Given the worsening of the current impasse between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE, critical questions face progressive forces both in Sri Lanka and the wider diaspora communities, particularly amongst the Sinhalese. It is worth exploring here the circumstances that have led to the reinforcement of an impasse that has its origins in President Mahinda Rajapakse’s election victory in November 2005 and the subsequent entrenchment of the Sri Lankan state within a Sinhala hegemonic frame.

The Sri Lankan state’s crisis, which since independence in 1948 has been refracted through the lens of the Sinhala-Tamil rift, has now reached the final stage of a long drawn out end game. How much blood remains to be spilled before a just and equitable solution to the Tamil national question and the wider issue of minority representation is arrived at (ideally within a federal state structure)?

This end game is being played out against the background of high stakes brinkmanship by the LTTE and the Rajapakse administration which has reduced Colombo to an amateur hour spectacle in the eyes of the international community. The background to all this is captured in the Tokyo communiqué issued in May this year by the Co-Chairs (the US, EU, Tokyo and Norway) and the formal banning of the LTTE by the EU at the same time.

It should be noted that as yet the Sri Lankan Government has failed to adequately investigate and prosecute any Sinhala officers or Tamil paramilitary cadres for the many hundreds of extrajudicial deaths of Tamil civilians since Rajapakse’s election. Consequently the campaign to have Sri Lanka expelled from the UN Human Rights Council should be intensified. Indeed, given the human rights record of successive Sri Lankan governments since 1970 it beggars belief that Sri Lanka should be on the Human Rights Committee at all.

The Tokyo communiqué reiterated the necessity of returning to commitments made by the GoSL and the LTTE in the six rounds of peace talks between 2002-2003. It states that, in the short term, “the government must show that it will address the legitimate grievances of the Tamils. It must immediately prevent groups based in its territory from carrying out violence and acts of terrorism. It must protect the rights and security of Tamils throughout the country and ensure violators are prosecuted.”

In the longer term, Sri Lanka’s government “must show that it is ready to make the dramatic political changes to bring about a new system of governance, which will enhance the rights of all Sri Lankans, including Muslims. The international community will support such steps, failure to take such steps will diminish international support.”

On June 1, Richard Boucher, the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, while asking the LTTE to recommit itself to a purely political process, said that the Colombo government too had obligations – obligations, moreover, heightened by its election to the UN Human Rights Council. Boucher added that, as far as the Co-Chairs were concerned, the Government had failed to establish control over forces that were dissonant to the peace process on the Government side. In effect, the pledges made at Geneva in February by the Sri Lankan Government remain to be fulfilled.

Moreover, the Co-Chairs had expected Rajapakse to recommit his administration to a federal state structure particularly in the aftermath of the EU ban that Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera had been vociferously urging. It is accepted that the modalities of a future federal constitution remain to be worked out in negotiations between the GoSL and the LTTE. But as a minimum the external powers that guarantee Sri Lanka’s territorial integrity expected Colombo to pay more than lip service to its professed intent to solve the national question.

But what the Co-Chairs have not quite grasped yet is that this is a Sri Lankan Government like none before; it is arguably the most chauvinistic Sinhala administration since 1956, surpassing even the misguided Sinhala-Buddhist revolution that regime initiated. The Co-Chairs, if anything, have treated the Rajapakse administration with kid gloves. It is in part their failure to act in keeping with their own Tokyo communiqué that has led to a worsening of the impasse.

Their reference to “violence and acts of terrorism” emanating from government controlled territory was a pointed reference to both the EPDP and the Karuna Group. Palita Kohana, head of the Government Peace Secretariat begrudgingly conceded later that there might be ‘low-level’ links between the Army and cadres of the Karuna Group. The Sri Lankan state has long been dissembling on collusion between Military Intelligence and the EPDP/Karuna cadres – to the visible irritation of the Co-Chairs, as blunt phrasing in the Tokyo communiqué underlines.

The President, in his dialogue with the editor of the Tamil daily Uthayan, N. Vidyaharan, implicitly conceded much higher-level corporation between the military and paramilitaries, when he offered to shut down the Karuna Group’s operations “within two weeks” in exchange for de-escalation of violence by the LTTE. As far as the Co-Chairs were concerned, this confirmed both the extent and amateurish crudity of the duplicity of the Rajapakse Government. But, as yet, the Co-Chairs remain unwilling to take Colombo to task on its failure to bring the paramilitaries under control as pledged in Geneva in February.

The fact that amid the prevailing mistrust between both sides Rajapakse is seeking to bypass the Norwegian facilitators and approach the LTTE for direct talks and doing so, moreover, through the editor whose paper has repeatedly been targeted by paramilitaries must nonetheless fill the Co-Chairs with a sense of comic exasperation.

By trying to persuade the LTTE to bypass Oslo, Rajapakse has demonstrated how out of his depth he is. Boucher, in his comments on June 1, made it clear that Oslo had US backing. Furthermore, there was pointed criticism of the Sinhala-owned media (both Sinhala or English language) for its constant carping at the Norwegians.

My recent analysis was criticized for having underplayed American support for the Sri Lankan state. If anything, I didn’t underplay it enough. While Boucher encouraged the EU to ban the LTTE all he actually offered Colombo was the usual diplomatic niceties of moral support in the event of all out war. There is no evidence that in the absence of Indian support (which is not forthcoming) Colombo can count on any kind of significant military assistance from the Washington-New Delhi axis.

By running to the Pakistan-China axis, Colombo has only succeeded in further irritating New Delhi than it has is with the punishing air strikes on some of the most marginalised sections of Tamil society. In the event of a return to all out war (which admittedly is looking less likely than it did four weeks ago), Colombo will most probably be left to wither on the moribund vine of Sinhala chauvinism. In the event that Colombo ignores international concerns and causes heavy casualties amongst ordinary Tamils, Washington will simply back whatever interventionist approach New Delhi adopts to stop it.

President Rajapakse has shown himself to be utterly paralyzed since the shortsighted banning of the LTTE by the EU. In a piece that appeared in the Norwegian press some time ago, the first head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, the late Maj. Gen. Trond Furvohnde, noted that the LTTE were far more astute strategic players than was the Sri Lankan state.

While the LTTE has in the eyes of many commentators made strategic errors in their dealings with the international community, these pale into insignificance when compared to those made by the Rajapakse administration. The launching of air strikes against not only Killochchi but also Mannar and other areas of Tamil civilian habitation on repeated occasions since May has earned the ire of the Co-Chairs and New Delhi.

The latter in particular has made its displeasure felt in Colombo as more than three thousand Tamil refugees have fled to South India. R. K. Narayan, the Indian National Security, read Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Mangala Samareewera the riot act in New Delhi on the disproportionate response by Colombo to attacks by the LTTE. It seems that on this score Colombo has for now come to grips with the limits of its capacity to act independently of the international community.

Rajapakse must, if he has a scintilla of pragmatism, rue the day that he decided to don the attire of Sinhala Buddhist chauvinism. Some Sinhala commentators (who ironically happen to be pro-federal) have never tired of saying that Ranil Wickremesinghe, during the course of his premiership and the 2005 Presidential campaign put all his eggs into the LTTE basket. But into which basket did Rajapakse put all his eggs into?

While Rajapakse may have been a pure opportunist in articulating the rhetoric of Sinhala chauvinism as a vehicle for carrying him to victory he is now a hostage to the whim of the JVP and JHU. It is worthwhile reminding ourselves that it was Wimal Weeerawansa, the Propaganda Secretary of the JVP who said during the Presidential campaign that the election was a battle between patriotic forces and the traitors of the (Sinhala) nation. He declared that a “line has been drawn between these two forces and there is no place for moderates”. This is self-evident given the vitriolic campaign against the voices of Sinhala moderation such as Jehan Perera and Kumar Rupesinghe.

Given the reality of parliamentary arithmetic, Rajapakse remains beholden to the forces of Sinhala reaction in the JVP and JHU. However the screws are tightening on the hardliners in Colombo. Unfortunately, many of the more vocal Sinhala hawks have dual nationality with Western countries. They can always up sticks and leave if the brutal war they are creating the conditions for does erupt. It is the ordinary Sri Lankans of all ethnicites who will have to stay behind and endure its ravages.

With the threat to withdraw aid (aid that is critical for the functioning of the public sector) and with Japan (Colombo’s biggest bi-lateral donor) also reconsidering its position given the worsening ground situation in the Northeast, Rajapakse has truly boxed himself into a corner. A question mark remains as to whether he can wriggle out of this self made corner.

Ironically as the Sunday Leader noted, by killing Major General Parami Kulatunge, the de facto first in command of the Sri Lankan Army, the LTTE has in effect forestalled the possibility of the military launching a full scale offensive in the East. What Rajapakse and the coterie around him fail to understand is that the killing of Kulatunge was a direct response to the killing of Colonel Ramanan a senior LTTE commander in the East. Rajapakse needs to grasp that the logic of tit for tat strikes between the Armed forces and the LTTE is real and will not abate until deep penetration operations by the Army and collusion with the Tamil paramilitaries is ended. It is up to the Co-Chairs to impress this logic on Rajapakse.

If Rajapakse is serious about a two-week moratorium on hostilities between the opposing forces then the offer he made ‘quietly’ to the editor of Uthayan can be made again, formally, through Norwegian facilitation. Whether this will happen very much remains to be seen.

The appointment of a committee on constitutional reform headed by the prominent Sinhala hardline lawyer, H.L de Silva hardly inspires confidence. Many will rightly ask if Rajapakse takes the Co-Chairs communiqué that Sri Lanka needs a whole new framework for radically devolved governance seriously in light of H.L de Silva’s continued role as a spoiler of genuine powersharing.
More recently, interestingly, the Government indicated that it would be looking at federal options such as the one offered by the Indian Union. However at a wider level the current Government has completely failed to take any kind of progressive message to the Sinhala masses regarding the merits of a federal solution to Sri Lanka’s crisis of governance.

Given that under international pressure Rajapakse is having to give serious thought to an outline federal model the general existential hostility of the Sinhala Right to negotiate with the Tamil social formation has opened up a space for the Tamil polity and the wider Tamil community, both pro-LTTE and non-LTTE, to engage with the South. It is vital that progressives of all ethnicities hold firm against the latest onslaught of the Sinhala Right.

If Sri Lanka’s crisis is to end, the Tamil and Sinhala social formations need to engage with each other on the merits of a federal constitutional settlement as well as other mechanisms of mutual assurance which can be embedded in order to ensure a non-discriminatory future for all Sri Lankans. Alas that ideal, but much desired, possibility remains a long way off.

Dr. Roshan de Silva Wijeyeratne teaches law at the Griffith Law School. He is currently working on a research project on Sri Lanka.

July 11

One Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldier was killed and two injured in a claymore mine blast on the Kodikamam - Pt.Pedro road in the Jaffna peninsula. The blast, 500 metres from the Kodikamam junction, targeted SLA troops on a road clearing operation.

The body of a young man was found with gunshot injuries at Gurunathar Shop Road in Alaiyadivembu, Ampara District. The victim was identified as Veluppillai Mohanarasa, 25, from Kolavil.

Two Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) crafts and a Sea Tiger boat exchanged fire in Kilali seas for more than 15 minutes Tuesday. The SLN said a Sea Tiger dinghy with 4 crew was destroyed and no SLN vessel was damaged. The LTTE has not commented.

The LTTE’s Amparai District political head complained to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) that Special Task Force (STF) troopers based at Kanchirankuda camp fired barrages of 81 mm mortar shells on residential areas of Kanchikudichaaru in LTTE controlled Amparai District.

July 10

A member of the paramilitary People’s Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) was shot dead at a cycle park operated by the group in front of the Jaffna Hospital. Sources in Jaffna told TamilNet the man was a Sri Lankan army informant.

A group of SLA soldiers on patrol in Sooriyakaddaiakadu in Nanattan, Mannar, fired at an unidentified person placing a claymore mine on their route, but he escaped. Thereafter SLA soldiers had launched a cordon and search operation in the area. During the search operation the soldiers were attacked with a grenade and gunfire. Later the Police claimed they found the body in a paddy field two hundred yards away from the Nanattan PS office building. Police said they also recovered a T 56 rifle, a micro-pistol and a grenade near the body.

SLA troopers came under gunfire for the second time around 12:30 p.m. when they continued their search operation. They retaliated and later found a person with gunshot injuries on his head at Rasool Puthuveli located about one and half km off Nanattan. The troopers told police that they had recovered a micro-pistol and a grenade, also from this youth.

In the wake of international pressure over extra-judicial killings by the military, local residents say weapons are being planted on innocent Tamil youth murdered by Sri Lankan troops.

July 9

Jaffna Additional Magistrate Srinithi Nandasegaran’s official car, with her 10-year-old son and a police guard on board, was threatened by armed Sri Lankan troops on Palaly road, Jaffna. The SLA troopers followed the Magistrate’s familiar official vehicle in an auto-rickshaw, but gave up when they did not find Mrs Nandasegaran in the car, which was transporting her son to a tuition centre near Parameswara junction from her residence on Rakka Road. The driver of Ms Nandasegaran’s vehicle said that recently he has been harassed by SLA men who had sought details of Nandasegaran’s routines.

M. I. M. Nizar, 31, body guard of Digamadulla District Member of Parliament and Deputy Minister, Anver Ismail, of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Front (UPFA) was shot dead by two unidentified men riding a motor bike near the MP’s house in Amparai. Nizar was shot after an evening meeting at the MP’s home by gunmen who escaped.

Seenithamby Sellan, 32, involved in liquor business, was abducted near Mankerny SLA Camp, by Army-backed paramilitaries. Sellan, father of 3 children was travelling in a bus to his home in Vammyvedduvan, Vakarai, when he was abducted.

July 8

A former member of paramilitary PLOTE was shot and seriously injured by unknown gunmen in front of the Jaffna Teaching Hospital. Rasa Premkumar, 32, is the third ex-militant who has been attacked near the same area in the past two months – the other two died in the attacks. The latest shooting occurred inside an SLA High Security Zone (HSZ), with SLA sentry points located to the east and west, and a Sri Lanka Police station located 200 meters away. SLA’s 51-2 brigade head quarters is located behind the nearby Hospital.

The body of a mason working in a housing development for tsunami victims was found with severe assault injuries in Polikandy, Vadamaradchy. Rasiah Muraleeswaran, 42, from Meesalai East was a resident mason at the Nilavan Kudiyiruppu Housing scheme funded by FORUT. Another mason, Mr Rajani, 26, from Jaffna Islet of Punguduthivu, working on the same Housing Project, has mysteriously disappeared. The Housing project is located inside a HSZ under 24-hour surveillance by the SLA.

Two SLA troops were injured when unknown gunmen attacked soldiers on street patrol near Methaikadai Junction, south of Point Pedro town.

Another soldier was injured in a firefight lasting five minutes between gunmen and SLA troops in Kachchai, Thenmaradchy.

A decomposed body washed ashore near Allaipiddy Kovilady beach in the Jaffna islets, but it was not possible to immediately establish the identity and sex of the deceased due to its decayed state.

The LTTE arrested a cadre of the Army-backed paramilitary Karuna Group inside the LTTE held Eachchilampathu division in Trincomalee district. The man, identified as Jeya of Puthur, Kathiraveli in Batticaloa district, was in possession of a claymore mine, a roll of wire and detonator at that time of his arrest. Under interrogation, he said that he had been sent to penetrate into LTTE held Eachchilampathu in a clandestine mission to target LTTE senior leaders in the area. The cadre was later questioned by SLMM representatives.

July 7

Unidentified gunmen shot dead a Muslim civilian, Mohamed Wahid Ali, 41, at Ganesh Lane in Palaiyootu, a suburb off Trincomalee. The victim was taking his son to a pre-school located close to his residence when two persons on a motorbike shot him.

Dozens of underage youths were abducted Army-backed paramilitary cadres from the villages of Thivuchenai, Karuppalai, Sorivil and Sevanapitty in Batticaloa district (see story page 13).

