WHILE the Sri Lankan government 'celebrates' the 'liberation' of the east, observers predict that the conflict, and the humanitarian crisis in Tamil areas, will only deteriorate.

 

In the east many of the displaced have been able to return home, although aid workers fear some may have been sent back against their will. However many have not returned

to their traditional homes, and others continue to move, citing local insecurity and fears of armed groups.

 

Tamil residents have been stopped from returning to what used to be the LTTE areas in

Sampur, near the strategic northeastern port of Trincomalee as the area has been declared a high security zone for the military.

 

"The residents are still stuck in camps," one Western aid worker told Reuters. "The fear is that it could eventually amount to ethnic cleansing."

 

The Sri Lankan military is also blocking shipments of cement, steel, fuel and other items from reaching LTTE territory, Reuters reported.

 

This has forced aid groups to shelve post-tsunami housing projects as well as plans to build schools and hospitals in the Tamil areas most impacted by the war and the 2004 tsunami. And NGOs are to be closely supervised in the east, with the Sri Lankan military announcing that regional authorities will be “supervising” all development work by NGOs in the region. In the north, the shortage of food and essential items is biting hard, with rising levels of acute malnutrition being seen in Jaffna.

 

Livelihoods and markets have been disrupted by conflict and displacement, the closure of a major highway, and security-related restrictions on farming and fishing, IRIN reported.

"Food assistance for the internally displaced and other vulnerable groups has been in short supply for months," the agency said.

 

The Jaffna District Government Agent, K. Ganesh, says 51% of the Jaffna population, who are dependent on farming, have had their productivity impacted by the lack of fertilizer and no access to farmlands, which have been declared security zones.

 

Another 9% are impacted by the fishing restrictions, with estimates that their production is 10% of the pre-conflict levels.

 

About 165,000 people in Jaffna are highly reliant on food assistance, including internally

displaced people (IDPs) and other vulnerable groups.

 

The Sri Lankan Commissioner General of Essential Services says it provides government food to 45,000 of these IDPs and vulnerable people and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) is responsible for 120,000 more.

 

But WFP says it has been a challenge to meet its food-assistance goals for Jaffna.

Meanwhile, along with civilians, aid workers are continuing to be targeted, with a field officer of the Danish Refugee Council, an international humanitarian organization

in Jaffna, being shot dead last week. Arumainayagam Alloysius, 26, had been with the Halo Trust, another INGO, but had switched to the joined the Danish agency when the Halo Trust discontinued its work in the peninsula recently. More than 13 Halo

Trust staffers have been either killed, abducted or gone missing in the recent past.

●        A SLA Major and five soldiers were killed and seven wounded in the Kudumpimalai (Thoppikkal) jungles when SLA troops confronted LTTE fighters.

●      The body of a 24 year old SLA trooper was discovered near the FDL at Eluthumaduval. The body did not have any gunshot injuries but blood was found coming out of his nose and ears, leading to speculation that trauma due to extended physical training caused the death. The trooper was fortifying the FDL at the time of his death, but, mystery continues to surround his death.

 

5 July

 

●        Two Tamil youths were shot dead by STF troops in Mukalikadai, Pottuvil, Amparai. Police claimed the STF lay an ambush on a tip off that LTTE cadres were moving from Kanchirankuda through Mukalikadai. The police contacted the ICRC and SLMM to hand over the bodies to LTTE, but the LTTE has not commented on the incident.

●        3 soldiers were killed in the North when fighting erupted along the Vavuniya-Mannar border area.

●        10 soldiers were wounded in fighting between Pampaimadu and Uyilangkulam.

●        15 LTTE fighters were killed in the fighting along the FDLs in Vavuniya according to Sri Lanka military officials in Colombo.

●        The SLA arrested three Tamil civilians in a cordon and search operation in Gampaha town. Police said the arrested men failed to provide valid reasons for staying in Gampaha. The detainees are being questioned by the Terrorist Intelligence Division.

●        A Tamil youth, a resident of Jaffna town, was arrested while he was traveling to Anuradhapura by train from Colombo.

