldiers while in custody. Another youth was shot dead at Kappalthurai, a Tamil village in the Chinabay police division, and the bodies of another two Tamil youths were found with gunshot injuries at Poddankadu in Kantalai. According to villagers, the victims were among five Tamil youths who had travelled to Kantalai from Muttur Saturday to meet representatives of an Insurance Company and were detained by Sri Lankan armed forces.
April 22
The day before, unidentified gunmen shot and killed a shop owner in the Vavuniya district. Local residents said he was a Tamil activist and was involved in the dispute with the security forces on flag hoisting during Heroes’ day celebrations.
Two SLA personnel were killed and 6 wounded when a Buffel Armoured Personnel Carrier was hit by a claymore blast at Kalmadu in Vavuniya that Saturday.
Also that day, two policemen were seriously injured when unidentified persons lobbed a grenade at their checkpoint at Anuradhapura junction in the Anpuvallipuram area, a suburb of Trincomalee town.
Two Tamil civilians were killed in the LTTE controlled area in Mannar district when their motorbike hit a claymore mine fixed in a tree by DPU of the SLA and collaborating paramilitaries.
An SLA Major and another soldier were killed and five soldiers wounded when their pickup was ambushed with a claymore on the Batticaloa-Polonnaruwa border.
Another soldier was killed and another injured when three claymore mines targeted at an SLA road patrol exploded north of Vavuniya. Also, unidentified gunmen shot a Tamil woman from China Bay and injured her husband after they arrived in a white van, entered her house and opened fire.
April 21
In anti-Tamil mob violence, fourteen houses, eight shops, one tractor, five two-wheel tractors and three motorbikes belonging to Tamil people in Menkamam and adjacent Tamil villages in Seruvila division were burnt down by Sinhala thugs following two claymore mine attacks on Sri Lanka government forces Friday morning and afternoon.
Sinhala mobs forcibly entered Tamil houses in these villages, ransacked the houses and looted jewellery from Tamil women. Hundreds of Tamil families started fleeing for safety seeking refuge elsewhere, reports said.
Also that Friday, a businessman from Vavuniya was killed in a claymore explosion and Kathankudy police, recovered the body of a middle-aged male at Kallady beach in Batticaloa. Meanwhile, the body of a youth with bullet wounds, recovered by Kathankudy police on 18th April from the Poonochchimunai cemetery in Kallady and another body of a youth around 17 years, recovered by the Kathankudy police on 11th April from Veloor in Kallady, were taken to the mortuary of Batticaloa Teaching hospital as police sought help to identify the deceased.
Two policemen were killed and two others were injured when a claymore mine hit a police jeep at Thanganagar village in Seruvila division in Trincomalee district that Friday.
A Tamil farmer was hacked to death and several houses were set on fire when Sinhala thugs armed with knives and clubs attacked villagers of Menkamam, a traditional Tamil village in the Seruvila division in Trincomalee after a homeguard was killed and a policeman wounded Friday morning. The claymore attack in the Sinhala settlement Friday morning was believed to be a retaliation for the killing of a Tamil youth Thursday.
April 20
Unknown gunmen forced their entry into the home of a Muslim couple in Vavuniya and shot dead the owner Thursday that week. His wife also sustained gunshot wounds and was admitted to Vavuniya Teaching Hospital.
SLA soldiers killed a Tamil youth near Kanniay village during a road patrol.
Meanwhile, a civilian went missing and another youth was injured by unknown gunmen in a separate incident in Trincomalee.
12 Tamil civilians from Kanguvely, another traditional Tamil village in the area were arrested and taken by the Sri Lanka Army to their camp close by.
In Jaffna, two unknown gunmen shot dead a fish-trader who ran a market in Chulipuram. The gunmen arrived in a motorbike, requested the trader to come out of the building, and escaped after shooting him at close range. This was the 17th killing of civilians to take place in Jaffna within a week, media sources in Jaffna reported.
On the same day, three claymore attacks targeting Sri Lankan forces were reported in Batticaloa. Two SLA soldiers were wounded in one attack in Urani northwest of Batticaloa town by a claymore mine was fixed to a beached boat. There were no casualties from another mine targeting a road patrol southeast of Batticaloa town. Two SLA soldiers were injured in the third attack also at Urani. Unidentified gunmen also shot and killed a senior paramilitary cadre of the EPDP at Batticaloa public market.