A building worker was shot and wounded by unidentified gunmen with a 9mm pistol in Karuwakerny. Mr. Muththulingam Parameshwaran, 21, was shot while returning from work in bicycle.

July 6

A feared SLN Chief Petty Officer succumbed to his wounds after being shot in Jaffna. Unidentified men, waiting in ambush, fired at the officer and his bodyguard attached to the Thurayoor camp in the Jaffna islet of Velanai. Residents who allege the officer was one of the key personalities involved in extra-judicial killings in Jaffna islets. Tension prevailed in the area and the SLN conducted a search operation in and around the area where the official was attacked.

Kasdeen Amir, of Thoppur in Muttur, was shot dead by unidentified men when he was at Selvanagar. He was admitted to the Muttur district hospital immediately but he succumbed to injuries.

July 5

Four Sri Lanka Police constables deployed on security duty at the paramilitary Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) office-cum-camp in Chunnakam, Jaffna, were seriously injured when unknown assailants hurled several hand grenades inside the building, which is located adjoining the Chunnakam Police Station and the Chunnakam SLA camp.

A SLA soldier was seriously injured by a grenade thrown at his road patrol on Jaffna-KKS Road near Chunnakam junction.

SLA troops and gunmen exchanged gunfire for more than five minutes near Udupiddy junction SLA sentry point in Vadamaradchy. There were no injuries among local residents who now don’t leave their homes after dark.

Also, unknown assailants hurled a hand grenade at the SLA troops on security duty near Jaffna Hindu College, but it did not explode.

A SLA soldier was killed in a claymore explosion in Pirappamadu area in Vavuniya. The soldier was engaged in a street patrol when the explosion occurred. The seriously injured soldier died on his way to hospital.

July 4

Ambalavanar Punithavathy, 43, from Uduvil, Jaffna, was shot dead reportedly after being raped. Assailants who forcibly entered the unmarried woman’s home told the occupants that they had come to search the house and attacked her elderly mother before raping the woman, residents said.

Local residents said that after dark only SLA soldiers patrol the streets surrounding the camp and the area where the victim’s house is located. No civilians venture out in the area, the residents added. The SLA camp that houses the Intelligence Wing is located close to the house. The Uduvil SLA camp has been accused of several previous human rights violations and harassment.

After being fired on, SLA troops on street patrol near Nelliyadi, the SLA cordoned off the area and arrested three youths. The youths were released later that afternoon with severe assault wounds, relatives said. The SLA troopers earlier had assaulted the three youths in front of local residents before taking them to the SLA camp in Nelliady for further interrogation. Nelliady residents said the youths were innocent school children and were not involved in any militant activities. No one was injured in the firefight that triggered the search operation.

More that 500 SLA troops cordoned off and searched central and southern Grama Sevaka areas of Ariyalai, Jaffna. Soldiers checked the identity cards of residents and took away photographs which were shown to a masked paramilitary spotter waiting inside a temporary SLA sentry point, local residents said. No one was arrested during the operations.

Mr. Ramiah Vinayagamoorthy, a fisherman, was shot and injured by masked men in the Salli Sea off Trincomalee. Vinayagamoorthy was fishing in a boat with two other fishermen when three masked men who came in another boat ordered him to stay in the boat and the other two to get out. They then fired at Vinayagamoorthy, hitting his waist and hands.

July 3

Policemen in Kaluwanchikudy, Batticaloa district, shot and killed a civilian at point blank range and placed a T-56 automatic rifle beside the dead body, according to residents in the village. An Education Official, Mrs. S. Baskaran, 40, was wounded in the gunfire. Police claimed that the man was a gunman who had fired on a police checkpost.

Two elite counter-insurgency Special Task Force (STF) troopers in a road clearing patrol were wounded in a claymore attack at Puthukudiyiruppu, Batticaloa. M. Sarath, 36, and W.P. Rajapakse, 28, wounded in the attack.

An unidentified man was killed by SLA soldiers inside Thandikulam High Security Zone near Vavuniya. The SLA said the dead man is a member of the LTTE and that they had recovered a AK-47 rifle and a new brand of bullet magazine from near the dead body. Civil society sources in Vavuniya, however, said that suspicious circumstances surround the killing, and that the dead body was a civilian arrested by the SLA.

SLA soldiers at the sentry point in Veppankulam, Vavuniya, arrested two Tamil women on suspicion of having links with the LTTE, Vanni parliamentarian Sivanathan Kishor said. The two women were arrested when returning from Chettikulam after attending to registration issues regarding their housing in Maharambaikulam. The SLA claimed that Parameswary Jeyashankar, 32, had the telephone number of the LTTE in her cell-phone, and therefore alleged that she has links with the LTTE. Indrani Selvam, 40, was arrested for having accompanied Ms Jeyashankar.

One SLA soldier was killed and two wounded in a claymore attack in Thikkam, Vadamaradchi North, Jaffna. The soldiers were on a road clearing foot patrol from Thikkam Junction towards Vathiri when the mine exploded 600 meters from Thikkam SLA camp.

Two SLA soldiers were seriously injured in a claymore mine explosion on Jaffna-Palaly road near Urelu junction. The claymore was targeted on a SLA truck, but hit the SLA troopers following behind the truck on bicycle patrol in the area. The explosion took place inside the Palay High Security Zone, 300 meters from the SLA camp that houses the SLA Intelligence wing. The notorious SLA motorbike brigade, whose members customarily wear black face masks and terrorize the Jaffna population, also operates from this SLA camp, Urelu residents said.

A former member of the paramilitary Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF-Varathar faction) was shot dead in Jaffna. Mr Thirumani Ariyaratnam Lingan, 34, was drinking liquor with his friends when two gunmen riding in a motorbike shot him dead at close range. Ariyaratnam Lingan had left the EPRLF-Varathar group in 2000.

June 2

One SLA soldier, a female home guard, two police constables, a police sergeant and a civilian were killed when a claymore mine exploded at Anuradhapura junction, Trincomalee. At least fourteen others were injured. Another female police constable, seriously injured in the explosion, died on her way to the hospital. The claymore mine, fixed in an abandoned three-wheeler near the army sentry, was detonated by remote control when a group of soldiers and police tried to search the three-wheeler.

An SLA soldier who was deployed for security duty near Kokuvil junction, north of Jaffna town, was seriously injured when unknown gunmen opened fire at the troops.

In another attack, assailants hurled hand grenades at SLA troopers stationed near Kondavil junction along Jaffna-Palaly road seriously injuring a soldier.

No one was injured during a firefight lasting nearly five minutes between SLA troops and gunmen at a location along the Jaffna- Point Pedro road.

SLA soldiers carried out cordon and search operations in many areas of Vadamaradchy Sunday. Residents of Alvai, Vathiri, Mali Santhi and other areas were searched and the SLA took away Identity Cards of many residents. The IDs were returned after the residents reported to the SLA camps for further interrogation.

A shooting incident is reported to have occurred in Nelliady town near the Luxmi Cinema along the Nelliady-Kodikamam road. The targeted civilian escaped with minor wounds and the gunmen escaped.

Members of Jaffna district transport workers union held a peninsula-wide work boycott protesting against the SLA attack on a bus driver, conductor and passengers along the KKS-Jaffna road. The assaults took place following a grenade attack on SLA soldiers by unknown gunmen at Kokuvil junction. The passenger bus from Tellipalai was detained for more than four hours near the Kokuvil junction, affected passengers said. The driver was admitted to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital with serious injuries. The Transport workers agreed to suspend the strike after the SLA officials agreed to respond within a short period. They also warned that the protest strike would resume if no satisfactory answers were received.

An unidentified person shot and killed Lakmal Sampath, a former defence correspondent at the Sinhala newspaper Sathdina, in Dehiwela, Colombo. Sampath was a popular columnist who revealed details about the Sri Lankan Military Intelligence, corruption at various levels of the Sri Lankan defence establishment, and underworld activities in Colombo. He had been earlier warned not to reveal details about the Sri Lanka intelligence community in his articles and had gone out with a person to discuss matters about a story, relatives said. He was found dead on Vijaya Road in Dehiwale, 10 km away from his residence, sometime after he left home.

Krishnapillai Kamalanathan, an official of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), was abducted by members of the Karuna paramilitary group at Valaichchenai, Batticaloa. Krishnapillai has been working as a child protection officer of the TRO, Vakarai division. Krishnapillai was riding motorbike in Valaichchenai while he was abducted by the Karuna group paramilitaries, the TRO said.

A SLA sergeant, M. Asoka Sriwardene, 32, was wounded in his hand when a suspicious cylinder exploded at the bus stop in Karuvakerny, Batticaloa.

Gunmen hijacked a three-wheeler near Valaichenai Railway station. The driver of the vehicle, Krishnapillai Karunaharan, 28, was shot and wounded by the gunmen and rushed to hospital. A carpenter by profession, Karunaharan rides the auto-rickshaw as a part time job.

A textile seller, Sangaravel Meyyappan, 35, who had come from Tamil Nadu state, India to Batticaloa district, has been reported missing since 27th of June. Meyyappan has been moving around in the district, selling clothes, according to his brother Sangaravel Rajkumar who has filed a complaint with Batticaloa Police.

July 1

SLN troopers who set out in 3 Dvora Fast Attack Crafts from their Talaimannar base, captured two fishermen in the seas off Karisal, a Muslim coastal village in Mannar, and allegedly forcibly drowned one of the fishermen. The SLN threw both fishermen overboard, even though one pleaded that he could not swim, the fisherman who survived reported.

The fishermen who showed the Fishing Pass provided by the SLN, were beaten up by the troopers in the Dvora FACs. One of the fishermen, Ibrahim Azeeq, 34, a father of four, begged for his life saying he could not swim. However, the navy troopers threw him off board, according to the fisherman Mohammed Fahim, 27, who was set free by the troopers. Azeeq managed to reach his hand and was holding the stem of the boat. However, the troopers attacked the fisherman blocking his grip on the boat and Azeeq drowned, Faim said. Fahim, who could swim, said he jumped off board, unable to tolerate the beating. He was later forced to locate the body of Azeeq and was set free by the navy men.

A few minutes later, the navy men arrested two other Muslim fishermen and handed them over to the SLN officials at Vankalaipaadu. The fishermen were set free by the SLN officials in Vankalaipaadu.

Unidentified men attacked a group of SLA soldiers in Sirukandal village, Mannar district. Markandu Parathanathan from Thumpalai, Point-Pedro was killed when the SLA retaliated, security sources said. Parathanathan was identified by his National Identity Card found in his clothing, sources. SLA soldiers said they recovered a hand grenade and remote control equipment in the possession of the dead man.

SLA soldiers on street patrol duty in Panankatikotu in Mannar district arrested Anthony Jeuthadasan, 24, and handed him to Mannar Police. The youth was talking in his cell phone in front of his house at the time of arrest.

The SLA and SLN Saturday launched artillery fire on villages in the Liberation Tigers’ controlled Muttur east. Several civilian houses were damaged due to the indiscriminate shelling from land and sea surrounding the coastal areas of Muttur east, the LTTE in Muttur said. More than fifty artillery shells were fired in the morning for about an hour starting around 1:00 a.m. The shelling then continued in the evening from 5.30 p.m. for about two hours. The LTTE also said residents have been fleeing to safer areas.

A twenty five year old Tamil youth Mr. Raju was abducted by unidentified persons from Navalady in the heart of Muttur town when he was on his way to Muttur jetty. He is a resident of Ralkuli, an area controlled by the LTTE and had been working as a labourer on a ferry plying between Navalady and Ralkuli. When he was dragged into a vehicle by unidentified persons, his wife immediately complained to police personnel who were at the site, but they allegedly ignored her plea. He was later found dead with gunshot injuries in a playground in Muttur town

June 30

A sea fight was reported in the seas east of Kankesanthuari SLN base in Jaffna. The clash, which started in an area between Valalai and Thondamanaru, went on for 30 minutes, paused for a short period, and re-started again, residents along the coastal areas in Vadamaradchi said. At least two boats were seen burning. SLA soldiers were firing towards the sea from their sentry points located in the coastal stretch from Mayiliyathanai in Thondamanaru to Valvettithurai.

Two fishermen from Valvettithurai were reported missing in the northern waters off Thondamanaru, Jaffna. Their boat caught fire when SLN troopers shot at the boat. Millions of rupees worth of fishing nets and equipment were lost when fishermen in 400 boats were chased away by the SLN boats Friday night, Vadamaradchy North Fisheries Consortium has complained to Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and the Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission (SLHRC) in Jaffna. Thevamani Arul, 30, and Krishnapillai Chandramohan, 28, are the missing fishermen.

Fishermen in more than 400 boats had to leave their boats when SLN troopers began firing at the civilian boats Friday night. On Saturday, SLN and SLA troopers barred civilians from accessing the coastal belt starting from Thondamanaru to Valvetithurai, fishermen in the area said. Additional troops were deployed along the coastal areas.

Two SLA troopers were seriously injured when they came under fire from unknown gunmen in front of the Soosaiyappar Church in Alaveddy, Jaffna district. The troopers were carrying food parcels in bicycles for other soldiers engaged in security duty when they were attacked. The troopers returned fire and the firefight lasted for more than 10 minutes before the attackers escaped. SLA soldiers mounted a large-scale cordon and search operation around the location of the shooting.

SLA soldiers shot dead a Tamil civilian in Chenkalady, Batticaloa, near the Bank of Ceylon building area. Witnesses said the SLA soldiers first shot Gnanasekaram Santhiran, 30, in his head, and after he fell to the ground, shot him again at close range. SLA soldiers said the man attempted to throw a hand grenade, and after they fired at him, found one hand grenade in his possession. However, local witnesses allege that the soldiers placed the hand-grenade by the side of the dead man to fake an attempted attack on the soldiers.

A former member of the Liberation Tigers was shot and killed by gunmen belonging to a paramilitary group in Karaitheevu Kalmunai. Four gunmen came to the house in motorbikes, talked to Kanthasamy Jeyanthakumar, 28, before shooting him at close range with a 9mm pistol.

A Tamil civilian, Selvarajah Vasanthan, 30, was shot dead by SLA soldiers manning a checkpoint at Sambaltivu junction, north of Trincomalee town. According to police sources the civilian was shot by the SLA when he failed to stop his motorbike at checkpoint after soldiers signalled him to stop.

A SLN Intelligence officer was shot and killed when he was shopping at the bazaar in Mannar. Sri Lankan troopers who surrounded the area shot the gunman who gunned down the intelligence officer. Dissande de Gostha, 28, the SLN intelligence officer was gunned down by the “Pistol Unit” of LTTE Intelligence. A 9 mm pistol was found in possession of the gunman, who had identity papers in the name of Arulappu Rajeevkumar, 24.

Unidentified men lobbed a grenade at an army sentry located near the office of the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) in Mannar. A soldier, M. Surasena, 46, was injured in the attack.

June 29

Suspected SLA soldiers and EPDP paramilitaries shot and killed Jaffna resident Ms Sathasivam Mathuri, 32, and seriously injured her father Kasipillai Sathasivam, 75, at their home in Athiyadi, 2 km northeast of Jaffna Town. The victims are the father and sister of senior LTTE commander Archuna, who died in mid 80’s in Mannar. The assailants first opened fire at the victims’ relative house next door and shot Mathuri and Sathasivam as they emerged from their own house to enquire.

Kanesan Sivanesan, 36, the proprietor of a well-known jewellery store in Inuvil, Jaffna, disappeared following interrogation by the SLA on 28 May. Relatives say an anonymous caller informed the family that they were holding Sivanesan and demanded Rs.500,000 for his release, but paying the money did not result in his release. Sivanesan was last seen in the Inuvil area on Kankesanthurai Road, detained for questioning by the SLA. Local residents say Sivanesan has not returned home since that day.

Gunmen shot and seriously injured a civilian in Navaly North, Aanaikottai in Jaffna district. The gunmen requested Ilayathamby Vanniyasingam, 46, to come out of his house and fired at him at close range. The shooting incident took place close to the SLA camp in Aaniakottai, amidst increased SLA harassment of residents in the area.