 

4 July

 

●        Michael Rajan, the owner of a bakery at Tharapuram, Mannar, was abducted as he was transporting his morning bread to his shop. The abductors allegedly telephoned his wife and demanded Rs. 5m for his release. Threats to and extortion of money from local traders by paramilitaries had been on the decline in recent weeks in Vavuniya, but seem to be reemerging.

●        A Karuna Group paramilitary member was killed and two EPDP paramilitary members wounded when the two groups, attached to the Kommathurai SLA base in Chengkaladi, Batticaloa, clashed. The Karuna Group has been harassing the EPDP, against carrying out campaign activities in Batticaloa district for the last two months. Five Karuna group personnel entered the premises of the EPDP camp, charged grenades and fired at their house, wounding two EPDP personnel. SLA troopers providing security to both camps had to fire at the attackers to control the fight.

●        Arumugam Kirubakaran, 25, a Hindu priest and resident of Vinayakapuram, Thirukkoyil, went missing after he left home riding his bicycle towards the Pillaiyar temple in Vinayakapuram. His bicycle is also missing.

 

3 July

●        Men armed with pistols shot and injured a police constable in front of Jaffna courts, as he and a fellow policeman reported for duty at the Courts premises.

●        Three SLA troopers were killed when assailants triggered a claymore mine in Kalvi Road, Vavuniya. The soldiers were attached to the newly established SLA camp in Mathakuvaitha Kulam. The troopers were on their way to take a bath in the local irrigation tank when the claymore mine was triggered.

●        Ms. Tharumarasa Conseira, 38, from Allarai north in Mesalai, Jaffna, has been reported missing since February 24. She went missing as she was returning home after medical treatment at Jaffna Teaching Hospital, according to a complaint made by her mother at the SLHRC. Her mother suspects Conseira was arrested or abducted on the way home in a bus along Jaffna-Kandy road. Conseira's mother said her daughter's husband and relatives were trapped in Vanni with the closure of the A9 last year.

●        Kaaththaankudi Police arrested two Tamils at Navatkuda, Batticaloa, and chanrged them with possessing detonators and wires. Mrs. Malarvizhi Mahendrakumar, 37, and Kanthasami Vazhirajan, 30, both of Mariyamman Kovil Road, Navatkuda, were subjected to severe interrogation. The police claimed they recovered the detonators and wires after searching their houses following a tip off.

●        Ms. Kathiravelu Pushparanee, 60, who lives near Jaffna University campus, complained to the Jaffna SLHRC that she was tortured by SLA troopers who forcibly entered her house in Thirunelveali. She also filed complaints with the SLMM and ICRC offices in Jaffna. SLA troopers tortured five other young women relatives, including her daughter, demanding information about a youth, Pushparanee said. She sought protection from the SLHRC, saying SLA troopers confiscated the National Identity Cards of the five women and ordered them to report at Urelu SLA camp. The SLMM office, when approached to verify the complaint, declined to comment on the incident.

●        Assailants hurled a hand grenade at the house of a trader in Goodshed Road, Vavuniya. The explosion did not cause injuries or damage to any property, but police suspect it is linked to a ransom demand on the trader.

 

2 July

●        A youth from Sivan Koayiladi, Chavakachcheri, Jaffna, was admitted to hospital in serious condition after he attempted to commit suicide by taking poison. Visuvaratnam, 22, had been arrested by the SLA two days previously and was subjected to severe torture. Relatives said he was hung upside down and severely beaten, and that he had severe torture marks to his upper body and face. SLA soldiers confiscated his national ID card, released Visuvaratnam few minutes before the start of the curfew and ordered him to report again to the camp on two days later, but he attempted suicide instead.

●        Several hundred SLA troopers entered Chankanai, Jaffna, during the early morning curfew hours and searched areas covering Vadukkodai, Chithankerni, Mavadi and Chulipuram. Vehicular traffic was blocked from entering or leaving the affected areas during the search. Government servants traveling to work and school children were severely affected by the operation.

●        More than 100 people were investigated and 25 of them arrested in a large scale cordon and search operation by the SLA and police in the plantation districts, in the predominantly Tamil areas of Talawakelle and Bogawanthalawa. Five of the arrested are from Jaffna and the others are residents of up country.

