The shadow war between Army-backed paramilitaries and the Liberation Tigers continued to claim lives in Sri Lanka’s restive east, as talks to stabilise the ceasefire remained moribund.
The distributor of the Eelanatham newspaper in Batticaloa, Mr Yogakumar Krishnapillai, was amongst recent victims, shot dead by two gunmen as he was delivering copies of the LTTE-backed paper his motorbike
The attack took in the heavily militarised heart of Batticaloa town. The Sri Lanka Army controls the town and its environs as well as the eastern districts coast. The Liberation Tigers control the vast hinterland across the lagoon to the town’s west.
Krishnapillai’s murder comes months after the Amparai distributor of the same paper was killed in a similar manner. On 29 June, Mr Arasakumar Kannamuthu, was also shot and killed by gunmen.
Eelanatham, the only Tamil newspaper in Batticaloa, is printed in the LTTE held Kokkadichholai and distributed in all parts of the district. The paper has faced regular harassment from the Sri Lanka military. A month ago, the Special Task Force – the counter-insurgency arm of the Police - blocked the sales of the paper in military-controlled areas of Batticaloa and Amparai districts.
Last Wednesday a 70-year-old wathcman was killed when two gunmen on a motobike lobbed grenades at the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) office located on Station Road near Batticaloa Railway station.
The TRO said that the attackers had lobbed at least three grenades and fired on their office with automatic rifles for 35 minutes killing the watchman and wounding two Technical Officers.
There are two Sri Lanka Army sentry points within 100 meters from the TRO office.
The grenade and machinegun raid was a carbon copy of a previous attack at on the same TRO office, the charity said, adding that last Wednesday’s attack is the 4th attack on the Batticaloa Office since the February 2002 ceasefire.
On Monday this week, a group of armed men fired at a Sri Lankan Police jeep near Mandur35 km southeast of Batticaloa, wounding a Sub-Inspector of Police. Four policemen in the vehicle with the Sub-Inspector escaped unhurt and returned fire in the incident which took place near Palaimunai School.
Apart from the attacks on the LTTE-affiliated and security forces’ offices, there have been a series of murders.
Mr Karuppaiah Sasikumar, a resident of Kommanthurai, Chenkalady, went missing 22 September after travelling to Colombo to apply for a passport.
His parents received a call claiming to be from the paramilitary Karuna Group informed them he had been shot and killed by them and that his body had been buried. Mr Sasikumar was not involved in any political or armed activities, according to his parents.
Two electrical wiring workers working at a Pillayar Temple in Valaichenai, north of Batticaloa, were killed and a third injured Friday when the temple was fired on. The motive for the attack is unclear, police said.
The father of a paramilitary cadre was shot dead at his house in Kudapokkuna, a border-village between Batticaloa and Polannaruwa districts.. His wife was injured in the attack,
Police suspect the house may have been targeted as the victim’s son had recently left the Karuna Group. Kudapokkuna is located 15 km north of Welikanda and 70 km west of Batticaloa.
An auto-rickshaw driver and resident of Iruthayapuram was shot dead last Tuesday at Kallady in Batticaloa. The three wheeler driver whose mother is a Tamil and the father is a Sinhalese, was attacked by two gunmen on a motorbike.
The continuing violence comes amidst deepening antagonism between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lanka military forces.
Last month, a week after several LTTE cadres were killed and wounded in a deep penetration raid blamed on Army-backed irregulars, a top paramilitary commander was assassinated at his base within a HSZ.
The LTTE says Sri Lankan military intelligence is deploying five paramilitary groups in a concerted campaign of violence against its members and supporters in the eastern province.
The military denies any involvement in the attacks and claims gunmen loyal to renegade LTTE commander, Karuna, are responsible.
Karuna, a former LTTE commander, defected to the SLA in April 2004 following the collapse of his six-week rebellion against the LTTE leadership. Since then several LTTE cadres and supporters, paramilitaries and security forces personnel have been killed in violence that has come to characterise a ‘shadow war.’