Tharmalingam Vijayarajah, 53, from Araly North near Vaddukoddai, Jaffna, alleged to be an SLA informant, was shot dead by gunmen close to the Mawaththai playgrounds in Araly. Mr Vijayarajah lived at Iyanar Veethy in Araly, and was involved in several robberies, local residents said. He turned an army informant after SLA officers obtained his release from police arrest following those robberies. Mr Vijayarajah is a father of six children.

June 28

5 SLN sailors and 1 LTTE cadre were killed in a clash in the northwestern seas. Sea Tiger vessels counter-attacked and sank a SLN water-jet vessel and destroyed another SLN vessel, according to a news release issued by the media unit of the LTTE. Five SLN troopers were in the boat that was sunk by the Sea Tigers and one LTTE cadre was killed in the clash, the press statement said. Sri Lankan Police claimed that the clash had taken place between Kuthiraimalai and Kalpitty in the Puttalam district. Two LTTE cadres were wounded in the clash. The confrontation, according to the LTTE, was defensive and originated Wednesday around 11:25 a.m. in LTTE territorial waters, when SLN vessels interrupted a Sea Tiger convoy. The clash went on for 55 minutes in the sea till the SLN troopers withdrew, the news release said.

Three Tamil civilians were killed in a claymore explosion while transporting sand in a tractor from Kallaru located in the Liberation Tigers controlled Musali division in Mannar district. Saminathan Jacob, 58, Simion Regin, 22, and Simion Antony Gnanapragasam, 17 of Kokupadaiyan area in Musali DS division were returning with their loaded tractor to Kokupadaiyan when their tractor hit a claymore mine buried along the road by a SLA DPU. The tractor was destroyed in the explosion and all three occupants died on the spot.

Murunkan circuit court proceedings came to an abrupt end when gunmen fired at the building, from their hiding places behind densely grown shrub area at the rear of Murunkan post office building. Mannar Magistrate Mr.N.M.M.Abdullah who was hearing a case, four attorney-at-laws, and litigants fell to the ground for safety.

Several towns and villages arounf Point Pedro in Jaffna were cordoned off and searched between 5:00 a.m. and noon. Manthikai, Yaakaru, and Thunnalai up to Mulli were affected by the search operation. Vehicular traffic was blocked from these areas throughout the morning. Many residents were taken to the SLA camp in Vallipuram and were paraded before masked men, before all detained during the search were released.

SLA soldiers arrested three young women during a check of a passenger bus in Mulli. The women were taken by the SLA for further questioning.

Unidentified gunmen shot and injured a SLA soldier, Lance Corporal M. Karunarathna, 29, in Saththukondan, Batticaloa, near the Saththurukundan SLA camp. The gunmen came in a motor bike and opened fire with a pistol.

Gunman shot and killed Thayanithy Ketheeswaran, 29, a father of one, with a 9mm pistol at his home in Pandiruppu, Kalmunai, south of Batticaloa. He was with his young family in his house when the assailant who came in a vehicle, struck him and escaped.

June 27

Nine Tamil students from Jaffna, following undergraduate course in engineering at the Moratuwa campus, were arrested by Moratuwa Police, and are being detained at the Police station. Police officers did not disclose the reason for the arrests. The students were boarded together in a house owned by a Sinhalese family. Mortuwa Police officers refused to accept the University identity card and ignored pleas by the students. United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian, Mr Maheswaran, contacted senior police officials in Mt Lavania attesting to the bona fides of the students but did not succeed in obtaining their release. The MP said that he has sent an urgent message to the Inspector General of Police, Mr Chandra Fernando informing him of the arrests and urging him to take action to release the students.

Gunmen on motorbikes shot and killed 3 men using military-type 9mm pistols, as they were on their way home in Mylambaveli, Batticaloa. The killings took place 250 meters from the SLA camp at Mylambaveli on the Batticaloa-Trincomalee road. After killing the young men, the gunmen poured gasoline and set the bodies alight. The victims – Sinnaiyah Mahesh Vasanthakumar, 26, from Puvaththegawittiya, Kegalle, Navaratnam Arunasiri, 22, from Vipulananthapuram, Mylambaveli, and Muththukaruparan Krishnakumar, 21, also from Vipulananthapuram – were masons by profession.

Three businessmen who had gone to Vakarai, Batticaloa, in a lorry with a consignment of soft drinks were reported missing three days after they were last seen. Segu Lebbe Ibrahim, 32, from Otamavadi, Indika, 24, from Minneriya, Polannaruwa, and Prasanna, 27, from Polannaruwa did not return after travelling to Vaharai in a lorry with registration number 48-1272, relatives said in the complaint.

One of four missing civilians from Trincomalee who had been reported missing, was found dead Tuesday at Periyakulam in Kuchchaveli Police division. Mr. Anthony Joseph, reported missing on June 25, was found dead with gunshot and cut injuries. The whereabouts of three other Tamil civilians of Bharathipuram in Serunuwara police division are not still known. Nallathamby Gnaneswaran, Paththakutty Thiraviyaraja and Ampalavanapillai Sathasivam were reported missing after they went to Aathiamankerni in search of the cattle they left before being displaced from their village due to violence.

Mr. Selliah Varnakulasingham, 51, a watcher of the Muttur Pradesiya Sabha, was abducted by unidentified men in the heart of government controlled Muttur town as he was travelling in a three wheeler to his home in a LTTE held village in Muttur east.

Over 160 people in Jaffna alone have ‘disappeared’ after being taken into custody by Sri Lankan security forces.

Apart from the figures recorded by the Jaffna office of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (SLHRC), there are many more unreported cases, civil society sources say.

The numbers have steadily increased after the stepping up of search operations by the Sri Lanka Army, HRC officials added.

Some victims were taken away in unmarked vans by uniformed Sri Lankan soldiers wearing black masks, relatives have told the HRC.

Disappearances of people taken into custody by the military have resumed this year. During the conflict time before the 2002 ceasefire, hundreds of people disappeared in Jaffna.

Amnesty International, investigating 600 odd disappearances in 1996 concluded the victims were “tortured to death or deliberately killed.”

On June 18 the Jaffna Commander of SLA, Major General Chandrasiri, had given the an undertaking that a special high ranking committee made up of all service arms of the militarywould work with the Rights Group to look at reports of human rights violations by SL soldiers.

He had also told the new head of the SLHRC for the Jaffna district, Mr. P. Surendiran, that SLA soldiers will not be permitted to wear black masks during their operations.

Many of the disappearances reported to the Jaffna SLHRC are those of persons travelling towards Jaffna Town on the Jaffna Point Pedro Road who have to pass SLA army checkpoints, SLHRC officials pointed out.

There have also been increasing number of persons going missing in the Kopay islets area. They have increased in the wake of the discovery of the bodies of people suspected to have been arrested and murdered by Sri Lankan troops.

The Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (SLHRC) has approximately 10,000 complaints in the Commission’s head office awaiting investigations, said Mr. P Ramanathan the head of the Commission in a press statement released in Colombo late June.

The statement accused some government authorities, administrative heads and judicial establishments for refusing to implement some key recommendations of the Commission to improve human rights.

The Commission expressed concerns over delays encountered in both the commencement and completion of most inquiries, and intends to find ways and means of resolving cases more swiftly.

Army-backed paramilitaries abducted more than 35 underage youths from the villages of Thivuchenai, Karuppalai, Sorivil and Sevanapitty in Batticaloa district in a single day last week.

Parents of the abducted children, gripped by fear for their children’s safety, are reluctant to make complaints to the police or human rights watchdogs, a Grama Sevaka official told reproters.

Tension prevails in the interior villages of Batticaloa district.

Meanwhile, paramilitary cadres working with the SLA abducted 3 youths from Pethalai village in Valaichenai Police area, northern Batticaloa district. Their parents have not reported the incident to the Police or human rights organizations.

Last month the United Nations child agency, UNICEF, last week condemned abductions and forced recruitment of underage youth in the east by the Arm-backed paramilitary Karuna Group and called for an immediate halt to the practice.

The UNICEF statement came amid reports over a hundred youth had been seized from streets and homes last week in the Batticaloa district.

“Over the past week, the agency has verified reports of thirty cases in Batticaloa district. Reports of abduction and forced recruitment of boys under the age of 18 from the area have increased since March of this year,” UNICEF said.

Last month, press reports said more than 125 underage youths had been abducted by the paramilitary Karuna Group during Sri Lanka Army and paramilitry launched cordon and search operations in the Batticaloa district.

The reports said the SLA would arrest the youths and hand them over to paramilitary cadres. Paramilitary cadres were also allowed to enter houses, beat up the underage youths and abduct them for training.

More than 75 youths were abducted in Valaichenai area, 27 youths were abducted in a cordon and search operation in Kiran and another 23 youths were abducted at Santhiveli. The abducted youths were being taken to Thivuchenai in Batticaloa - Polonnaruwa border for forced recruitment in the Karuna Group, reports said.

The youths, studying at year 9 to year 12 at school, are also being abducted by paramilitary cadres riding around government-controlled areas in white vans without number plates.

The economic reforms programme of India’s ruling coalition was dealt a crippling blow last week when a key Tamil Nadu ally threatened to pull out of the government if any stake in the Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) based in the southern state was divested.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) arm-twisting put Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s United Progressive Alliance government under tremendous pressure and he immediately decided to put all proposed divestment plans on the back burner.

The common minimum programme of the UPA government talks about not divesting profit-making PSUs. However, after discussions with its allies and with a view to giving a boost to the economic reforms process, the Union Cabinet decided to sell 10 per cent of its stake in the NLC as a part of its divestment drive.

This led to considerable opposition from the PSU’s employees. The DMK-supported trade union, Labour Progressive Front, the largest trade union at the NLC felt betrayed.

Also unhappy were other allies of the ruling Congress party, the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and the Left parties and their trade unions.

When asked where was the DMK when the Union Cabinet took its controversial decision, T K S Elangovan, organising secretary of the DMK, told rediff.com that two DMK ministers were out of the country at the time and another minister was attending an official function.

But the DMK had earlier supported the NLC divestment plan.In 2002, when the DMK was part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance at the Centre, the government had planned to divest its stake in the NLC but this was opposed by the employees who went on an 8-day strike. At that time, the DMK’s archrival, the AIADMK was the ruling party in Tamil Nadu.

Although the trade unions expressed their displeasure and threatened to agitate, the DMK, now ruling Tamil Nadu, did not make much noise.

So, the disgruntled workers decided to go on a strike. Thus 11,000 workers, 5,000 engineers, 3,000 non-executive staff, 12,000 contract workers, and traders and shopkeepers of the mining town began an indefinite strike from the July 4.

It affected the supply of power to Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Pondicherry. Many rural areas too were affected by power cuts following the strike.

On the morning of the day the strike started, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi wrote to the prime minister again asking him to shelve the proposal. However, there was no response from the prime minister.

It was then that M Karunanidhi issued a statement that if the central government could not resolve the issue, and since the decision taken by the government would be binding on the party, the DMK did not want to be a part of the government.

Elangovan stressed that at no point did the DMK threatened to withdraw support to the government as was reported in the media.

“The Cabinet decision was not in the interest of the labourers. That is why we just wanted to remain away from the government,” Elangovan said. However, he said that the DMK would “continue to support the UPA government, like the Left parties do, from the outside.”

M Karunanidhi wrote in his letter to the prime minister that “some disgruntled elements are trying to instigate violence. Any time that may turn out to be a grave law and order problem. The situation in the NLC is becoming serious day-by-day and the opposition is trying to exploit the situation. The continuation of the problem may result in the total break down in the supply of electricity, not only to Tamil Nadu but also to entire south India.”

After meeting key ministers Premier Singh decided to withhold the entire process of divestment.

So, what will happen to all the divestment plans?

“It is just kept on hold, not abandoned. We will insist that the government divest only the loss-making PSUs. We have no objection to that. We are not against divestment per se; we are only against the divestment of the profit-making PSUs,” Elangovan told rediff.com.

NLC, located in Neyveli - around 197 km south of Chennai - is the largest lignite mining and lignite-based power generating company in India.

The history of the NLC dates back to 1828 when ‘peat,’ a low calorific fuel of the coal family, was found near Point Calimere.

Today, it is one of the Navaratnas, a profit-making PSU, that earns the state Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) every year, after expenses. It has mines and power stations and other facilities worth Rs 46,000 crore (Rs 460 billion). It employs 19,000 people and supplies southern Indian states 2,490 MW of power.

With much ceremony, Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapakse this week inaugurated an elaborate political mechanism, which he says, will produce a viable proposal to end Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict. The Tamil community is absolutely certain it will not. Despite the elaborate unveiling - a spectacle staged for the benefit of the assembled diplomatic corps - the committee on constitutional reforms will go the same way as all such initiatives in the past. And, moreover, for the same reasons. Like other Tamil voices who are dismissing Mr. Rajapakse’s initiative at the outset, we will no doubt come under criticism as unfair cynics - or even recalcitrant spoilers. But our skepticism stems not from latent prejudice or rejection of a negotiated solution. It is based on the visible weaknesses and inherent failings in this initiative that should worry any seasoned observer.

To begin with, the main opposition United National Party (UNP) has already withdrawn its crucially necessary support for Mr. Rajapakse’s initiative. The UNP (which under Ranil Wickremesinghe’s vacillating leadership has secured the adoration of the international community whilst losing its organizational cohesion) is understandably infuriated by the President’s obsessive efforts to poach its MPs. Whilst Sri Lanka has slid to the brink of war in recent months, the President’s puerile focus has been on building up his government’s parliamentary majority.

While less than pleased with Mr. Rajapakse’s victory - assisted by an LTTE-inspired boycott by the Tamils - the international community has continued to work with the new President. Many international actors have taken Rajapakse’s self-projection as a simple ‘man of the people’ too literally, convincing themselves that he is simply not aware of the realities of international affairs or, for that matter, governance in the 21st century. Amongst the few exceptions is India. Delhi knows all too well the character of Sri Lanka’s internal politics and its leading players and, most importantly, the dynamics of the present imbroglio. Which is why India is now stepping up its diplomatic intervention.

Last week Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran traveled to Colombo with a specific mandate: to get the two main Sinhala parties to come together and forge a unified position on how Tamil aspirations could be met. The logic is obvious. Putting a serious political proposal on the table would meet a key demand of the LTTE, put forward by its leader Vellupillai Pirapaharan last November. India has, credible reports say, also urged the implemen-tation of ceasefire-related obligations undertaken by the Rajapakse administration at the talks in Geneva in February to help de-escalate the conflict.

But no sooner had Mr. Sharan returned to Delhi, the bipartisan arrangement he set up fell apart. Mr. Rajapakse turned the loyalties of a UNP MP and upon his crossing over, appointed him a junior minister. The UNP, protesting that the President was more focused on emasculating it than cooperating on the national question, has pulled out of the sham Rajapakse inaugurated this week. Meanwhile, paramilitary attacks against the LTTE haven’t stopped.

The UNP’s exit guarantees that the ‘outbidding’ which has torpedoed every peace proposal, no matter how weak, by previous Sri Lankan governments will happen again. But that is not the end of it. Mr. Rajapakse’s key political allies, the ultra-nationalist JVP and the Buddhist monks’ party, the JHU, have already voiced their strident opposition to powersharing with the Tamils - citing Mr. Rajapakse’s own ‘unitary state or bust’ election manifesto which earned him the majority of Sinhala votes. The JVP and JHU will clearly not allow a decent power-sharing proposal to emerge - they’d rather bring down the government first. Lastly, and most symbolically, the main Tamil party has not even been invited to the deliberations.

But even before all that, the experts Mr. Rajapakse has chosen to come up with a power-sharing proposal beggars belief. Yes, it is a multi-ethnic committee - as if simply belonging to an ethnic stock authorizes one to represent that community. But it is dominated by Sinhala hardliners, including the doyen of ultra-nationalist ideologues, H. L. De Silva.