●        Armed men shot dead Markandu Krishnapillai, 37, in Kaluvankeni, Batticaloa. Krishnapillai was visiting his sister when armed men called him out of the house, shot him dead, and fled on a motorbike.

 

The close relationship between the militaries of Sri Lankan and the United States was once again demonstrated with two Sri Lankan air force cadets being selected to attend a leadership program in the US.

 

Sir Lanka is one of a few countries permitted to nominate candidates each year for the U.S. Service Academy Program. Sri Lanka is even more unique in that it is one of the very few countries that receive a full tuition waiver for the four-year degree program.

 

Two Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) cadets were selected for a four-year program designed to develop leadership skills and motivational training at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado, a US Embassy press release said.

 

Mr. James Moore, the U.S. Embassy's Deputy Chief of Missions, while presenting the documents to the selected cadets, said that the appointments “signify the close training relationship between our two militaries.”

 

Mr. Moore presented the documents to Viludani Yatawara - the first Sri Lankan woman cadet officer to get selected to the program - and to Chamara Wijesinghe.

 

“The United States Air Force Academy offers a four-year program of instruction and experience designed to provide cadets the knowledge essential for leadership and the motivation to serve as Air Force career officers,” the press release said.

 

“Each cadet graduates with a Bachelor of Science degree and a commission as a Pilot Officer in the Air Force.”

 

“Cadets Yatawara and Wijesinghe were nominated by the SLAF after several competitive interviews and a physical aptitude examinations,” it added.

 

Their applications were subsequently forwarded to the US Air Force Academy by the U.S. Embassy.

 

“The two Sri Lankans competed against eligible candidates from 29 other countries for a limited number of seats allocated for international applicants,” the press release noted.

 

“As a result, the Sri Lanka Air Force will now have three cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy; one officer gained admission last year. In addition, Sri Lanka presently has two cadets at U.S. Military Academy at West Point,” the press release said.

 

Yatawara thanked the U.S. Government for offering her the rare opportunity, while Wijesinghe said that he was happy and proud to have been selected for this prestigious and competitive program.

 

Fisherman Aloysius Premathas with his son Premkumar who lost both legs in the SLAF bombing of his village. Photo TamilNet

We are originally from Mayiliddi in Valigaamam west, Jaffna. My ancestors had been relatively well off fisher folk.

 

Driven from our home by an SLA offensive in 1990, we lived temporarily in Chunnakam.

 

Then we were forced to leave the Jaffna peninsula by the SLA's Sooriyakathir offensive in 1994.

 

I had to leave everything I owned behind.

 

Having no where to go, we spent our lives under the trees and in school buildings in Kodikamam for six months.

 

We sought refuge at Alampil in Mullaiththeevu but from there too we had to flee from the shells launched from the SLA camp in Mullaitheevu, ending up at Oddusuddan in interior Vanni.

 

At Oddusuddan, 40 km west of the shores, I was struggling to find employment. My family had to beg to survive.

 

When Mullaiththeevu SLA camp was overrun by the Liberation Tigers in 1997 we returned to Alampil again, where I resumed fishing and was able to feed my family.

 

We were slowly overcoming our economic hardship when tragedy struck again.

 

The 2004 December tsunami washed away all of our belongings. Luckily all members of our family survived.

 

After the tsunami, we moved inland to Mulliyavalai. Again, it was hard for my family, dependent on handouts as I could not fish.

 

From there we were again relocated in the interim refugee camp at Alampil.

 

Now this last bombing has again smashed our hopes of returning to a normal life.

 

When I was returning to our hut for lunch, I saw my son Premkumar going to the fishing vaadi, which is about 100 meters from our hut.

 

My wife served me lunch but before I had had a mouthful, there was a deafening explosion and my wife shouted that a Kfir had struck.

 

I shouted at my family to run to the bunker.

 

I got into the bunker with my family and looked at the place from which the explosion was heard – it was near the fishing vaadi.

 

I blacked out. When I recovered, I saw the vaadi enveloped in smoke.

 

I ran to see if my son was alright.

 

For a few seconds – though it felt longer – there was no sound from inside the vaadi.

 

Then I heard my son’s voice. He was crying for help.

 

I had no thought of the Kfir still above or anything else. I just ran and found my son.

 

He was lying in a pool of blood. His right leg was missing. No human being should see his or her child in such a state.