Compiled from TamilNet reports
The distributor of the Eelanatham newspaper in Batticaloa, Mr Yogakumar Krishnapillai, was amongst recent victims, shot dead by two gunmen as he was delivering copies of the LTTE-backed paper his motorbike
The attack took in the heavily militarised heart of Batticaloa town. The Sri Lanka Army controls the town and its environs as well as the eastern districts coast. The Liberation Tigers control the vast hinterland across the lagoon to the town’s west.
Krishnapillai’s murder comes months after the Amparai distributor of the same paper was killed in a similar manner. On 29 June, Mr Arasakumar Kannamuthu, was also shot and killed by gunmen.
Eelanatham, the only Tamil newspaper in Batticaloa, is printed in the LTTE held Kokkadichholai and distributed in all parts of the district. The paper has faced regular harassment from the Sri Lanka military. A month ago, the Special Task Force – the counter-insurgency arm of the Police - blocked the sales of the paper in military-controlled areas of Batticaloa and Amparai districts.
Last Wednesday a 70-year-old wathcman was killed when two gunmen on a motobike lobbed grenades at the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) office located on Station Road near Batticaloa Railway station.
The TRO said that the attackers had lobbed at least three grenades and fired on their office with automatic rifles for 35 minutes killing the watchman and wounding two Technical Officers.
There are two Sri Lanka Army sentry points within 100 meters from the TRO office.
The grenade and machinegun raid was a carbon copy of a previous attack at on the same TRO office, the charity said, adding that last Wednesday’s attack is the 4th attack on the Batticaloa Office since the February 2002 ceasefire.
On Monday this week, a group of armed men fired at a Sri Lankan Police jeep near Mandur35 km southeast of Batticaloa, wounding a Sub-Inspector of Police. Four policemen in the vehicle with the Sub-Inspector escaped unhurt and returned fire in the incident which took place near Palaimunai School.
Apart from the attacks on the LTTE-affiliated and security forces’ offices, there have been a series of murders.
Mr Karuppaiah Sasikumar, a resident of Kommanthurai, Chenkalady, went missing 22 September after travelling to Colombo to apply for a passport.
His parents received a call claiming to be from the paramilitary Karuna Group informed them he had been shot and killed by them and that his body had been buried. Mr Sasikumar was not involved in any political or armed activities, according to his parents.
Two electrical wiring workers working at a Pillayar Temple in Valaichenai, north of Batticaloa, were killed and a third injured Friday when the temple was fired on. The motive for the attack is unclear, police said.
The father of a paramilitary cadre was shot dead at his house in Kudapokkuna, a border-village between Batticaloa and Polannaruwa districts.. His wife was injured in the attack,
Police suspect the house may have been targeted as the victim’s son had recently left the Karuna Group. Kudapokkuna is located 15 km north of Welikanda and 70 km west of Batticaloa.
An auto-rickshaw driver and resident of Iruthayapuram was shot dead last Tuesday at Kallady in Batticaloa. The three wheeler driver whose mother is a Tamil and the father is a Sinhalese, was attacked by two gunmen on a motorbike.
The continuing violence comes amidst deepening antagonism between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lanka military forces.
Last month, a week after several LTTE cadres were killed and wounded in a deep penetration raid blamed on Army-backed irregulars, a top paramilitary commander was assassinated at his base within a HSZ.
The LTTE says Sri Lankan military intelligence is deploying five paramilitary groups in a concerted campaign of violence against its members and supporters in the eastern province.
The military denies any involvement in the attacks and claims gunmen loyal to renegade LTTE commander, Karuna, are responsible.
Karuna, a former LTTE commander, defected to the SLA in April 2004 following the collapse of his six-week rebellion against the LTTE leadership. Since then several LTTE cadres and supporters, paramilitaries and security forces personnel have been killed in violence that has come to characterise a ‘shadow war.’
Compiled from TamilNet reports