President Rajapakse is simply going through the motions to appease the international community, particularly India. But his main objective, like his predecessor, is to consolidate his Presidency and prepare to secure another six years when the present term ends. Therefore his immediate priority is not to come up with a serious proposal to offer the Tamils, but, as the splintering UNP is vehemently protesting, to destroy his ruling party’s main rival and consolidate his grip on parliament.

Which is why we are certain nothing will come of the elaborate exercise which President Rajapakse began this week.

The father of a two-year-old girl killed along with two of her grandparents when a huge blaze swept through a flat above the family’s shop had seen sparks emitting from a fridge in the basement days earlier, it was claimed.

Newsagent Ravindran Rasiha - who lost his youngest daughter plus his mother-in-law and father-in-law in the horrific blaze opposite Wimbledon Park tube station afternoon of July 3 - told a pal he had complained to his landlord after spotting sparks coming from a fridge-freezer in the basement below the shop.

Eye-witnesses described how they first spotted flames coming from the basement below the store in a row of shops opposite the tube station, less than a mile from the All England Lawn Tennis Club where the Wimbledon Championships are taking place.

Neighbours named the grandparents who died as Vellupillai Sivagnanam, who was in his 70s, and his wife Thanalaksmi Sivagnanam. They were originally from Sri Lanka.

Their daughter Gowri Ravindran, who is in her 30s, was taken to hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation after a hero van driver helped rescue her from the blaze before firefighters arrived at the scene.

Her husband Ravindran Rasiha, also in his mid-thirties, was working in the shop below when the fire began. He was also taken to hospital for treatment.

The child who died in the fire is believed to be Ravindran and Gowri’s youngest daughter. Their other daughter, about six-years-old, was at school when flames engulfed the family’s home.

One close family friend, who asked not to be named, said: “It’s truly horrible they are a very close family. Ravindran, the father of the little girl, is devastated. He has lost half his family.”

Neighbour Vijaya Karunaratne, who works in nearby Wimbledon Park Post Office, said: “I came out and saw smoke billowing out of the building. The flames were coming from the basement and climbing the building.

“There were fumes everywhere. I ran out on to the street and I could feel the heat from the fire. It was burning hot.

“Then I saw the fire crew bring out three bodies. Two were in blue body bags, and the other was carried on a stretcher. I felt sick. It was horrible.

“A van driver who had tried to rescue the family was trying to get Ravindran’s wife out, but she wouldn’t budge. She wouldn’t leave without her family. She knew they were trapped inside, but they didn’t have a chance.”

He added: “I spoke to Ravindran only a few days ago. He told me he had just seen sparks coming from the fridge freezer in the basement of his shop. He said he had already told the landlord about it and was waiting to hear back from him.

“I don’t know if that was how the fire started but, if so, it is tragic and the landlord will be a very worried man.”

A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said post mortems and an inquest would be opened and adjourned in due course. Local police officers and London Fire Brigade investigators were probing the cause of the blaze.

June 12

A SLA soldier was killed Monday when a claymore mine hit a road clearing patrol at Barathipuram, Vavuniya. Another soldier and a civilian were wounded.

A SLA raiding party exploded a claymore mine in the LTTE controlled Mathiyamadu village, seriously wounding the driver of the vehicle in which Vavuniya North Divisional Secretary was riding. The driver, N. Balasingam, was rushed to Vavuniya hospital but succumbed to his wounds. The Divisional Secretary, Mr. Pathmanathan, was wounded.

Also within LTTE-held Vanni, a SLA claymore attack targeted devotees travelling to Vatrapalai temple festival on Nedunkerny Mulliavalai Road. No casualties were reported.

A senior member of the Jaffna branch of the White Pigeon, a non government organization, was shot and seriously injured by unidentified armed men at his house in Moolai in the Jaffna peninsula. Thangarasa Mukunthan, 41, a former member of the Jaffna Municipal Council, was rushed to Jaffna teaching hospital.

Over one hundred Tamil families fled from the village of Pariharakandal in Mannar when more five hundred SLA soldiers entered the village of Sirukandal, a mile away, Monday morning and established a camp in a cemetery. By noon the entire village of Sirukandal was deserted and all the shops closed.

Another group of SLA soldiers entered Arippu village through Nanattan-Achchankulam road along the banks of Aruvi Aru Monday morning. About two hundred families in the village fled and sought refuge in the St. Mary''s Church in the area. Later that morning the villagers returned to their houses. However heads of the fisher families are not going out to sea, afraid to leave their families alone.

Mr. Iruthayarajah, alias Kannan, 34, father of one, has been reported missing since June 7 after he left his village Pallimunai to Mannar town to buy provisions, according to a complaint lodged with the Mannar office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka by his relatives on Monday.

June 11

Nine civilians were injured in a grenade explosion at Thirunelvely market, north of Jaffna town. The injured were admitted to Jaffna Hospital.

SLA authorities in Vavuniya said troops shot and killed a suspected Tamil Tiger at Pandarikkulam. They said the youth was riding pillion in a motorbike and attempted to fire at the soldiers with a pistol when the soldiers directed the riders to stop at a road check. The youth riding the motorbike escaped. A grenade was recovered from the youth, Armukam Jeganathan, 24, of Meesalai in Jaffna peninsula, the Army said.

A SLA DPU exploded a claymore mine, killing two civilians on a motorbike inside LTTE controlled territory, at Palaipani in Vavuniya west Sunday.

SLA Lance Corporal M Kumararatne, 34, was killed by sniper fire while on security duties at the Vavunativu, Batticaloa SLA camp.

June 10

Lieutenant Colonel Mahenthi, an LTTE Commander in the Mannar district, was killed along with three LTTE cadres in a claymore attack in an LTTE-controlled area carried out by SLA soldiers on Saturday. Lt. Col. Mahenthi, former head of a unit in Jaffna, was an area commander in Mannar district.

A SLA sniper shot and killed Batticaloa Kudumbimalai Political Coordinator Ramanitharan in Murakkoddanchenai Saturday. The incident took place at Thihiliveddai, a hamlet across the lagoon from Santhiveli, about 24 kilometres north of Batticaloa. The sniper had targeted the LTTE official from the SLA controlled area beyond the lagoon from Murakkoddanchenai.

A 67-year old Tamil businessman, riding in a car, was shot near Vihara Lane in Wellawate, Colombo, Saturday. Mr. Ramachandran received five gunshot wounds and succumbed on the way to hospital. The gunman escaped.

A farmer, Navaratnam Srinagathasan, 32, seriously wounded in a claymore attack Saturday succumbed to his wounds at Killinochchi hospital.

Two employees of the World Bank-funded North East Irrigated Agriculture Project (NEIAP) were wounded in a separate SLA claymore attack in Nedunkerni, in Vavuniya district.

Unidentified gunmen shot dead two Tamil passengers, including a 12-year old boy, travelling in a Trincomalee bound bus from Muttur town, Saturday afternoon. Another Tamil passenger was critically injured. The incident took place at Puliyadichchanthi in the Sri Lanka government controlled Muttur town located in the midst of several SLA camps and sentry points. Gunmen on a motorbike stopped the bus along Muttur-Batticaloa road, entered it and fired at the passengers. Vimalanathan Sajeevan, 12, of Koonitheivu in Muttur East and Krishnapillai Ravichandran, 43, Menkamam in Muttur division died in the attack. Nadarajah Paranthaman of Allesgarden was critically injured and admitted to hospital.

Two civilians, a Muslim and a Tamil, were killed and another person injured when SLA soldiers lying in ambush between Kurankupanchchan and Uharveddu in the Kinniya division opened fire. The victims were returning with firewood in two bullock carts when they were fired at. Kathirgamathamby Mathivanan (42) of Eachantivu and Mohamed Remis (20) of Faizal Nagar in Kinniya town were killed.

June 9

Paramilitary gunmen in a white van and riding motorbikes chased and abducted 6 students walking along the road in Batticaloa Thursday. The students were abducted 150 meters from the Police station on the Iruthayapuram Selva road. They were on their way to Valaichenai from Batticlaoa town after having attending private tuition classes. 30 students in the Batticaloa region have been abducted in the past few weeks, civil society sources told TamilNet.

A SLA road patrol arrested two Tamil youths at Murakoddanchenai in Batticaloa Thursday while they were riding their bicycles and handed them to Eravur Police after interrogating them. Arumugam Suchanand, 22, from Kiran and Nadarasa Arulanandarasa, 19, from Santhiveli are held at Earvur police station for further investigations.

Unidentified gunmen on a motorbike shot and seriously injured a village level administration officer at his house Friday. Joseph Ratnarajah, 58, was actively taking part in organizing the exhumation of bodies of suspected military and paramilitary victims at Kaithady, Jaffna.(See details June 7)

The body of Rasiah Muraleeswaran, 42, of Meesalai East, a mason employed in the FORUT housing scheme for the tsunami affected at Nilavan Settlement Scheme in Polikandy in Vadamaradchy north, was found at the building site Friday. He had been bludgeoned to death. Nilavan settlement, where the body was found, is located within a SLA High Security Zone (HSZ) in Jaffna. Rasiah Muraleeswaran, father of two children, had earlier worked for the LTTE tsunami rehabilitation scheme before joining the FORUT as a mason. Meanwhile, another mason, Rajani, 26, from Pungudutivu, working in the same housing scheme of FORUT, has been reported as missing from Thursday.

A blast was reported around in LTTE controlled Mannar area near Pallamadu, but casualty details were not available.

June 8

SLA soldiers armed with bayonets and knives entered the house of a family of four and murdered all of them in Vankalai, Mannar, Thursday night (see separate story, page 9).

A trainee caretaker and a Sinhalese driver of a water supply contractor, Thummara Enterprises, were killed in a claymore attack carried out by a SLA DPU in LTTE controlled part of Mannar district Thursday. The victims were identified as Alocious Rex Sasiharan, 24, and H.M.Amarasekara, 45. The Mannar district field commander of the LTTE was travelling in another vehicle on the same road 5 minutes behind the civilian vehicle that was ambushed.

Four health officials of the Tamil Eelam Health Service Mobile Medical Service were wounded when a SLA DPU exploded a claymore mine. A nurse and the driver of the vehicle were seriously wounded in the attack at Akkarayan, 20 km from Kilinochchi.

The SLA said two soldiers were injured in a mortar attack on the Kiran camp by the LTTE Thursday, to which they retaliated with mortar fire. However the LTTE in Batticaloa said that SLA had first attacked their positions forcing the LTTE gunners to retaliate. The SLA cordoned off and searched in the Kiran region, following the exchange of fire.

Unidentified men on a motorbike lobbed a hand grenade on the Valaichenai police sentry post and had escaped without being caught. No one was injured.

Twenty-one Tamil youths from Kaluvanachikudy and LTTE controlled territory in Batticaloa were arrested in a roundup search conducted by the SLA and the police in the Eravur public market and its surroundings Thursday. The youths arrested had come to the Eravur public market to buy provisions. 9 of the 21 were detained for further investigations while the rest were released after inquiries.

June 7

Ten civilians, including three children, were killed and ten others, including two infants aged 3 and 8 months, were wounded in a SLA pressure mine explosion inside a LTTE controlled border village at Nedunkal in Vadamunai, Batticaloa on Wednesday. Batticaloa District Political Head of the LTTE Daya Mohan said that SLA troopers who had moved beyond the LTTE FDL were behind the attack. Seven civilians were killed on the spot while three succumbed to their wounds on the way to hospital. Twenty civilians were riding in the tractor that was attacked, said S. Oliyan, LTTE''s Kudumbimalai area coordinator. The villagers were making their regular 28km grocery journey from Vadamunai village to Kiran as the route to the closer shops in Welikande has been blocked.

Unidentified persons fired at a sentry point of the Sri Lanka Police at Katkadanthakulam junction on Mannar-Madawachchi Road, about 30 km south of Mannar town Wednesday. Police returned fire, but no casualties were reported. Later the Police visited the village and took the residents to a nearby church, where they sought the assistance of the villagers in curbing the violence in the area and also asked them to provide information about strangers coming to the area.

A decomposed body was found buried in Kaithady, a sub-division of Jaffna district, near the site where the body of the Hindu priest was discovered earlier in the week. The area is under the control of the SLA’s 52nd division. The body was identified as belonging to Visuvalingam Paranitharan who was reported missing one month ago while he was riding on a motorbike on Kopay - Neerveli road. The body was discovered in shallow grave in wasteland 200 meters away from A9 highway and the possible presence of another 2 bodies suggested this could be a mass grave. The find confirms earlier suspicions of Kaithady residents who allege that disappeared men and women were tortured, and subsequently killed and buried in this particular SLA camp premises.

June 6

Military officials reported a claymore explosion near the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, at Mahapage, 50 meters from the Welisara Navy (SLN) camp in Ragama, on the Colombo-Negombo Road, Tuesday. A bus driver was wounded in the blast, which is the first claymore attack to be reported in Colombo. The attackers had targeted a Navy convoy, police said. A cordon and search operation was launched at the blast site.

Bodies of two unidentified youths were found Tuesday lying near a school in Thangapuram, a Tamil village in the Serunuwara police division in Trincomalee. They were identified as Thangathurai Kugan, 22, and Mylvaganam Kumarathurai, 21, of Killiveddy area in the Muttur division. Serunuwara Police reported to the Muttur Magistrate that both youths had been shot by 9 mm pistol. Residents of the area said they heard gunshots previous night around 7.30 p.m. and found the bodies next morning.

Unknown gunmen shot and killed two men alleged to be members of the paramilitary EPDP Tuesday morning while they were walking out of the SLA camp in Velanai in the Jaffna islets. The EPDP said that the men killed were supporters of their party and not members.

Two unidentified gunmen riding on motorbike lobbed hand grenades injuring a SLA trooper engaged in security duty in Amman Veethy region near Kantharmadam in Jaffna. The attackers escaped on their motor bike after the explosion. The SLA troopers indiscriminately fired after the attack, cordoned off and searched the area, but no one was arrested.

Two Sri Lanka Police officers were killed and two seriously injured in a claymore attack near the Pandarikulam road in Vairavapuliyankulam in Vavuniya Tuesday. The claymore hit the van the officers were travelling in. SLA soldiers opened fire after the explosion and conducted a cordon and search operation in the area.

A paramilitary gunman riding a bicycle shot and killed a security guard of the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital, at the main entrance of the hospital. The victim, Sivalingam Rajanikanth, 25, a resident of Arayampathi, was gunned down when he went to the shop in front of the hospital, located in high security zone.

Unidentified gunmen forced a Tamil teacher out of the bus he was travelling in from Valaichenai and shot him with a pistol. Yoganathan Satheeswaran 25, who was travelling with his sister, was rushed to hospital, but succumbed to his injuries the next day. Mr Satheeswaran, a teacher engaged in educating school dropouts project of UNICEF in the Oorikadu Government Tamil Mixed School in Vaharai, travels to his work from Valaichenai. Paramilitaries operating with the SLA are suspected of killing him, Vaharai residents said.

Unidentified attackers lobbed a grenade into the check post of the 21-2 SLA camp in Mannar Stadium, wounding three soldiers and a policeman. One soldier was being treated at Mannar hospital while the other three, two of them critically wounded, were rushed to Thallady army camp for airlifting to Anuradhapura hospital. SLA soldiers opened fire for 3 minutes in the area following the attack.

June 5

An unidentified male body, with gunshot wounds, was taken to Batticaloa hospital from Navatkadu Monday morning. Residents at the area said they heard gunfire around 8:00 p.m. Sunday.

Two men were killed in a claymore blast at Sinnavembu in Kumburumoolai, Batticaloa, Monday. Kalkuda police said the two men were killed while they were fixing the claymore mine. SLA soldiers, who rushed to the site upon hearing an explosion, also recovered weapons, including a handgun, from the attackers, police said.