 

My wife, running to the scene, fainted.

 

During the ceasefire period I managed to put Premkumar at St. Charles School in Jaffna in the hope of educating him. He was doing well in his studies.

 

But recently it has been more and more dangerous for Tamil youths to stay in Jaffna. So we told him to come back home.

 

Premkumar is my eldest child. The next Pratheeskumar is thirteen, daughter Mary Pirameela is nine and Yarl Mannan is six years old.

 

I do not know how we are going to provide them the necessities all children have the right to have.

 

Premkumar is my eldest son. I had hoped he would carry me in my old age. Now, though he is only fifteen, he has to be carried by me. He is crippled for life.

 

Funeral of two civilians killed by Sri Lankan air force bombing.

Two civilians were killed and eleven injured when a SLAF Kfir fighter jet bombed a fishing hamlet in the Mullaitheevu district.

 

The SLAF bombardment on civilian target occurred while the Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka was in Kilinochchi to meet with the head of the LTTE’s political wing.

 

Flying at low altitude, the Kfir bomber targeted fishermen and their families as they were sorting fish on the shore near the Church of Velankani, Alampil, and dropped two bombs on them.

 

 

P. Premkumar, 15, lost both of his legs in the attack.

 

Dias Arulsan, just a year old, was also among the wounded, as was his four-year-old sister Alaiyarasi.

 

The others injured were identified as S. Sarathkumar, 12, K. Thusyanthini, 10, S. Tharsan, 18, K. Sivarasa, 39, J. Veathanyagam, 46, T. Poomani, 52, D. Thiyagarajah, 67 and N. Alfred, 67.

 

Premkumar and Tharsan were in such a serious condition that they were transferred to Kilinochchi hospital.

 

One-year-old Dias Arulsan was among eleven civilians injured when the jet bombed a fishing village. Photo TamilNet

Two huts belonging to brothers Nakamuththu Sinnnarasa and Nakamuththu Kiddinan were destroyed in the attack.

 

A civilian settlement of 1200 IDP fisher families, including those who relocated from Mayiliddi, Jaffna, is located 300 meters from the attack site.

 

Mullaiththeevu Government Agent Ms. Imelda Sukumar said she had received a report from an area official in Karai Irapattu who verified that the SLAF bombardment was a at a solely civilian target.

 

The funeral of the two civilians killed took place last Thursday.

 

Both bodies were kept at a Community Development Centre of Alampil for the public to pay their last respects, and were later buried at the Mullaiththeevu Christian Cemetery, with hundreds of people attending the funerals.

 

The bodies of Tamils shot dead in execution-style are often found along roadsides, like these four men whose bodies were discovered in Vavuniya. Photo STR / AFP / Getty Images

 

14 July

 

●        16 SLA soldiers were killed and 45 wounded when LTTE forces put up stiff resistance against a two-pronged offensive by the SLA in the Mannar-Vavuniya border area. Four dead bodies of SLA soldiers were recovered by the Tigers. Three LTTE fighters were killed in action. A Buffel Armoured Personnel Carrier was destroyed and the Tigers recovered a Rocket Propelled Grenade Launcher, three T-56 rifles, ammunitions and military hardware. Fifteen of the wounded SLA soldiers had limbs amputated. “The soldiers were locked into heavy fighting along a Forward Defence Line, which they believed was a crack in enemy lines,” a SLA official in Vavuniya, who did not wished to be named was quoted as saying. “The soldiers were forced to confront an apparent trap,” he said. The LTTE is yet to release details of the SLA offensive.

●        Lathayini Arunachalam, 25, an employee at a private bookstore, was riding her bicycle from her home in Nunavil towards her workplace in Chavakachcheri, Jaffna, when gunmen riding on a motorbike shot her dead.

●        Chavakachcheari police recovered the body of Velayuthapillai Pirapaharan, 30, with hands tied behind his back and with seven gunshot wounds to his body, in Vembirai, Thenmaradchi, along Puththoor-Meesaalai road, in Jaffna. Originally from Madduvil North, he was married and living in Manthuvil. His relatives said that he was abducted after he left home for his daily prayers at a nearby temple on Friday.