That morning two bodies with severe cut wounds and gunshot injuries were found in Kuttinagar area, Vavuniya, by local residents. The faces were covered with black cloth and gagged with duct tape, reports said.
April 19
Two motorbike-riding gunmen also shot and killed a shop owner at Kondavil junction in Jaffna the previous day. The gunmen asked the business owner to come out of the shop, opened fire on the victim and fled the site in their motorbike. Also that Wednesday two weeks ago, a 51 year old Korean citizen, was injured when the pickup truck he was travelling at the Vavuniya Aluthgama junction came under claymore attack. Meanwhile, two Sri Lanka Navy personnel were wounded in a blast at Vankalaipadu.
Apart from a suicide bombing inside the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) headquarters in Colombo that claimed 11 lives and the subsequent government air strikes against Tamil villages in the east that claimed 18 lives, the shadow war claimed at least 90 lives over the past two weeks whilst many others were wounded.
These include several paramilitaries killed by LTTE commandos who overran their camps in government controlled part of the eastern province.
Additional several hundred Tamils have been arrested as the Sri Lanka military stepped up mass cordon, search and detention activities both in the Northeast and in Colombo.
May 1
Two Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) soldiers and four Tamil civilians were killed when a claymore fragmentation mine attached to a bicycle was detonated in Trincomalee town. Three SLN personnel and two civilians were wounded.
April 30
On Sunday evening, a 29-year old woman, who was shot and seriously injured by unknown gunmen near the old bus-stand in the Jaffna Islet of Velanai, succumbed to her injuries at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital. Two gunmen riding in a motorbike had fired at the woman as she was walking along the main road in the Army-controlled town.
Two SLN personnel were seriously injured in a claymore attack near Allaipitti in Kayts, within the SLN’s High Security Zone (HSZ). The injured soldiers were airlifted to Palaly military hospital.
The conductor of a private bus was shot dead at Power House road in Jaffna town, about 100 metres from SLA’s 51-2 Brigade HQ. The dead man was identified as M. Prakash, 25, of Columbuthurai who plied a bus between Muhamalai and Jaffna town.
Also on Sunday, a claymore mine was recovered by Valaichenai Police in Kiran, Batticaloa. Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports said that a high level Sri Lanka Army (SLA) officer and an SLA trooper were killed when their vehicle hit a mine after the pre-dawn attack on paramilitary camp in nearby Welikande.
Meanwhile, unidentified attackers lobbed a grenade at a check post located inside the high security area of the SLA’s 22-3 Brigade headquarters in Batticaloa Sunday, wounding a soldier. A cordon and search operation was launched following the attack, but there were no reports about arrests.
But in the island’s west, seven Tamil youths staying in Pesalai refugee camp, located along Talaimannar and Mannar road, were taken into custody by the SLN Sunday in a cordon and search operation. Pesalai refugee camp provides shelter to displaced villagers in 1990 violence from the districts of Mullaitivu and Killinochchi.
April 29
On Saturday a civilian injured in a claymore attack by an SLA Deep Penetration Unit in Thetchanamadu area of LTTE controlled Madhu area succumbed to his injuries. Mr. M. Jeevananthan, 24, was injured during the attack on Thursday and was transferred to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital Saturday morning for urgent surgery, but died during the operation.
Meanwhile, the SLA fired mortar shells towards LTTE-controlled Vavunathivu on Saturday, Daya Mohan, Head of Batticaloa district LTTE Political Wing told reporters. Several homes of residents of Mankikattu, Navatkudi and Puliyadikuda villages have been damaged but no one received any serious injuries, he said.
The attacks started when residents displaced by the earlier artillery shelling were returning to their residences, the LTTE district political had said. The mortar attacks continued for more than two hours and stopped only when members of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) visited the areas attacked, he added.
In another incident, two cadres of the Tamileelam Auxiliary Force were killed in a claymore attack carried out by a DPU of the SLA on Saturday in an LTTE-controlled part of the Manalaru region in the Mullaitivu district.
April 28
On Friday, gunmen on a motorbike shot and killed a Tamil youth at Urelu in Valikamam, Jaffna, and then rushed into the SLA camp in the area, villagers who chased the gunmen said. More than a hundred enraged villagers surrounded the SLA camp Friday night and Urelu was shut down in protest Saturday as the villagers launched a protest hartal against the killings. Protesting villagers say that the Urelu SLA intelligence camp is behind the killings in a terror-campaign targeting auto rickshaw drivers and traders.