A SLA soldier was killed in a clash that erupted between a group of armed men and soldiers near Eruvittan junction, south of Mannar, Monday. Civilians in the area were assaulted by the SLA troopers following the clash. A grenade explosion and continuous exchange of gunfire was reported for more than 10 minutes.

The SLN arrested 37 Tamil refugees and two boatmen fleeing to South India in two boats from Mannar shore Monday. These refugees include women and children were among the displaced from Trincomalee coastal villages and staying in Pesalai St. Mary''s School. SLN officials in Mannar handed the arrested refugees to the Mannar Divisional Secretary Ms Stanley de Mel for the safe custody in the Pesalai St Mary''s Tamil School.

Meanwhile the Mannar Divisional Secretary requested the naval authorities located in the Sunny Village Naval Camp to hand over the Mannar Youth Corp Centre for allowing more refugees to stay there. But the naval authorities have refused as soldiers of the SLN and Police are using the centre building as their camp.

June 4

Two SLA soldiers were injured when unidentified attackers riding a motorbike, lobbed a grenade at a check post at Perumal temple, close to 51-2 Brigade HQ, in Jaffna. SLA soldiers retaliated by firing at the attackers. The area was cordoned off and searched by the troopers.

June 3

One SLA soldier was wounded when gunmen opened fire at four SLA soldiers at Vantharumooolai, northwest of Batticaloa town. The wounded soldier, A.V. Seneviratne, 38, was rushed to Sittandy SLA camp. The soldiers were resting behind a temple when they were attacked. Later that afternoon SLA soldiers arrested three youths during a cordon and search operation. Manickavel Navaratnam, 28, from Kaluvankerni, Arumugam Varatharajah, 36, from Valaichenai in Puthukudiyiruppu, and Shanmugam Varathan, 23, from Sithandy Velayutham Road, were detained, interrogated and handed over to the Eravur Police.

All traffic on Batticaloa-Kalmunai road stopped as Kallady bridge, south of Batticaloa town, was shut down after a claymore attack Saturday. SLA troops and police launched a cordon and search operation in the area. No one was reported injured in the explosion, which targeted an SLA road clearing patrol.

Unknown gunmen riding in a motorbike shot and killed a Ceylon Transport Board worker and wounded another youth, who were standing outside Valaichenai bus stand, Saturday. The CTB worker, Vaithilingam Vijitharan, 26, from Karuvakerni, died on the spot. Peethambaram Mohulan, a 24-year old from Valaichenai, talking with Vijitharan, was wounded.

SLA soldiers and paramilitary gunmen opened fire and killed a local election candidate and his relative in Valaichenai, 500 meters from the Police station. Nalliah Vimalendran, father of two children and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) candidate for the local elections in Koralaipattu Pradeshiya Sabah (PS), and his relative Thambirajah Sithiravadivel, father of four, were killed. Vimalendran and Sithiravadivel were gunned down while on their way home after visiting the parents of Vijitharan, who was gunned down near the Batticaloa Assistant Police Commissioner''s office in front of CTB Bus stand.

One SLA soldier was killed and two seriously injured in a claymore attack on their vehicle inside a SLA controlled HSZ north of the Muhamalai checkpoint, in the Jaffna peninsula. The attack happened in a non-residential area interior to Kandy-Jaffna A9 highway in Eluthumadduval area between Mirusuvil and Muhamalai. The claymore targeted a pickup truck regularly used by high-level officers of the SLA.

SLA sentry points located near Kaakaithivu junction in Aanaikottai area, inside the Jaffna Municipal perimeter, were fired on from the nearby housing development Saturday. SLA soldiers returned fire but no one was injured in the firefight. The gunmen used a house vacated by a family who moved to Vanni to mount the attack and escaped. SLA soldiers cordoned off and searched Aanaikottai area, Kanagampuliyady and KKS road, but no arrests were made.

A Muslim civilian was killed when SLA troopers in Mannar town opened fire after an SLA soldier and two policemen were wounded in a grenade attack in front of the SLA camp in Mannar Stadium. Shops were closed and civilians remained indoors following the incident. The civilian was identified as Hussain from Uppukulam. An SLA soldier, Upali Jegath, 42, was seriously wounded in the grenade attack. He and the wounded police constables, Ratnayake, 32, and Silva, 36, were rushed to Thallady SLA 21-2 base and airlifted to Anuradhapura hospital.

SLA Corporal Karunaratne was killed and another trooper injured in a claymore mine attack while they were returning to camp after a road clearing mission at Kokkuthoduvai in Manalaru.

June 2

Unidentified persons exploded a claymore mine on the Kaluvankerny Road in Vantharumoolai, Batticaloa, Friday, targeting SLA troopers on duty near the Railway track, killing one, M. Tilakaratne, 34, on the spot and seriously injuring three. The claymore mine was fixed on a mango tree near the railway track, police said.

Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) troopers from Pulukunavai camp shelled Thanthamalai Murugan temple, located in LTTE controlled territory southwest of Batticaloa, where Saiva devotees gathered Friday evening for voluntary preparation work ahead of annual festivals. No one was wounded in the STF shelling.

Unidentified persons lobbed a hand grenade at a SLA unit patrolling along the Kaithady-Kopay road in Thenmaradchchy Jaffna, Friday causing minor injuries to two troopers. The troops arrested the Hindu priest at a nearby Temple during the cordon and search operation following the grenade attack and assaulted him severely before releasing him in the evening.

June 1

Two paramilitary EPDP cadres, Sebastian Thavarasa, 37, and Arumugan Lokanathan Arivu, 19, were shot and killed at Pandarikulam in Vavuniya Thursday by unidentified gunmen.

A member of the Tamil Eelam Auxilliary Force, Varothayan Sritharan, was killed, and another injured in a claymore attack by the SLA in the LTTE controlled Nedunkerny area in Vavuniya, Thursday morning.

On Thursday night an LTTE cadre was killed in an SLA attack on the LTTE FDL at Kaakaiyan Kulam, Vavuniya.

Unidentified attackers lobbed a grenade at the office of the EPDP in Batticaloa, wounding the media coordinator of the group in Batticaloa, Kandiah Arumailingam, 63. The EPDP office is located in a SLA high security area in Batticaloa.

Unidentified men lobbed a hand grenade inside a house in Puthur area in Batticaloa Thursday night killing Rasiah Kanesan, 56, on the spot.

Selvarajah Gajanathan, a Tamil Co-operative Development Officer (CDO) was abducted from the Kaddaiparichchan SLA camp Thursday. An unidentified person in civil clothes seized him in the presence of SLA soldiers when he went to facilitate the transfer of relief material to Muttur east.

Nearly a hundred families consisting of around 500 people fled from their villages near Vankalai in Mannar Thursday when SLA troopers based at the Vankalai SLA camp opened indiscriminate fire on the residents for 20 minutes after a claymore explosion killed a soldier in Naruvilikulam. The claymore, targeting a two-wheel tractor carrying dinner to the SLA check post, killed one soldier and injured two. Ms. A. Lorenzia, a 12 year old girl and her father A. Arulnesan, 42, were seriously injured in the SLA fire were taken to hospital Friday as they could not travel on the night of the attack due to fear of more violence.

May 31

Unidentified gunmen lobbed a hand grenade at a shop owner and, when it failed to explode, opened fire, injuring a 48 year old bystander at Thalavai in Eravur, Batticaloa. Kanesan Navaratnam the shop owner escaped injuries while Nahappan Parthipan, who happened to be nearby, was injured. Mr Kanesan had allegedly refused to meet several previous extortion demands, and local residents speculated that the attack was linked to the demands.

Unknown gunmen opened fire at the STF sentry post at the 25th mile post in Maha oya - Mangalagama border area of Batticaloa, Wednesday killing a home guard, Shantha Bandara, who was on sentry duties at the post. The STF opened fire for 45 minutes, before cordoning off the area and conducting a search.

Batticaloa Government Agent (GA), S. Punniyamoorthy, said Wednesday that more than 65 families fleeing from the border villages of Batticaloa district have been placed in the Kirimichchai school building in the LTTE controlled region. The families fled their village in fear following the killings of 13 Sinhalese settlers on Monday in Omadiayamadu near Welikanthai, the GA said.

A body was found along Keery sea beach in Mannar town in a fertilizer bag on Wednesday, and was identified the following day as belonging to Arulappu Jesuthasan Prince Croos, 38, who had been arrested by SLA soldiers from Mannar Bazaar area on 26 May. His brother identified Croos, a father of three children, who several witnesses reported as having been last seen being arrested by three SLA soldiers.

SLA and LTTE fighters exchanged mortar and artillery fire near the Nagarkovil FDL in Vadamaradchy east Wednesday. The LTTE advanced a significant distance towards the SLA''s FDL and the SLA was forced to move back from their FDLs, reports said. Defense officials in Jaffna however said that SLA soldiers had beaten back the limited advance by the Tigers. Although there were fears of several casualties, neither side revealed details.

SLA Lance Corporal Chandraratne, 41, was killed during a firefight between a SLA foot patrol and unknown gunmen along the Jaffna Point-Pedro road, between Nelliady junction and Malisanthai junction. The firefight, which lasted nearly 15 minutes, occurred in an area that has 24-hour SLA protection. Two SLA troopers were injured.

May 30

The body of a female 30 to 35 years of age, suspected as that of a Muslim woman, was found on Oluvil beach in Akkaraipattu, Batticaloa Tuesday by local residents.

Two SLA soldiers were seriously injured when a group of five unidentified gunmen fired at soldiers working in a compound near Chulipuram junction in Valligamam, Jaffna. The soldiers were cutting trees to reinforce the SLA camp near Chullipuram Victoria College when the attack took place. Security officials, however, said only one soldier was injured. Residents who witnessed the incident said that they saw at least two soldiers being transported in a vehicle to Palaly Military Hospital. SLA soldiers immediately cordoned off the area and conducted a house-to-house search, but no one was arrested according to local residents.

May 29

One SLA trooper was killed and three injured in a claymore attack at Jeyanthapuram, north of Batticaloa. The attack took place about 100 meters from Jeyanthipuram SLA camp.

Masked gunmen shot dead Thankaraja Rajanikanth, 26, a labourer who had left the LTTE several years ago in Peythalai-Karungkalicholai within Valaichchenai police division in Batticaloa. Unidentified armed men entered Mr Thankaraja''s house at midnight looking for him and were told by his mother that he was at a neighbour’s. The gunmen took Mr Thankarajah by force from the neighbour''s house some distance away for interrogation before shooting him dead at close range.

Unknown attackers entered the Sinhala settlement village of Rantharathenna in Omadiyamadu, in Polonnaruwa, Batticaloa border and shot and cut to death 13 Sinhala settlers. The attackers set fire to the victims'' belongings and equipment used in the irrigation project the settlers were working on. 2 persons were admitted to hospital and additional SLA soldiers were rushed to the village. LTTE Media Coordinator, Daya Master, charged that elements seeking to discredit the Tigers were behind the massacre of the Sinhalese workers. Gunmen seeking to stigmatise the Tigers after the EU ban, had"designed and executed" the killings in the border village of Omadiyamadu, which was once used by the paramilitary Karuna Group, Daya Master said. The timing of the massacre has been planned after the formal, politically motivated, proscription of the Tigers, he added.

Unidentified gunmen opened fire on SLA troopers of the Kalkuda camp on the Pethalai road in the Valaichenai police division in Batticaloa, injuring two SLA troopers. Wijeyasekara, 34, and Jakath, 38, the two injured troopers, were rushed to Valaichenai hospital where they are being treated. The gunmen, hiding themselves in the site, fired on the SLA troopers, wounding an Ottamvadi aluminium utensils trader as well in the shootout. SLA troopers deployed at several sites in the area immediately opened fire indiscriminately, assaulting several passers-by along the Pethalai road. The troopers also arrested many of the civilians and took them to the SLA Harbour Camp on the Kalkuda road.

Two fishermen who went to fish in Araly West seas in Valigamam were found murdered, and their bodies recovered from shrub jungles close to the Araly coast. Residents of Araly, Jaffna, blame SLN soldiers. Nagarajah Selvarajah and Nadarajah Nageswaran, both married and estimated to be between ages of 35-40, went fishing in shallow waters of Kottaikadu in Araly West Sunday evening. Relatives of the fishermen went in search of them when both failed to return Monday morning, discovered the bodies in Kottaikadu coastal shrub jungles and informed the Vaddukoddai police.

Unknown gunmen killed Subramaniam Thevaraj (alias Ranjan) in Erlalai North near the border of Palaly HSZ in Jaffna. Thevaraj, from Kupilan, was on his way to the Multi-purpose co-operative society to buy provisions when three unidentified youths shot him at close range and escaped. He was earlier employed in Tamil Eelam Employment and Income Section in Jaffna in the LTTE run civil administration.

In Navanthurai, Jaffna, Michael Johnson was shot dead by unknown gunmen in front of St. Nicholas Church. Mr Jesudasan, 40, was a member of the paramilitary EPDP and a candidate in the postponed local Jaffna Municipal Council elections.

SLA troopers who penetrated 4 kilometres into LTTE controlled Vilathikulam from the SLA camp in Iranai Iuppaikkulam, 20 km northwest of Vavuniya, exploded a claymore mine killing a civilian, Subramaniam Jeyarooban, 24, who was cycling.

A 24 year old Tamil youth arrested nearly a month earlier in Iruthayapuram in government controlled Muttur division by the SLA during a cordon and search operation has not been produced in court yet, relatives protested. Mr. K. Thurairatnasingham, Trincomalee district TNA parliamentarian Monday requested the Deputy Inspector General of Police for Eastern Region to urgently inquiry into the whereabouts of the youth. Suntharalingam Ravichandran of Manalsenai was arrested by army soldiers on April 28. His wife had made a complaint to the Muttur Police on April 29, a day after his arrest, but no action has been taken.

Vimalasuriar Thehilarajah, 26, who was seriously injured in a shooting incident in Vaddukoddai Sunday, succumbed to his injuries in Jaffna Teaching Hospital. He was a friend of the owner of a communications centre in Vaddukkodai, Jaffna and was injured in a shooting that claimed the life of the centre’s owner, Pooranam Sabesan, 26. Gunmen, allegedly belonging to paramilitaries working with SLA intelligence, bound the hands of the two, took them to an area behind the shop and sprayed the men with bullets from short range. Meanwhile, unknown gunmen who visited another video shop close to Sabesan''s business, threatened the employees by brandishing a hand grenade, took their photographs and then disappeared.

India last week politely but firmly made it clear to Sri Lanka that its security forces must stop killing innocent Tamils in the name of combating the Tamil Tigers.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera was conveyed the message by India’s political leadership which while being firmly committed to the island’s unity is bothered by increasing reports of attacks on innocent Tamils.

Political parties in Tamil Nadu are up in arms against the killings of Tamils in Sri Lanka. A string of protests took place in the state on June 19, organised by mainstream parties as well as Tamil nationalist groups.

Last Tuesday, the Tamil Nadu chief minister’s office issued a statement saying Singh had phoned Karunanidhi and told him that “appropriate steps” would be taken to restore peace in Sri Lanka.

Samaraweera, who flew in on Wednesday night from London on a previously unscheduled trip, first met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan exclusively and then had an extended meeting along with officials. Before flying to Colombo he met Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed at the Indira Gandhi international airport.

India’s concern follows rapidly worsening situation in Sri Lanka where more than 800 people have been killed since December.

An informed source told Indo-Asian News Service: “[Smaraweera] was told that civilian casualties should be avoided... and we hope that Sri Lankan security forces will not respond to provocations and be restrained.”

The cycle of killings and counter-killings, for which blame has fallen on the security forces, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and anti-LTTE Tamil groups, has made a mockery of the 2002 Norway-brokered ceasefire between Colombo and the Tigers.
The violence has led to a panic run of distraught Tamil civilians to Tamil Nadu, the Indian state separated from Sri Lanka by a narrow strip of sea.

This in turn has generated a lot of heat in Tamil Nadu, where both the ruling DMK and opposition parties have pressed New Delhi to take steps to try to bring peace in the island nation.