●        Several SLA soldiers are feared killed and many injured during sustained exchanges of artillery fire across Thenmaradchi FDLs in Jaffna. The Sri Lankan military has not officially released casualty figures but reports said many bodies have been transferred from Palaali to Colombo during three days of bombardment, and several troops have been admitted to Palali Military Hospital.

 

13 July

 

●        Subramaniam Jeyanthiran, 19, was shot dead by gunmen inside the Jaffna HSZ. He had earlier received death threats from the SLA and was held in protective custody of Jaffna prison through the Jaffna SLHRC, but was recently released from custody on his own request. His national identity card was confiscated by the SLA soldiers during a cordon and search operation in Kurunakarand he had been directed by the soldiers to report to the Chinnakadai Jaffna camp at one end of Martin Road. Whilst on his way to the SLA camp the SLA soldiers at the sentry point had ordered him to proceed through Martin Road where he was shot.

 

12 July

 

●        Hundreds of SLA soldiers and policemen entered the premises of the TELO district office in Vavuniya and shot and killed a TELO member, Thiyaaku, alleging he was attempting a lob a grenade at them. Initial reports said a grenade was seen on the chest of the dead body. Military officials in Vavuniya claimed that they had located a T-56 rifle, four Police uniforms, a pistol, 3 walkie-talkies, an anti-personnel mine and 300 bullets. Three TELO officials were taken to the police station following the ransack operation. TELO offices are normally provided police security.

●        A SLAF Kfir bomber was damaged in LTTE anti-aircraft cannon fire over the Vavuniya FDL. The LTTE's Military Spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan said that the bomber was damaged in the cannon fire by the Tigers and parts of the damaged aircraft fell inside the Tiger territory. The SLAF aircraft crash landed into SLA territory. However, SLAF officials in Colombo said all their aircrafts were safe.

●        A claymore device was triggered targeting a high officer of SLA 52nd Division traveling in a pick-up through Thumpalai area in Point Pedro, Vadamaradchi, Jaffna. The seriously injured officer was rushed to Palali Military hospital. Maniam Kanapathipillai, 51, a teacher of Point Pedro Sivapragasam Maka Viththiyaalayam, returning after prayers at the temple, happened to be passing the site of attack on bicycle and died due to shock. The attackers, waiting in ambush for the officer, had activated the claymore device which was hidden along the road.

●        Police constable W. M. Wijeyasinge, 24, attached to Karaithevu STF in Amparai, died when his gun accidentally went off while he was cleaning it. The constable succumbed to the gunshot at Kalmunai hospital.

 

11 July

 

●        Several hundred SLA soldiers cordoned off and searched Pasaiyor, Kurunakar, Thirunakar, Koyathodam and surrounding areas. SLA soldiers confiscated residents’ National ID cards and ordered them to assemble at the Pasaiyoor playground, where the villagers were paraded in front of masked men. Most of the women and children were allowed to return home, while more than 100 men were still being interrogated several hours later. Details of anyone arrested at the end of the operation were not known.

●        SLA soldiers cordoned off and searched areas in Inuvil and Maruthanamadam in Jaffna, harassing undergraduates from Jaffna University on their way to lectures at the Fine Arts Faculty. Students were subjected to intense questioning and body search. House to house searches were conducted by the SLA soldiers throughout the morning and vehicular traffic was affected. Office workers and students attending schools also suffered delays.

●        Viyagarasa Vaseekaran, 30, a young family man, was shot dead at his house in Kopay by armed men alleged to be members of the SLA intelligence wing and SLA-backed paramilitaries. The intruders forced open the front entrance to the house and shot the man. Vaseekaran’s body also bore marks due to severe beating, and burn marks from cigarette butts. Local residents who approached the house on hearing screams were allegedly beaten back by men identified as belonging to a paramilitary group.

●        Two civilians were killed and eleven injured when a SLAF Kfir fighter jet bombed fishermen on shore near the Church of Velangkani in Alampil, Mullaitheevu.

●        Nearly 100 families recently resettled in Kokkaddichcholai, Batticaloa, started relocating to safer areas due to recent killings and disappearances, Batticaloa TNA MP Mr. Ariyanarenthiran said. As a result of a number of killings, civilians recently resettled in Kokkaddichcholai have started leaving the area to safer places, the MP said. Adequate protection has not been provided for these resettled families, he said, adding: “Since the Sri Lanka Army conducts search operations during mid night and early morning, these families continue to live in fear.”