Meanwhile, Sellathurai Asokan, 36, alias Asok, a former member of the LTTE, was shot dead by SLA commandos Friday at Mandur in the Wellaveli police division in Batticaloa. Asokan, a father one who had lost a leg in a battle during his seven year membership with the LTTE, was shot dead while he was riding his bicycle.
Separately, suspected Army-backed paramilitaries shot and killed two Tamil youths Friday near Kinnayadi Nagathambiran temple, Valaichenai. Two motorbike riding gunmen had killed the victims while they were crossing the river near the SLA camp in Kinnayadi.
In another incident, two men entering into the market on the Valaichenai-Kalkuda road on a motorcycle were shot at Friday by suspected paramilitaries travelling in a white van, residents in Kalkuda said. No one was injured and the gunmen sped away. The fleeing gunmen dragged in a youth into their white van, in front of the Valaichenai Annur National school and assaulted him. They fired shots into the sky before leaving the scene, said eyewitnesses.
Mr. A. G. Hussain Ismail, Vice Chancellor of the South Eastern University located in Oluvil in Amparai district, escaped an assassination attempt Friday, during which unidentified gunmen on a motorbike fired at his car four times when he was on his way to the varsity from his official guesthouse. Three bodyguards and another person travelling with the Vice Chancellor also escaped unhurt.
In a separate incident, two civilians were wounded when their water bowser was attacked by a claymore mine inside the LTTE controlled area at Madhu junction Friday. The bowser was returning after supplying water to personnel at the LTTE Forward Defence Line in Madhu.
Separately, unidentified attackers lobbed a grenade and shot at an SLA unit in Nanattan, 20 km south of Mannar town, wounding four soldiers on Friday. The soldiers opened fire for 15 minutes following the attack. More than 50 families fled into the nearest church.
Unidentified gunmen also shot dead a Tamil civilian Friday at Kallaikaadu in Mannar. SLMM monitors visited the scene and conducted an inquiry. About fifty-five families residing in the village are about to leave due to fear following the killing, press reports said.
April 27
In Jaffna, auto rickshaw driver Suresh Fernando, 35, was found shot dead Friday morning in Urkavathurai (Kayts). Shots were heard after he left home Thursday night, his relatives said. Fernando’s killing is the fourth murder of rickshaw drivers in Jaffna in the past few days - the first in Nelliyady, killing two and the second in Irrupalai, killing another.
Meanwhile, eleven youths arrested by Eravur police in the roundup of the Eravur public market Thursday remained under police detention and are yet to be produced at the Courts. More than 70 Tamils had been taken into custody for investigations by Eravur police in a cordon and search of the Eravur Muslim Public market. 21 Tamil youths were detained for further inquiries, including the 11.
Separately on Thursday, two men on a motorcycle lobbed a hand grenade into the SLA sentry point at the Thadatheru junction on the Kankesanturai road in Jaffna, seriously injuring two troopers. The soldiers fired at the attackers who escaped in their motorcycle. A Tamil youth passing by the place of the grenade attack after the roadblock was arrested by the SLA. His parents have registered a complaint with the Human Rights Commission office in Jaffna.
Two SLN troopers on a road clearing patrol in Urkavathurai, Jaffna, were killed in a claymore ambush Thursday.
In another incident, three SLA soldiers travelling to Vallakkulam near Vankalai in Mannar district were killed and three others seriously wounded in a claymore ambush Thursday. Two civilians bathing in Vallakkulam, including a 40 year-old woman, are missing.
Three Special Task Force (STF) elite troopers were injured in a claymore blast that targeted a road patrol at Kaddukarai kulam in Mannar Thursday. The STF is the elite counter insurgency arm of the Sri Lankan armed forces.
April 26
In Colombo, SLA soldiers and police arrested 97 Tamils from residences in the suburbs of Bambalapitiya, Collpetty, Dehiwela and others last Wednesday night through Thursday morning, and have detained them in Police stations across Colombo. The security forces and police conducted thorough search of several residences and lodges.