A statement issued by the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and its allies had stated: “The Sri Lankan issue has already brought some unwanted disasters and the (central government) should ... take steps to bring peace in Sri Lanka.”

Former chief minister and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader Jayaram Jayalalitha has also expressed anguish over the “killing of innocent people in the fighting between the Sri Lankan army and the LTTE.”

She has demanded immediate action from the central government to bring peace to Sri Lanka.

Samaraweera, who was also in New Delhi last month, told Manmohan Singh that President Mahinda Rajapakse was committed to peace no matter what stand the LTTE took.

Samaraweera quoted Rajapakse as saying that “war is not an option” for Sri Lanka.

“We are committed to a political solution and want to go in for devolution of powers based on discussions at the all party conference (in Sri Lanka),” he told the Indian premier and Narayanan.

Colombo, the minister went on, wanted to talk to the LTTE to resolve the decades-long ethnic conflict. “For this government and for our president, war is not an option,” Samaraweera insisted.

Manmohan Singh heard out Samaraweera and expressed happiness over the minister’s assurances that Sri Lanka was not readying for war.

National Security Advisor Narayanan is expected to fly to Tamil Nadu shortly to appraise Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi about the discussions with Samaraweera.

Among other things Karunanidhi is seriously concerned over continuing attacks by Sri Lankan security forces on fishermen from Tamil Nadu.

Diplomats in Colombo fear that both Colombo and LTTE appear to be inching towards a full-fledged conflict although neither side wants to earn flak from the international community by provoking a war.

India follows the Sri Lanka situation closely and is in touch with Norway, which is engaged in desperate efforts to rescue the derailed peace process.

Sri Lanka’s Army-backed Tamil paramilitaries are seeking recruits amongst Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu, offering hefty salaries, an Indian news agency reported this week.

The Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front (ENDLF), an India-based paramilitary group now operating in an anti-LTTE grouping under the Karuna Group, is seeking recruits from refugee camps and orphanages in southern India, tehelka.com reported, citing local press reports.

The recruitment is being conducted with the knowledge of India’s external intelligence agency, RAW (Research and Analysis Wing), tehlka.com added.

The ENDLF, reportedly headed by Paranthan Rajan, has been recruiting cadres for the Karuna Group (named after the renegade LTTE commander who heads it) from refugee camps in Tamil Nadu, telhelka.com quoted local press reports as saying.

New recruits were being offered Rs 10,000 on joining, with more promised when they reached Sri Lanka.

Rajan, a veteran paramilitary operating in India since 1990, has also been associated with an orphanage for Tamil refugees based in Bangalore, tehelka.com reported. One of the charges against him is that he sent some boys from the orphanage to participate in militant activities in Sri Lanka.

Rajan has contacts with several anti-LTTE groups, and he himself has been associated with several outfits, tehelka.com reported.

Originally a member of the People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), Rajan left it to form Three Stars, along with dissidents from two other groups — Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) and Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF).

In 1987, when the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was in Sri Lanka, Rajan came into contact with RAW officials, who created ENDLF by merging Three Stars and splinter groups of PLOTE and EPRLF. In 1990, soon after the IPKF left Sri Lanka, Rajan, along with cadres of many other pro-Indian groups, shifted base to India. Rajan operated out of Chennai and Bangalore.

Rajan came to Indian intelligence officials’ attention when he joined Karuna’s group and formed a political outfit — Tamileela Iykkia Viduthalai Munnani. Given his background, observers feel Rajan’s alliance with Karuna might be RAW’s handiwork.

“Rajan’s unusually lengthy stay in India — he first arrived in India in 1990 — and his unrestricted movement here, coupled with his anti-LTTE activities on Indian soil, are seen as concrete proof that he is a RAW agent,” tehelka.com said.

The recently defeated Jayalalithaa government had arrested Rajan in 2004 – observers feel that he misread signals following Jayalalithaa’s crackdown on pro-LTTE groups in Tamil Nadu and felt he could have a free run with his anti-LTTE propaganda.

But he was released at the behest of RAW, tehelka.com said..

And Rajan was said to be once again active in Tamil Nadu, even though he had been deported last year on the condition that he would not return to India, tehelka.com said.

Sources told tehelka.com that Rajan landed in Bangalore a few weeks before the May 2006 Assembly elections and shifted to Tamil Nadu after the DMK came to power in May.

Police are not sure about Rajan’s present location. Asked if he might be holed up in some other Indian state like Orissa, where several pro-Indian militant leaders are believed to be hiding, an official told telhelka.com he could comment only on the situation in Tamil Nadu.

According to another Indian official, Rajan is currently in Batticaloa in Sri Lanka, which happens to be Karuna Group’s main area of operation.

The ENDLF is being used by RAW to as a rallying point of anti-LTTE groups, tehelka.com reported.

Rajan’s actions could have had RAW’s blessings as it might have had an interest in promoting Karuna and neutralising LTTE leader Vellupillai Pirapaharan’s appeal in Tamil Nadu, tehelka.com said.

In the wake of the April 2004 crushing of Karuna’s rebellion against the LTTE, Sri Lanka’s military has brought a number of paramilitary groups, including the ENDLF under one grouping to wage a campaign against the LTTE and its supporters.

ENDLF cadres based in India have been rotating into Sri Lanka’s Northeast on one-year visas issued by the Sri Lankan government to bolster the ‘shadow war.’

The covert war of attrition that has now escalated into a low-intensity war between the Sri Lankan armed forces and the LTTE – which has sent over three thousand people fleeing to southern India in the past few months.

The biggest church in Sri Lanka “has been desecrated by innocent blood being shed [in it] by unjust aggressors, the Sri Lanka Navy,” Bishop of Mannar, Rt. Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph, protested this week in a letter to the Vatican, through the Apostolic Nuncio to the island.

“Today I buried the six civilians murdered by the Navy at Pesalai yesterday,” the outraged Bishop wrote Sunday. The local people are “mortally afraid of the Navy” and when they met the local Navy commander, 7,000 people of Pesalai begged to be allowed to flee to India or LTTE-controlled Vanni, he said.

In his lengthy letter to the Holy See setting out an eyewitness-based account of the navy’s rampage through the coastal village, Bishop Joseph described the cold-blooded summary execution of five fishermen unfortunate enough to be outside working on their boats as vengeful navy personnel stormed through the village.

He also described how the Church of Our Lady of Victory at Pesalai was surrounded by the navy personnel who then fired through holes in the main doors, wounding many people, and then forced open a window and tossed two grenades in, “resulting in one lady’s head being blown off in the church and several others sustaining injuries, some serious.”

Amongst the dead were three Catholics, including the 75-year old woman, two Hindus and a Muslim, he said.

The Bishop complained how the area commander of the Sri Lanka Army in Mannar had subsequently refused permission for him to go to Pesalai to attend to the casualties and how “after much efforts, the Divisional Secretary and myself were able to send the Mannar Police with Ambulances to bring the seriously wounded to the Mannar Hospital.”

He protested also that “military sources had tried to spread false news stating that there had been an attack by the LTTE on land at Pesalai on the Police and the Navy had to open fire.”

“All the people of Pesalai say that there was absolutely no [such] incident on that morning and the grenade story as stated by the military sources is adding insult to injury,” the Bishop said. Military officials had also “been stating that a grenade held by one of those inside the Church had exploded,” he protested.

The Bishop said he had invited the local commander of the Navy to an organized meeting with 7,000 people of Pesalai.

“They cried for their security against the Security Forces. They wanted him [Commander] not to prevent them from fleeing to India or to go to the LTTE controlled Wanni for their safety,” the Bishop said.

“If not they said he could bring all his men and shoot all of them once and for all. Even if a sacred place like a Church is unsafe for them, where else will the innocent find safety? was their question,” the Bishop added.

And when the commander assured them of their safety, “the people pointed out that several incidents of this type had taken place in the past and such assurances had been given by the leading commanders and they all had disappeared as words written on the waters.”

“The people told him of the threat meted out to all the people in Pesalai and in its sub-villages namely Kaataspathri and Siruthoppu by the Pesalai Navy saying that any LTTE attack on them will result in their wiping out the whole village sparing not even breast feeding infants,” the Bishop said.

The people’s “immediate expectation is that a neutral force should be brought in to take care of the security of the innocent people in a situation where nearly 95% of the Security Forces in Sri Lanka are Sinhala and, except a few very good officers, almost all of them are prejudiced against the Tamil people,” the Bishop said.

“This truth should be squarely faced by all concerned to prevent violence and escalation of it against civilians Tamil or Sinhala speaking.”

“The people are mortally afraid of the Navy and any amount of assurance given to them is not going to change their fear ridden psychosis due to past assurances not being kept up and the threats meted out to them by the Navy. When they sight the Navy moving in groups, the people at Pesalai run for their life to the church.”

Describing the Navy’s rampage on Friday, the Bishop said following sounds of a clash at sea between the SLN and the Sea Tigers, thousands of villagers who had been sheltering in the Church for two days, following an attack on Mannar police station, had huddled inside the building.

“As this [sea] battle was dying out around 8.00 AM, the people heard heavy firing coming from the side of the Siruthoppu Navy camp and they knew that the Navy was advancing towards the village of Pesalai and towards the Church.”

“On the way, the Navy had set fire to the cadjan houses of the fishermen at a costal location known as Vankalai Padu and gutted several of them together with fishing nets, outboard engines and other valuables. This location was deserted by the fishermen who had taken shelter in the Church at Karisal a kilometer away from this their habitation, a towards the interior.”

“The Navy personnel proceeded further towards Pesali it is related by eye witnesses and on the way they signalled to six fishermen who were returning to the shores at a costal location called Kaataspathri. The fishermen came down from their boats with their Identity Cards in hand. The Navy men asked them to go on their knees and fired at them through the mouths.”

“Four of them fell dead still holding in their hands their identity cards. The rest of the two had tried to run away and one of them was caught by the Navy and fired through his mouth and his body was found in one of the boats and the other sustained injuries on his stomach and holding his stomach, he ran and fell down at one of the houses at the village and he was immediately taken to the nearby church of Kaataspathri. He was removed by the SLRC to the Mannar hospital after an hour at 9.30 AM and had been sent from Mannar to Anuradahpura hospital for special treatment.”

“The Navy personnel proceeded to Pesalai blindly firing around and several houses at Pesalai are seen damaged. They came around the Church of Our Lady of Victory at Pesalai and took positions outside its walls.”

“At this point four men in shorts and t-shirts rushed into the church compound by the main entrance riding on two motor cycles it is said. They started firing at the church walls, doors and windows where over 6000 people, after having fastened all the doors and windows from within, were taking shelter.”

“Some Navy personnel had fired into the church through the little openings found on the large doors and a good number of innocent civilians there sustained injuries and even the frame on the main altar holding the statue of Our Lady of Victory is seen damaged.”

“One of the Navy personnel, then had opened one of the windows and hurled one after the other two hand grenades in to the church. One of these fell back striking the window grills and the other blasted in the church with a big noise and heavy smoke resulting in one lady’s head being blown off in the church and several others sustaining injuries, some of whom had received serious injuries.”

Sixty-eight people died on Thursday last week after a landmine, allegedly planted by the Liberation Tigers, ripped through a Ceylon Transport Board bus packed with passengers at Kongollewa, in Kebithigollewa.

The Sri Lankan government retaliated by launching air strikes on locations in the East and around Kilinochchi. The Liberation Tigers denied any involvement in the attack, calling it “senseless violence used for political ends”.

Fear of other attacks have prompted many residents from the Sinhala border villages of Kebithigollewa to flee their villages and take shelter in public buildings and in relatives’ and friends’ houses near Kebithigollewa town.

Two claymore mines were used in the attack on the bus carrying 150 passengers, police said. The powerful explosions reportedly flung the bus about 20 metres away from the spot where it was hit by the landmines, police and military officials said. The AP news agency quoted the Military Spokesman as saying the blast was believed to have been caused by a pair of land mines hanging from a tree, and detonated from a remote position.

Press reports said there were 15 children, two women and a Buddhist monk among the dead. A Sri Lanka Army soldier and a homeguard were also among the victims. Around 70 wounded were rushed to Anuradhapura hospital and 9 people, including 2 children and 3 women, were transferred to Colombo hospital.

The Sri Lankan government strongly condemned the Kebithigollewa attack as “barbaric and inhuman” and launched two days of airstrikes on LTTE-held areas in Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Vanni.

But President Mahinda Rajapakse who flew to Kebithigollewa received an unpleasant reception from enraged residents.

“Where is protection for us?” “Where is your peace with dignity?” “Why did you come to see the dead bodies?” “Don’t come this way again” and “We need security” were the words that welcomed him.

Rajapakse however continued to the Kebithigollewa Hospital and once inside, on his way to mortuary people in the corridors started to shout, demanding security.

On his way back from the mortuary, a few grieving relatives made their way to the President and said, “Mr. President, we voted for you and is this the gift you have to offer us? Why did you do this to us? We are respectable people, why have you done this to us?”

In response, President Mahinda Rajapaksa blamed the LTTE.

“The Tigers have done it again, this time it is children and innocent people. What would they expect from such attacks”, the President asked.

He said he instructed security forces in the area to take every action to provide security to the people. However he said the peace process would go ahead as usual, but urged the international community to pay more attention to such incidents as this.

“The LTTE has murdered small children and innocent people, I hope the international community will pay more attention to such barbaric incidents. At the same time the Government is still committed to a negotiated settlement”, he said.

Media Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa said the government strongly condemned the attack carried out by terrorists with the aim of instigating a backlash to fulfil their evil designs. “The Government urges the people to be calm and support its endeavour to eradicate the menace of terrorism,” he said.

However, the LTTE denied responsibility for the attack. The claymore attack on Sinhala civilians in Kebitigollawe was “senseless violence used for political ends,” the Liberation Tigers condemning the attack said in press release issued from Kilinochchi.

Armed acts targeting civilians “cannot be justified under any circumstances,” the LTTE press release said and charged Sri Lankan armed elements who have intensified their attacks on Tamil civilians for political ends, have also begun targeting Sinhala civilians with the aim of blaming the Tigers. The LTTE has urged the International media “not to fall prey for the reprehensible propaganda tactic.”

Peacebroker Norway vehemently condemned the attack. “This is the most horrific act that has been (carried out) in a long time in Sri Lanka and it must be utterly condemned,” top facilitator Erik Solheim, who is also Norway’s development aid minister, told AFP.

The United States also condemned the attack, noting: “This vicious attack bears all the hallmarks of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. It is a clear violation of the Ceasefire Agreement that the Tamil Tigers claim to uphold.”

The Swiss and Japanese governments also condemned the attack.

The Swiss said they “very strongly” condemn the attack and expressed Switzerland’s “condolences to the Sri Lankan population and authorities”.

On behalf of the government of Japan, Ambassador Akio Suda expressed his “strongest condemnation of the terrorist claymore attack,” adding: “Such dastardly terrorist attacks particularly targeting innocent common people are never accepted by any community in this country or the international community.”

From the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI has expressed his condolences to the families of those who died and were injured in the attack.

The Sri Lanka government retaliated with air strikes and artillery fire on LTTE-controlled areas. Kfir jets of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) began bombing LTTE controlled Mullaithivu and its suburbs soon after the bus blast. A tsunami-resettlement village, Selvapuram, near Vattuvahal Bridge, was struck.

At least twelve bombs were also dropped on Kilinochchi suburbs from SLAF Kfir jets, which released the bombs from high altitudes. A further 10 bombs were dropped in the area surrounding Kilinochchi town on Friday, the day after the bus attack.

In Batticaloa SLAF Kfirs also bombed LTTE controlled Tharavai and Pulipaynthakal areas. Mortar shells were fired towards LTTE controlled territory in Batticaloa from Vavunathivu SLA camp, he added.