●        Muhammad Mahroof, 40, and Hachchi Muhammad Gaffoor, 38, both residents of Kaththankudi, Batticaloa, were injured when unknown persons hurled a hand grenade while they were standing near the Kaththankudi Police station. The police and SLA cordoned off the area and conducted a search following the incident, but no-one was arrested.

●        Thiyagarajah Vasikumar’s body was discovered with gunshot wounds in Kalviyangkadu, Jaffna. The body bore several injuries which medical officers at the Jaffna Teaching hospital confirmed as inflicted due to torture. Vasikumar was forcibly dragged out of his home by armed men and his body, with his hand tied behind his back, was recovered with several cut injuries.

●        Three Jaffna high schools students, forcibly abducted on 4 May from their homes by armed men, were released near their homes .They were held captive for 69 days before being brought to their homes in a white van. They were released on the condition that they will not divulge any information to the media and have been threatened with death if they failed to adhere to the condition. The students confirmed they were abducted by SLA troops but refused to provide any information about where they were kept captive. Suntharalingam Yasotharan, 17, from Thirunelveali and Nagarajah Venukanthan, 19, from Brown Road Jaffna were attending Jaffna Hindu College in Mathemetics and Arts Division respectively. Kugarajan Kannan, 19, of Kasthuriyaar Road, Jafna was attending GCE (A/L) Mathemetics section at St. John's College. No details of several other missing students missing since January are known.

 

10 July

 

●        Five people, including Tamileelam Health Service personnel and civilians, were killed in a claymore mine attack by a SLA DPU inside Vanni, at Kilavankulam, near Mangkulam. Kandasamy Vadivanathan, 41, a worker from the Road Development Authority on road construction work along the A9, was wounded in the attack.

●        A SLA road patrol unit and a group of men exchanged fire near Arasadi in Karavedi, Vadamaradchi, Jaffna, which has been the site of several earlier skirmishes. The firefight lasted for more than 10 minutes, but details of injuries or casualties are not known. The attackers escaped after the firefight.

●        Sri Lankan Police, in a cordon and search operation in Kathirkamam in Uva, arrested 18 civilians, including 14 Tamils staying in Kathirkamam, for not having valid documents to establish their identity. Kathirkamam has been a place of pilgrimage and religious sanctity since prehistoric times, being the location of a Hindu temple.

●        Manikkampodi Sivalingam, 40, a father of five recently resettled in Manmunai South West (Paddippalai), Batticaloa, has gone missing after going to fish in Pulukunavai Tank. Three persons including a woman were killed and two others have gone missing from recently resettled Paduvaankarai region in Batticaloa district.

9 July

 

●        A SLA deserter lead a Sinhala mob that shot dead a Muslim boy and seriously injured two other Muslim youths in the Western Province village of Ambalanduwa. Mohammed Faizal, 18, was killed when the Muslims where attacked as they opposed a group of extremists attempting to place a Buddha statue near a Mosque in their village, in the Panadura division of Kalutara.

●        Sri Lankan Police carried out a search operation in Polgolla, Kandy, arresting four Tamil youths for not having valid documents to prove their identity and for failing to provide valid reasons for their stay in Kandy. Two are from Galaha and the other two are from Nawala, Matale and from Kundasale, Kandy.

●        A search operation in Mirihana, Nugegoda, Colombo, resulted in five civilians, including one Tamil, being arrested for failing to prove their identity.

 

In an interview with the Reuters, the leader of the LTTE’s political wing, Mr. S. P. Tamilselvan, declared that the organisation would target major military and economic structures in the future with an aim of crippling the island’s economy.

 

He also told the Norwegian envoy that the co-chairs had failed to pressure the Sir Lankan government over its human rights abuses.

 

“Our targets would be in the future major military and economic structures of the government of Sri Lanka,” Tamilselvan said speaking to Simon Gardiner from Reuters Friday.

 

“They will be targets which help the government sustain its military operations and military rule,” he added.