Meanwhile, SLA soldiers arrested Ms Bhavani Balasubramaniam, 47, a medical doctor from Jaffna, at the Colombo National Hospital last Wednesday morning. She had travelled to Colombo the previous day on a work related visit to the Colombo hospital. Other reports said she was arrested after she had accidentally wandered into the area where the SLA commander, Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka was being treated.
Also on Wednesday last week, three Tamil civilians were hacked to death and two children were abducted by Sinhala home guards at Thanganagar in Seruvila police division. The Sinhala home guards covered their faces with black clothes entered the houses of Tamil civilians and pulled up the inmates and cut them to death. Women in these houses had fled from the area, reports said.
SLA soldiers cordoned off and search the premises of the International Students Union office near Parameswara Junction, Wednesday morning. Soldiers ransacked the building and damaged students’ property.
Separately unconfirmed reports said a SLA trooper was injured in a grenade attack in Sithankerni area in Jaffna last Wednesday.
SLA soldiers also ransacked Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Mr. S. Gajendran’s office located inside the building, reports said. SLA soldiers also arrested one student who was later released and admitted to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital to receive treatment for injuries received while in SLA custody, student leaders told TamilNet.
In Vavuniya a senior member of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), Mr. S. K. Senthilnathan, was shot by paramilitary gunmen last Wednesday and succumbed to his wounds at Vavuniya hospital. Mr. Senthilnathan, a popular trader, was a candidate for the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in the local elections to be held in Vavuniya.
April 25
Amid escalating violence following the suicide bombing in Colombo and army bombardment of Muttur east in Trincomalee, violence escalated elsewhere in the Northeast also.
Two civilians and two SLA soldiers were killed in Jaffna district Tuesday night. One was shot dead by unknown gunmen at his relatives’ residence in Urumpirai, Jaffna Tuesday night and the other was shot by SLA soldiers during a cordon and search operation near the fish market in Chavakachcheri.
Two SLA soldiers were killed when they were attacked by unknown gunmen in Inuvil, Thuraiveethi area. Following the attack, additional SLA troops arrived at the scene and arrested several traders from the area.
A Tamil civilian, Mr. S. K. Raveendran, 36, was shot and killed inside the SLA High Security Zone (HSZ) in Omanthai on April 25.
Also on Tuesday, Dr. S. Arulanantham, 44, a qualified doctor who ran a private medial clinic at his home in Mattakuliya, Colombo, was shot dead by two unknown gunmen inside his clinic.
Three SLA soldiers and three civilians were injured in four incidents of grenade attacks in Jaffna peninsula Tuesday. In one attack by unknown assailants near the Kondavil,, two SLA soldiers were seriously injured near the Uppumadam SLA camp. In another grenade attack on the Point-Pedro-Palaly Road, near Ariyakulam junction, one SLA soldier was injured and three pedestrians were wounded. There were two other attacks on SLA positions near Sangilian Road close to Nallur Temple and another at Arasady Road Jaffna, but details of casualties were not available.
April 24
On Monday last week, two policemen and three civilians were wounded in a grenade attack on a police post in Eravur. The previous day, a three and a half year old child was killed and her mother was wounded in Polonnaruwa Muslim Colony when two unidentified gunmen entered a house searching for a man and shot his family members.
A Vavuniya trader was abducted by unidentified armed men in a white van that Monday. Around 7 to 9 persons were in the white van, eyewitnesses told TNA parliamentarian Vino Noharathalingam. The MP, who lodged a complaint at Vavuniya police, said there were again reports of paramilitary men demanding large ransoms from traders in Vavuniya town.
On the same day unidentified gunmen shot a Sinhalese man in the Seruvila police division, while an attempt by two unidentified people to kill a civil servant in Muttur was foiled. Also that day, two armed home guards were shot dead in Thutuwewa, south of Vavuniya and a former member of LTTE was shot dead by unknown gunmen in the Maravankulam area of Vavuniya. The home guards were returning home for vacation when they were shot dead by unknown gunmen.
Late that Monday, SLA soldiers opened fire on a mini bus at Kanakampuliyady junction in Jaffna, killing its civilian driver. The fate of at least four passengers was not known, but residents, who heard gunfire and screaming from the vehicle, had expressed fear that all inside the bus were killed and the traces removed from the attack site. The attack on the civilian bus took place 2 km from a claymore explosion site at Sarasalai-Meesalai border where an SLA soldier was killed and another wounded earlier that Monday evening.