Sampoor and Muttur East areas in LTTE controlled Trincomalee were attacked with multi-barrel artillery fire. Several houses belong to Tamil civilians in Sampoor, Kaddaiparichchan, Koonitivu, Soodaikuda and Ilankanthai were destroyed in the artillery fire carried out from a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp located at Monkey Bridge, south of Trincomalee. Three civilians were wounded and at least 10 civilian houses were damaged in the multi-barrel artillery attack.

Meanwhile, the LTTE claimed that the air strickes were a ceasefire violation and that the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM) had agreed with this position.

Amnesty International expressed concern over the retaliatory government air strikes.

While condemning the Kebithigollewa incident, Amnesty said the air strikes on could cause disproportionate loss of civilian life and in the process violates international humanitarian laws.

“Increasing numbers of civilians are being caught up in escalating violence sweeping the island. AI fears that a long-simmering, low-intensity conflict now threatens to explode, further exacerbating the human rights crisis in Sri Lanka,” AI added.

June 27

A youth from Singainagar in Vallipuram, Vadamaradchy, Jaffna, alleged to be an Army informant, was shot dead when he was on his way towards Manthikai along Jaffna - Point Pedro road. Mr. Jeya, a driver by occupation, was followed by unidentified gunmen, after he came out of the SLA camp in Point Pedro town and was shot as he tried to run into Vallipura Pariyariayar lane.

A Sri Lanka police constable, Mr. Vithanavasa, was injured when a grenade was thrown at the police sentry point at the telecommunications station in the heart of Mannar town. In police retaliatory fire, two Tamil civilians were injured. S.Thiruchelvam, 52, and his wife Mariyanayagi, 46, have been running a grocery store in front of telecom station.

One LTTE cadre was killed when his unit confronted a Sri Lanka Army (SLA) deep penetration unit (DPU) in Vakarai, Batticaloa (see box story, p4).

June 26

A senior Sri Lanka Army officer, Major General Parami Kulatunga, the third most senior Army commander, was killed just outside Colombo by a suicide bomber on a motorcycle on Monday (see story p3).

The body of one of three Tamil youths arrested by the SLA during a cordon and search operation in Trincomalee on Sunday was recovered with cut and gunshot injuries Monday in Bharathipuram. The body has been identified as that of Baskaran, a mason by profession, from Kanniya Road, Anpuvallipuram. The whereabouts of the other two civilians arrested by the SLA are not known.

Three Tamil farmers of Bharathipuram, Trincomalee district, have been reported missing since Monday after they went to Aathiamankerni area in search of their cattle. Another Tamil civilian was reported missing in Periyakulam since June 25 after he went to the nearby jungle to bring firewood.

The owner of a welding plant in Vankalavadi, Velanai in Jaffna islets was shot dead by two gunmen who arrived on a motorbike. C. Yogeswaran, 55, who is alleged to be a supporter of the Army-backed paramilitary group, the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP), is from Nayanmarkattu area in Nallur.

Another senior EPDP cadre, who served as Jaffna Municipal Council member of several years, was shot and seriously injured by unknown gunmen. Manickam Kanagaratnam, 70, was shot outside his house near Aariyakulam junction along the Jaffna-Point Pedro road.

June 25

A senior member of the paramilitary Peoples Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) was shot dead in front of Jaffna Teaching Hospital Sunday. Mohammed Bazeer, 42, with nom de guerre "Simon," was originally from White Sand area of Trincomalee joined PLOTE ten years ago and has been working in Jaffna district.

An expatriate Tamil from Switzerland, who was in Valaichenai, Batticaloa district, visiting his family on a 2-week holiday, was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen Sunday. The victim, Vadivel Puvendran, a father of five, was visiting a relative''s birthday function when three men came to the house and took him away.

An unidentified assailant, using a 9mm pistol, shot and killed Batticaloa resident Mr Thurairajah Jogaraja, 34, at his home in Onthachchimadam, Kalawanchchikudi.

One police constable was seriously injured when unidentified persons fired at the combined SLA and police sentry located in the Mannar public playground. One of two Tamil civilians in a three-wheeler were injured in the retaliatory fire by the security forces and the other was arrested by the Police.

June 24

Two Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers were shot and seriously injured by unidentified gunmen on a motorbike, at Vepankulam, Vavuniya. Both succumbed to their injuries at Vavuniya hospital. They were part of a road clearing patrol on the Vavuniya-Mannar main road when they were attacked.

Two gunmen wounded a Police officer in Mandur, Batticaloa, near the Vellavely SLA camp. Separately, Kalmunai police said an SLA road clearing patrol recovered a claymore mine in Pandiruppu, Naippattimunai.

SLA soldiers entered Jaffna University campus premises by scaling the perimeter walls and threatened the students inside at gunpoint. Jaffna Campus Student Union and the International Federation of Students in Jaffna issued memoranda condemning the forced entry of the SLA soldiers as violation of student rights. “None of the other campuses in Sri Lanka are subjected to such military thuggery, and the Jaffna High Command should provide the reason for its soldiers'' entering the Jaffna Campus premises,” the memoranda said.

June 23

Sri Lanka Police, Special Task Force (STF) and SLA troopers cordoned off and searched Batticaloa town market area, near Batticaloa Police station. Tamil paramilitary cadres accompanied the security forces. No arrests were made.

Gunmen hurled a hand grenade at the Sri Lanka Police sentry point in Iruthayapuram, along the Batticaloa-Trincomalee road. Four police officers at the checkpoint fired indiscriminately after the attack. No one was injured in the incident.

Mr. K Kumarathas, 35, a news editor at Jaffna based Tamil daily Uthayan, was arrested by Sri Lanka Police in Moratuwa and held at the Mt. Lavania police station in Colombo for more than 10 hours before being released. Mr Kumarathas''s wife, two children, and the driver of the van he was travelling in, were also held in custody. The family had travelled to Colombo to attend to some personal matters. The Police officers refused to accept the Press Identity card issued by the Sri Lanka Government Information Department, Mr Kumarathas said after his release. The Police had confiscated his cell phone and barred him from calling anyone including his lawyer while he was in custody, he said.

June 22

SLA soldiers on a road clearing patrol discovered a claymore mine concealed in the shrub jungle along the Chenkaladi main road near Sellam Theater in Batticaloa. An SLA convoy that was to depart Batticaloa towards Polannaruwa later on Thursday may have been the intended target. Earlier, SLA patrols found two claymore mines in Aarumuhathan Kudiyiruppu and Mayilambaveli areas.

Rice mill worker Kanthasamy Thavarajah, 20, a resident of Palaiyadithorna in Santhiveli, and a father of a 16 day-old-baby, was shot dead by gunmen a few hundred meters from the Jeevapuram railway station. He had been abducted at a bus stop, while waiting to catch a bus to take him to work in a rice mill in Akkaraipattu.

Shanmugam Jeyaratnam, 39, a cow-herder, was shot in the head and killed near the local Vinayakapuram school in Kalmadu Road, Vinayagapuram.

Unidentified persons lobbed a grenade at the house of Mr. Ilayathamby Indrakumar located in Ellai Veethi Kanapathipillai village at Chenkalady, Batticaloa. The house was severely damaged but the occupants escaped unhurt. Mr. Indrakumar, the owner of a jewellery store, his wife and his two children were staying in the house at that time.

STF soldiers cordoned off and searched Akkaraipattu, Aalaiyadi Vembu, Vaachikuda, Naavatkuda and Kolavil areas of Amparai district. Soldiers had a target list of names and registration numbers of motorbikes, local residents said. Ten civilians were taken to the Akkaraipattu STF camp for further interrogation. Tamil paramilitaries accompanied the STF during the search operation, according to residents.

Gunmen attacked an SLA sentry post located near the Sebamalaimatha Catholic church in Columbuththurai, a suburb of Jaffna, hurling grenades and firing. SLA soldiers counter attacked but the gunmen escaped.

In Manipay, Jaffna, Sri Lanka military forces recovered two claymore mines each weighing 5kg and a T-56 rifle.

June 21

Three Muslim fish traders lodged a complaint at Eravur police station that they were robbed of Rs.83,900 and cell phones by armed men at the Punnaikuda Thalavai Road in the Batticaloa. The traders, Ibrahim Rahim, Mohamad Haniffa and Mohamad Sharif, were on their way towards Punnaikuda coast to buy the early morning catch when they were robbed.

Increasing number of robberies have been reported in June in Batticaloa and Eravur, police say. On 8 June, a jewellery shop in Eravur owned by Ramanathan Shanmugalingam, was broken into and an undisclosed amount of jewellery was stolen. On 10 June, the “Sannitha” jewellery shop owned by Ulahasekaran Sasikaran was broken into and jewellery worth Rs.10,45,000 was stolen.

Armed men, carrying T56 assault rifles shot and killed, Milred Roy Weld, 39, and seriously wounded his father Milred Weld, 64, at their home on Semakkalai Road in Jeyanthipuram, Batticaloa. Local residents blamed SLA soldiers from Jeyanthipuram camp. Residents said that the two were attacked by SLA soldiers after they came out of their house to inquire into the sound of gunfire from the army camp.

Three SLA soldiers, including a corporal, were seriously injured when an SLA road patrol came under gun and grenade attack along the Point Pedro - Chavakachcheri Road between Manthikai junction and Kalikai junction in Vadamaradchy, Jaffna. Two of them later succumbed to their wounds.

Two SLA soldiers were injured when their road patrol and unknown gunmen clashed about 100 meters from Vaddukoddai Hindu College in Vaddukoddai, Jaffna. The gunmen escaped. Residents and children at Vaddukoddai Hindu college fled the area in panic.

Arsonists, alleged to be SLA soldiers and collaborating paramilitaries, set fire to the office in the Liberation Tigers'' Kopay Heroes Cemetery, in Jaffna. The attackers forced open the main entrance, ransacked the office building, heaped the furniture and other photographs in the building, and set them on fire. The roof of the building sustained serious fire damage. However, memorial stones were left undamaged, residents said.

Two unidentified gunmen riding motor bikes shot and killed Sivarathnam Sasikumar, a businessman, in Negombo, just north of Colombo. Sasikumar was going home with a friend when he was shot in the head and chest police said. The killers are believed to be paramilitary cadres. The businessman, a father of one, was born in Jaffna and had been resident in Negombo for many years.

June 20

The body of an SLA soldier who disappeared from the Thatchanthoppu SLA camp Tuesday was found with gunshot wounds in shrub jungles in a non-residential area of Kaithady in Thenmaradchy, Jaffna, close to the SLA camp. Soldiers from the Thatchanthoppu camp found the body after a searching the area.

SLA soldiers found two claymore mines fixed in Eravur, Batticaloa district, targeting an SLA convoy. One mine was recovered near the Murugan temple at Mailambaveli and another at Arumugathankudiyiruppu.

Two armed men who arrived on a motorbike entered a crowded liquor restaurant in Kommathurai, Batticaloa, and shot the owner, Iyathurai Nirmalakumaran, 55. The killers were Karuna Group paramilitary cadres, who had been demanding money from the businessman, according to civilians in Kommathurai. Mr. Nirmalakumaran, born in Kopay, Jaffna, had been a resident of Kalkudah Road for 30 years. The father of four had been running the liquor restaurant in Kommathurai, near the Eastern University in Vantharumoolai, for several years.

A group of men driving a white van abducted Thayaparan Subaraj, 18, of Thalankuda in Puthukudiyiruppu, Batticaloa. Local witnesses said the abductors were paramilitaries belonging to the Karuna Group. In a trend that has terrified parents, more than 150 youths have been abducted in the last two weeks in Valaichenai, Mangkerni, Santhivelli, Kiran, Murakkotanchenai, Vandarumulai, Batticaloa and Iruthayapuram in the Batticaloa district, (see ‘Abductions’ p3).

Unidentified gunmen riding a motorbike shot and killed Jeyaraj Suthaharan, 24, at Urani within the Batticaloa police division. Suthaharan was cycling from Batticaloa to his home in Thiraimadu when he was shot close to the Urani SLA camp eyewitnesses said.

June 19

Two gunmen fired at the joint SLA and Sri Lanka Police sentry point near the Somawathiya, a historic Buddhist temple in Polonnnaruwa. The troops returned fire but the gunmen escaped. No one was injured in the incident. In a statement on their Peace Secretariat website, the Liberation Tigers denied any involvement in the attack and added they believed the attack is by “government of Sri Lanka operated forces aimed at creating ethnic tensions.”

The website further said that the Somwathiya temple attack follows the same pattern as the attack in Omadiyamadu, on 29 May, claymore attack on a bus in Welisara, on 6 June, and the claymore attack on a bus on June 15 in Kebitigollawe that are aimed at discrediting the LTTE. “LTTE denies involvement in all four of these attacks,” the statement said.

Thirteen fishermen reported missing while fishing in Mannar Sea with their boats on Saturday during a firefight between the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and LTTE returned to Vankalaipadu shore Monday evening. The fishermen, unable to return to the Vankalaipadu shore due to heavy fighting between the LTTE and SLN, had sought refuge in Vidathaltivu.

Two SLA soldiers were wounded in Nagarkovil, Jaffna, in a clash between the SLA and the LTTE. The Tigers said they counter-attacked after LTTE FDLs were targeted by SLA artillery fire. Civilian sources in Thenmaradchi, Jaffna, said artillery fire was initiated from SLA 52 Brigade headquarters camp located in Varani. SLA artillery fire initially targeted LTTE cadres doing maintenance work on their FDL positions in Nagarkovil. The clash lasted for 30 minutes.

Kathiravelu Subramaniam, from 7th division in Punguduthivu, an islet off the coast of Jaffna, was found with severe slashes in his home. The lower parts of his body, including his genitals were severely dismembered, according to local residents. Neighbours, who discovered the body of the 85-year-old man who lived alone, alerted Kayts Police.

A man, aged between 45-50, was shot dead by gunmen riding a motorbike between Lloyds Avenue and Arunagiri Road in Batticaloa. The killing took place 25 meters from a SLA sentry point. Reports said that the attire of the man indicated that he could be a beggar or a man with mental illness

Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir jets flew over remote suburbs of Vanni at high altitude. Civilians reported hearing sounds of explosion and a Sri Lankan reconnaissance plane was also observed. The LTTE had earlier warned Colombo that they would be forced to retaliate if SLAF bombers continued to bomb Vanni. Sources in Vanni said the munitions dropped by SLAF are of the unguided variety and have fortunately not caused civilian casualties during the recent bombing campaign by Colombo.

STF troopers arrested three Tamil youths in Akkaraipattu town in the Amparai district and handed them over to the Police. The police said they apprehended another youth after interrogating the three youths. The youths were in possession of a T-56 automatic rifle, Akkaraipattu police claimed.

June 18

A volunteer of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO), engaged in providing assistance to injured civilians warded in the Mannar district base hospital, was arrested by Mannar Police on Sunday evening. S. Antony of Alankulam in Mannar district and a father of two children, was providing help to the civilians who were injured in the attack on Pesalai church.
The LTTE said two soldiers were killed and their bodies captured by the Tigers when a group of SLA troopers launched an attack on the Tigers’ FDL in the remote jungles of Manal Aru, south of Mullaithivu. Two T-56 automatic rifles, four grenades, ten magazines and three magazine holsters were captured by the Tigers.

An attack was launched on the LTTE political office in Pavatta, in the interior west of Thirukkovil in Amparai district by STF forces and paramilitary cadres, reports said. The Tigers repulsed the STF and paramilitary cadres, according to Amparai District LTTE Political Head, Mr. Jeya.

More than a hundred military and paramilitary personnel participated in the penetration attack which was repulsed by the Tigers. The STF troopers also fired shells during the attack towards LTTE positions from Kanjirankuda STF camp.

Paramilitary cadres brought in 2 Army lorries continued to move around in STF controlled area for over a day after the attack, according to the residents. Around 30 paramilitary cadres were moving around Sunday morning in Vinayagapuram, Kanjirankuda and Thirukkovil areas. The STF personnel were remaining inside their camp while the paramilitary cadres were moving around, reports said.

Three paramilitary operatives were identified as ‘Parani’ from Komari, Johnsen Jeyakanthan alias ‘Pradeepan’ from Periyakallar and ‘Seelan’ from Thirukkovil. EPDP and new Muslim members of Karuna group were also observed in Kanjirankuda.

The LTTE counter-attack lasted for 35 minutes till the STF troopers with their paramilitaries withdrew from Pavatta, 2 km from Kanjirankuda where a STF camp is located.

13 farmers who were in their paddy fields were held by the STF men during the attack. They were released later. All traffic on Akkaraipattu Pottuvil road remained blocked till 10.00 a.m. in the morning.

Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission officials were asked three times to come and inspect the Pavatta office, Mr. Jeya said.

June 17

The SLN and SLAF conducted a combined live fire exercise along the Karainagar-Kankesanthurai seas, off the coast of Jaffna, for nearly 20 minutes Saturday morning. SLN ships fired shells from the sea while the Kfir fast attack aircrafts provided air cover, residents witnessing the training said. Families from coastal areas stayed indoors.

Fishermen from Valvettiturai to the east of Kankesanthurai and from Mathakal, Senthankulam to the west of the Kankesanthurai stayed away from going out to sea, a fisheries union spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, the SLA conducted a cordon and search operation in several areas in Valigamam including Kokuvil, Kondavil and Inuvil areas. SLA soldiers arrived in a number of heavy vehicles, blocked key roads and conducted house-to-house search. More than three hundred residents were taken to the Thavady camp and were released after their photographs were taken by the SLA.

Three Sri Lanka Police officers including a sergeant was killed in a claymore attack in Thuttuwewa, a Sinhala settlement in Vavuniya. The mine was fitted to a tractor with a water bowser in tow.

SLA soldiers killed a mentally-ill man riding a bicycle when he reportedly ignored their warning to stop in Santhiveli area in Eravur Police division, Batticaloa. But witnesses said the SLA soldiers first shot Kathamuthu Rajanayagam, 43, a father of three, in his leg, and after he fell to the ground, shot him dead at close range. The soldiers placed a hand-grenade by the side of the dead man to fake an attempted attack on the soldiers by the body, residents further said. Local witnesses gave written statement at the Eravur Police that the SLA soldiers shot dead the unarmed man. Tension prevails in the area as residents fear reprisals from the soldiers.

The Karuna paramilitary group abducted 11 Muslim dairy farm workers out of a group of 18, going out to work from the Muslim village of Thambalai, on Pollonaruwa-Sunkavil road, east of Pollonaruwa. The abductees were being held in the nearby jungles of Sinnavil, with ransom demands of 1 million rupees, relatives of the farm workers said. Thambalai villagers have managed to collect 100,000 rupees, and paid the abductors who then released 5 workers, and demanded 500,000 rupees for the release of four others - the paramilitaries released two of the workers, a father and his son, to communicate the 1 million rupees ransom demand on Saturday.

The abductees are detained and guarded by six armed paramilitaries in SLA uniform and one in casual dress, Thambalai villagers said. Local police, though aware of the incident, are not taking any action saying no complaints were made, villagers told reporters.

Three SLN troopers drowned in Modera Sea in Colombo when their patrol craft capsized Saturday early morning. One of the sailors body was recovered Saturday. When boat capsized six sailors were on board and three of the sailors were rescued unhurt. The craft was engaged in harbour security when it capsized.

SLA officials in Colombo said a suspected LTTE boat exploded near the shore 17 km north of Colombo town. State armed forces and the police also tightened security measures along the coastline and the commercial hub of the Colombo city following the arrest of the three persons by the Wattala Police in Panagamuwa area that Saturday morning.

Three suspects were arrested by the Wattala Police on receipt of information from Panagamuwa residents about sighting of a boat along the shore of the village. Two of them had swallowed cyanide capsules soon after the arrest, reports said. Later the boat had exploded, but some of the occupants of boat had escaped in the meantime.

Meanwhile, a bomb disposing squad of the SLA rushed to the coastal area in Wennapuwa in the Negombo district Saturday morning on receipt of information that two unaccompanied bags were seen along the sea beach.

An old woman was injured and over 40 civilians wounded when SLN troopers fired into a church where the villagers of Pesalai, Mannar district, had sought refuge. Four fishermen were also killed on the shores of Pesalai when SLN troopers attacked civilians after a naval battle with the Sea Tigers near Pesalai. Around 25 huts belonging to fishermen were also burnt down by the SLN troopers. (see report p9)

LTTE officials in Mannar said Sea Tiger boats moving in LTTE-controlled seas was attacked by SLN boats, and the Sea Tigers drove them back. Meanwhile, shells were fired towards Iluppaikkadavai in LTTE-controlled territory in Mannar from the Thallaiady SLA camp.

Twelve SLN personnel were killed and three “Blue Star” boats of the SLN were sunk in LTTE controlled seas in Mannar districts when SLN boats interrupted a Sea Tiger movement, LTTE media unit said in a press note.

Two Sea Tiger cadres sustained minor injuries in the defensive act, the Tigers said. Three of the four SLN boats involved in the offensive act were sunk and the fourth boat was damaged, the LTTE said. However, SLN officials said they estimated thirty Tigers had been killed.

The Sea Tigers recovered two PKLMG guns, 3 AK 47 automatic rifles, one MP5, two communications equipments and ammunitions from the SLN boats in the clashes.

Three fishermen from Pallimunai returning late Saturday after fishing in Mannar seas were severely assaulted by SLN soldiers and were taken to Mannar Hospital in critical condition.

June 16

Three Tamil civilians were shot dead, allegedly by SLA soldiers, at Periyakulam, Trincomalee. The youths supply sand to construction sites in Trincomalee town. They had left home Friday morning, but at around 2.30 in the afternoon they were found dead with gunshot injuries. The driver of the tractor was found lying on the steering wheel head down with bleeding injuries. He was identified as Babu of Varothiayanagar. Other two youths are said to be from Anpuvallipuram and Uppuveli, suburbs of Trincomalee town. A large SLA camp is located in the Periyakulam area.

A young girl was seriously wounded in Stanley Road, at a location between the Eelam People Democratic Party (EPDP) office at Srithar theatre and SLA 512 Brigade camp at Wellington theatre junction, in Jaffna town when an explosive device fitted cell phone detonated as the girl tried to use the phone. Investigations have not determined if the girl was an innocent user of the device or the carrier of the device with the intention of causing bodily harm to a designated target, reports said.

Meanwhile, SLA soldiers completely blocked off Stanley road and armed soldiers took up position at both ends between Ariyakulam junction and Wellington theatre junction in Jaffna, to facilitate visit of Douglas Devananda, the EPDP General secretary and government minister, to his EPDP office at Srithar theatre, in Jaffna town.

Sri Lankan military authorities in Colombo asked the foreign nationals working in International Non Governmental Organisations (INGOs) and journalists residing in Vanni to remain inside UN and INGO offices, NGO officials in Kilinochchi said Friday. Accordingly, foreign journalists visiting Vanni sought refuge in UNICEF and ICRC offices in Kilinochchi, reports said.

June 15

A claymore explosion struck a packed passenger bus killed 64 and injured more than 90 passengers, mainly Sinhalese civilians, near Kebitigollawe, Vavuniya. The Sri Lankan government retaliated by launching airstrikes against pre-selected LTTE positions and civilian targets (see story p5).

Unknown gunmen attacked a group of three SLA soldiers on a road clearing patrol along Kankesanthurai (KKS) road in Inuvil, Jaffna, severely injuring one. He later succumbed to his wounds on the way to hospital.

Another SLA soldier was shot dead during a road patrol by a gunman waiting in ambush in Neerveli, Valigamam east.

A Police officer in civilian clothes was shot dead in Jaffna town along Kasturiar Road near Kannathiddi junction by an unidentified gunman. Businesses closed and streets were deserted after the shooting.

The Liberation Tigers shot one DPU soldier and captured another on Batticaloa Lagoon, after chasing another two into the Pankudaveli jungle (see story p4).

Three policemen were wounded when unidentified men lobbed a grenade at the police sentry located in Pesalai, Mannar district. The injured were identified as Bandara, 44, Wijewickrema, 41 and Abeyaratne, 32. Police thereafter fired at random for about fifteen minutes. Fearing reprisals from Sri Lanka security forces, Pesalai families fled from their houses and sought refuge in Pesalai Our Lady of Victory Church.

June 14

Two Police constables attached to Ilavalai Police were injured when the pickup vehicle they were travelling in came under claymore attack. A SLA trooper on security duty at the Jaffna-Palaly road near Urumpirai junction seriously injured in a grenade attack. An SLA soldier on guard duty was shot dead by gunmen near Sattanathar temple Kalviyankadu junction along Jaffna-Point Pedro road.

Gunmen shot dead Philip Mariyanayagam, 56, near Kottady junction in the center of Jaffna town. Mariyanayagam, alleged to be a supporter of the EPDP, was riding a bicycle towards Jaffna town when the gunmen struck from behind and escaped.

Two SLA troopers were injured when the SLA sentry point located at the Nallur Temple Road and Jaffna Hospital Road junction came under grenade attack.

The body of a youth was recovered from the no-mans zone in Muhamalai with gunshot wounds. His mother identified the body a few days later as belonging to a 16 year-old youth from Point-Pedro. Sri Ravindrarajah Thineswaran disappeared from his Point-Pedro home two weeks earlier and complaints about his disappearance had been filed with the SLMM and the Jaffna Human Rights Commission by his mother.

Troops from the Sri Lanka Police, STF and SLAF cordoned off and searched Puthur, Thimilaithivu and Sethukkuda, suburbs of Batticaloa town. Batticaloa Police said they cordoned this area following information of the presence of gunmen in the area. But no one was arrested and no weapons were found during the house-to-house search and prolonged questioning of the villagers.

Unidentified persons shot and killed a homeguard, Vasantha Chandana Seneviratne, 22, in Mamaduwa, Vavuniya, and stole his T56 assault rifle. Seneviratne had been with the home guard forces for only 4 days.

June 13

Unidentified persons lobbed a grenade at furniture shop at Emil Nagar located in Mannar Hospital Road junction, damaging the furniture shop, but injuring no one. SLA soldiers manning the checkpoint at Hospital Road Junction fired indiscriminately after the attack, but again, no one was injured.

The driver of a truck was taken into custody on the accusation that he was transporting 72,000 empty fertilizer bags for the LTTE. Mr. Marimuthu Nallamuthu, 63, was arrested with a consignment of empty bags at Manatkulam, Mannar. Mannar Seed Paddy Association sells seed paddy to farmers and normally these empty bags are used to carry the seed paddy.

Two SLA soldiers were injured in three gun and grenade attack by unknown gunmen in Jaffna. One trooper on security duty at the junction of Jaffna-Palaly road and Amman road near Kantharmadam, Jaffna was seriously injured when gunmen fired at him. Another SLA soldier was injured by gunmen 1 km from the first incident along the Kachcheri-Nallur road in front of the Holy St. Benedict''s church. Reports also said there were two incidents of grenade attack on the Kopay police station in Jaffna, though no one was injured.

Members of Tamil auxiliary brigade on a road clearing patrol on Nedunkerni road, between Nainamadu and Puliyankulam, inside the LTTE controlled area intercepted a SLA Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) as they were fixing 3 claymore mines. Two Tamil auxiliaries and an SLA soldier were killed when both exchanged gunfire (see story p4).

A civilian was shot and killed in front of his wife at Natrapaalathadi, Batticaloa, allegedly by SLA soldiers. The couple were cycling from the LTTE controlled area in Vahaneri to Oddamaavedi when the attack took place. A sentry post of Sri Lankan homeguards and the army is located in Natrapaalathadi, between Ottamaavedi and LTTE controlled area in Vahaneri.

SLA soldiers cordoned off and searched Kiran, Korakalmadu and Santhiveli, villages surrounding the Santhiveli-Kirimuddi Pannai SLA camp, northwest of Batticaloa. The army arrested 9 people and after investigation released 4, holding 5 for further inquires. The soldiers conducted a house-to-house search and searched surrounding scrub jungle. Roadblocks were set and all vehicles and pedestrians were thoroughly searched.

Unidentified armed men lobbed hand grenades at Arumuhaththan Kudiyiruppu police sentry post, north of Batticaloa, in the Tamil-Muslim border area of Eravur, seriously injuring two police officers. The injured officers, M Vilanthalava, 35, and R Ranjith, 40, were admitted to Eravur hospital, and later were rushed to Batticaloa hospital for treatment. Following the incident, the Sri Lanka police indiscriminately fired at residential homes.

LTTE officials from Batticaloa said that heavy mortar fire was directed towards their controlled area from the Vavunathivu SLA Camp. Public transport from the LTTE controlled area to the Batticaloa town through Vavunathivu came to a standstill.

Two SLA soldiers were injured when unidentified men lobbed a grenade at a sentry post at Bharathipuram, Trincomalee. SLA soldiers fired randomly after the grenade attack and conducted a cordon and search operation in the surrounding area. Soldiers assaulted Tamils residing near the site and those travelling through Bharathipuram. Bharathipuram is a Tamil settlement along the Trincomalee-Anuradhapuram road, bordering Mihindupura, a Sinhalese settlement.

Work at a branch of the National Savings Bank in Colpetty, Colombo was suspended following a bomb threat issued by an anonymous caller, who issued the threat to the receptionist at the bank. Police and a SLA bomb disposal squad rushed to the location but found no explosive devices inside the building. Traffic along Galle Road was blocked temporarily while the Police and the bomb squad inspected the building.

As Sri Lanka’s Army steps up raids into Tamil Tiger controlled territory, clashes between its Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) and LTTE forces are becoming more commonplace.

The LTTE captured a Sri Lankan Army soldier attached to the Deep Penetration Unit (DPU), formally knows as Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) unit near Batticaloa Lagoon Friday last week.

Mr. Daya Mohan, the LTTE political head for Batticaloa, told reporters the captured soldier had confessed his two man team had instructions to attack civilian targets in LTTE controlled areas to sow terror. Their team was behind a claymore attack in Pattipalai and another attack at Thandiyadi Maveerar cemetery in Batticaloa, the trooper had said, adding his team was behind a robbery at a TRO office in Batticaloa.

Two Sri Lankan DPU troopers, who fled Illuppadichenai, a Liberation Tigers controlled territory west of Batticaloa, after a claymore attack, went into hiding into the Pankudaveli jungle close to Batticaloa lagoon to evade LTTE cadres chasing them. The SLA dispatched another two-man DPU from Eravur, towards the Pankudaveli jungle across the Batticaloa lagoon, to rescue them, but the LTTE cadres shot one member and captured the other.

Meanwhile, on June 13, members of a Tamil auxiliary brigade on a road clearing patrol on Nedunkerni Road, between Nainamadu and Puliyankulam, inside the Liberation Tigers controlled area, intercepted a SLA DPU as they were fixing 3 claymore mines. Two Tamil auxiliaries and an SLA soldier were killed when gunfire was exchanged.

The SLA trooper, whose body was captured by the auxiliaries, was clad in an LTTE uniform, reports said. His body was handed to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Friday, to be given to the Sri Lanka government.

LTTE’s Vavuniya district Head of the Political Wing, Mr. Gnanam, handed over the body to the ICRC representative Simon Wolf in the presence of members of the SLMM.

At least one bag with a “SLA” mark was recovered from the attackers, according to the video footage released by the National Television of Tamileelam (NTT).

On Thursday night, a robbery at the TRO’s main Batticaloa storage facility located at Old Road, inside the heavy security military controlled zone of Batticaloa Town, resulted in nearly 1.5 million rupees worth of goods stolen.

Early Friday morning the thief was arrested with some of the stolen goods by the LTTE cadres in Pankudaveli in LTTE controlled Batticaloa. He confessed to stealing the goods and divulged that the Sri Lankan military in Batticaloa helped him to rob the TRO stores, said Mr Daya Mohan, the Batticaloa district political head of LTTE.