Large numbers of soldiers were deployed at Kanakampuliyady junction following the claymore attack and the traffic had ceased. On Monday night, SLA officials said that their troopers shot at the bus after gunshots were fired at them from the bus. However, on Tuesday, SLA officials said the mini bus was fired upon as it did not stop at a roadblock set up by the soldiers.
On the same day, a bomb fixed under a bridge exploded on the Nelliyadi-Point Pedro Road, but no casualties were reported. Nelliyadi continued to be tense from the previous Saturday when two auto rickshaw drivers were shot and killed as part of a terror campaign targeting auto rickshaw drivers in Jaffna.
Also on Monday, paramilitaries who entered the Education Office in Valaichenai shot and killed a clerk from Vaharai Education Office and injured another official. The gunmen were covering their faces with helmets, witnesses said.
Meanwhile SLA troopers gunned down a youth and another was reported killed by the blast when SLA soldiers detected a claymore attack in Vantharumoolai, north of Batticaloa. The SLA claimed that the youths killed were attackers, and reported that a soldier was wounded in the attack.
A former Vice President of the Kayts Pradesiya Sabah was also shot dead by unknown gunmen Sunday, April 23. Nagamuttu Tharmarajah, 71, was appointed to the Kayts PS by the paramilitary Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) and was a well known supporter of the group.
Also in Jaffna, an ice-cream seller was seriously injured when gunmen fired at the van in which he was travelling. The driver and his front-seat passenger said that the gunfire was from SLA soldiers who were stationed near the junction. The soldiers blocked ambulances from taking the injured to the hospital for more than half an hour, local witnesses said.
That afternoon an auto rickshaw owner was shot dead by gunmen at Irupalai junction on the Jaffna-Pt.Pedro main road. “The victim was sitting inside his vehicle. He was chased by the assailants when he tried to escape. He was shot and killed near Vairavar temple. Army soldiers were standing by,” an eyewitness told TamilNet.
April 23
Five Sinhalese people were killed, four injured and six others were reported missing when a group of gangsters attacked a suburb in the Morawewa police division along the Trincomalee-Anuradhapura main road. The attackers had set fire to a paddy harvester and attacked people in the village.
A former member of the PLOTE, Amirthanathan Kennady,35, was gunned down at Navanthurai, in Jaffna, around noon, Sunday.
Also that Sunday, a 54 year old Tamil man was seriously injured and his lorry severely damaged in a claymore explosion triggered by a SLA deep penetration unit in LTTE controlled area in the Vavuniya district. In the weeks prior to this attack, five Tamils were killed in six separate claymore attacks by SLA deep penetration units in the LTTE controlled areas of the Vanni and three Tamils who went hunting were hacked to death by a SLA DPU, press reports said.
Also that day, three cadres who were repairing the bunkers at LTTE controlled Vavunathivu were wounded by SLA gun and mortar fire, the LTTE’s Political Head of Batticaloa District, Mr. Daya Mohan, said. However, the SLA officials claimed that the Tigers were wounded when SLA troopers counter-attacked an LTTE penetration team attempting to enter government controlled area.
Meanwhile, unidentified attackers lobbed a grenade into the police check post located in front of the Batticaloa Police Headquarters wounding a Sub Inspector, a sergeant and a Police Constable. Another police sergeant was wounded in a grenade attack the previous night at Navalkuda police sentry in Kalmunai in Batticaloa district. Also, two SLA soldiers were wounded when unidentified gunmen launched an ambush attack on a check post southeast of Welikanda, with gunfire exchanged for about 30 minutes.
That Sunday also saw the funeral of a seventeen year old Tamil youth from Kanniya who had been taken into custody by the SLA the previous Friday and shot by soldiers while in custody. Another youth was shot dead at Kappalthurai, a Tamil village in the Chinabay police division, and the bodies of another two Tamil youths were found with gunshot injuries at Poddankadu in Kantalai. According to villagers, the victims were among five Tamil youths who had travelled to Kantalai from Muttur Saturday to meet representatives of an Insurance Company and were detained by Sri Lankan armed forces.
April 22
The day before, unidentified gunmen shot and killed a shop owner in the Vavuniya district. Local residents said he was a Tamil activist and was involved in the dispute with the security forces on flag hoisting during Heroes’ day celebrations.
Two SLA personnel were killed and 6 wounded when a Buffel Armoured Personnel Carrier was hit by a claymore blast at Kalmadu in Vavuniya that Saturday.
Also that day, two policemen were seriously injured when unidentified persons lobbed a grenade at their checkpoint at Anuradhapura junction in the Anpuvallipuram area, a suburb of Trincomalee town.
Two Tamil civilians were killed in the LTTE controlled area in Mannar district when their motorbike hit a claymore mine fixed in a tree by DPU of the SLA and collaborating paramilitaries.
An SLA Major and another soldier were killed and five soldiers wounded when their pickup was ambushed with a claymore on the Batticaloa-Polonnaruwa border.
Another soldier was killed and another injured when three claymore mines targeted at an SLA road patrol exploded north of Vavuniya. Also, unidentified gunmen shot a Tamil woman from China Bay and injured her husband after they arrived in a white van, entered her house and opened fire.
April 21
In anti-Tamil mob violence, fourteen houses, eight shops, one tractor, five two-wheel tractors and three motorbikes belonging to Tamil people in Menkamam and adjacent Tamil villages in Seruvila division were burnt down by Sinhala thugs following two claymore mine attacks on Sri Lanka government forces Friday morning and afternoon.
Sinhala mobs forcibly entered Tamil houses in these villages, ransacked the houses and looted jewellery from Tamil women. Hundreds of Tamil families started fleeing for safety seeking refuge elsewhere, reports said.
Also that Friday, a businessman from Vavuniya was killed in a claymore explosion and Kathankudy police, recovered the body of a middle-aged male at Kallady beach in Batticaloa. Meanwhile, the body of a youth with bullet wounds, recovered by Kathankudy police on 18th April from the Poonochchimunai cemetery in Kallady and another body of a youth around 17 years, recovered by the Kathankudy police on 11th April from Veloor in Kallady, were taken to the mortuary of Batticaloa Teaching hospital as police sought help to identify the deceased.
Two policemen were killed and two others were injured when a claymore mine hit a police jeep at Thanganagar village in Seruvila division in Trincomalee district that Friday.
A Tamil farmer was hacked to death and several houses were set on fire when Sinhala thugs armed with knives and clubs attacked villagers of Menkamam, a traditional Tamil village in the Seruvila division in Trincomalee after a homeguard was killed and a policeman wounded Friday morning. The claymore attack in the Sinhala settlement Friday morning was believed to be a retaliation for the killing of a Tamil youth Thursday.
April 20
Unknown gunmen forced their entry into the home of a Muslim couple in Vavuniya and shot dead the owner Thursday that week. His wife also sustained gunshot wounds and was admitted to Vavuniya Teaching Hospital.
SLA soldiers killed a Tamil youth near Kanniay village during a road patrol.
Meanwhile, a civilian went missing and another youth was injured by unknown gunmen in a separate incident in Trincomalee.
12 Tamil civilians from Kanguvely, another traditional Tamil village in the area were arrested and taken by the Sri Lanka Army to their camp close by.
In Jaffna, two unknown gunmen shot dead a fish-trader who ran a market in Chulipuram. The gunmen arrived in a motorbike, requested the trader to come out of the building, and escaped after shooting him at close range. This was the 17th killing of civilians to take place in Jaffna within a week, media sources in Jaffna reported.
On the same day, three claymore attacks targeting Sri Lankan forces were reported in Batticaloa. Two SLA soldiers were wounded in one attack in Urani northwest of Batticaloa town by a claymore mine was fixed to a beached boat. There were no casualties from another mine targeting a road patrol southeast of Batticaloa town. Two SLA soldiers were injured in the third attack also at Urani. Unidentified gunmen also shot and killed a senior paramilitary cadre of the EPDP at Batticaloa public market.
That morning two bodies with severe cut wounds and gunshot injuries were found in Kuttinagar area, Vavuniya, by local residents. The faces were covered with black cloth and gagged with duct tape, reports said.
April 19
Two motorbike-riding gunmen also shot and killed a shop owner at Kondavil junction in Jaffna the previous day. The gunmen asked the business owner to come out of the shop, opened fire on the victim and fled the site in their motorbike. Also that Wednesday two weeks ago, a 51 year old Korean citizen, was injured when the pickup truck he was travelling at the Vavuniya Aluthgama junction came under claymore attack. Meanwhile, two Sri Lanka Navy personnel were wounded in a blast at Vankalaipadu.