 

Mr. Tamilselvan citied air raids by the Tamileelam Air Force (TAF) on March 28 on oil storage facilities in Kolonnawa and Muththuraajawala in the suburbs of the capital Colombo as examples of type of attacks the LTTE will be carrying out in the future, with the aim of destabilising the island’s economy.

 

“For instance (our) attack on the oil installations. That is one of the targets that will cripple the economy of Sri Lanka as well as the military capability of Sri Lanka, so such will be the tactic,” Reuters quoted him as saying.

 

The LTTE targetted Sri Lanka’s main international airport and the adjoining military base in July 2001, destroying 13 aircrafts. Photo Sena Vidanagama / AFP / Getty Images

Separately, in a meeting with Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar in Killinochchi Thursday, Mr. Tamilselvan pointed out that the Sri Lankan government was spending aid money received from donor countries on projects supporting Sri Lanka's military infrastructure, including construction of roads in militarily strategic areas.

 

The 2-day Norwegian visit, described by the ambassador as routine, came following a long break due to the Sri Lankan government blocking foreign diplomats from visiting the LTTE leadership in the Vanni.

 

During the meeting, Mr. Tamilselvan told the Norwegian delegation of the Tamil people’s disillusionment with the donor co-chairs for failing to exert pressure on the Sri Lankan state on fundamental humanitarian issues that are critically affecting their day-to-day lives.

 

“Denial of basic humanitarian needs requires equal and urgent attention, besides addressing selected human rights violations by the Sri Lankan state” TamilNet reported Mr. Tamilselvan as telling Mr Brattskar.

 

The LTTE political wing leader was reported to have cited key issues affecting the Tamil people, including the continued closure of the A9 highway, the only land route to Jaffna peninsula, the resettlement of tens of thousands of internally displaced refugees in the East, and the establishment of a new High Security Zone designed to evict Tamils from their traditional areas in Trincomalee as some of the serious grievances the co-chairs have failed to take up with Sri Lanka.

 

In the interview to Reuters, Mr. Tamilselvan said the Tigers had no faith in a bid to forge a consensus devolution proposal for minority Tamils through the All Party Representative Committee (APRC).

 

“After closing all the avenues for the other party to participate in meaningful negotiations, the government inviting (us) to attend talks is meaningless,” Mr. Tamilselvan said.

 

He further ruled out peace talks with President Rajapakse, saying his regime, disregarding the ceasfire agreement in place, has captured LTTE administered regions in the eastern province through military offensives which saw tens of thousands of Tamils being displaced due to indoctrinate aerial and artillery bombardment.

 

“Peace is not possible with this president, because during this president's term we find a euphoria, celebration, jubilation over the so-called victory in the east. Under such a person peace is not always possible.”

 

Referring to the announcement by the Sri Lankan government of plans to celebrate the capture of Thoppigala jungles west of Batticaloa town in Colombo on July 19, Mr. Tamilselvan said it would not last very long.

 

“We can only say that Thoppigala and the jungles the government is now gloating about as if they had captured a new country or a state or something like that, is not going to last very long.”

 

“Let the Tamil people live in their traditional homeland,” Mr. Tamilselvan said.

 

“Leave the Tamil people without any military occupation or persecution. That will be the day when there is no war.”

 

Liberation Tigers fighters staged a training exercise at a secret location in Vanni Friday to demonstrate their conventional war skills.

 

And for the first time ever, reporters attached to major news agencies were invited to view the fighters training.

 

The drill took place early in the morning amidst the backdrop of an announcement by the Sri Lankan government that they had captured the Thoppigala jungles, which the government says was the last bastion of LTTE in the eastern province.

 

LTTE leaders speaking to reporters said the exercise was intended as practice for coming attacks on nearby government positions.

 

According to the Associated Press, many of the fighters were dressed in the customary striped fatigues of the LTTE. Others wore olive green uniforms with ammunition vests.

 

The training ground was a vast plain of white sand, dotted with small patches of brush. Rusting bullet cases lay on the ground, signaling it has been used before, but not recently, the Associated Press reported.

The aim of the exercise was to capture a mock heavily fortified Sri Lankan army position.

 

“The main objective on the battle front is how to destroy the enemy's battle tanks and armoured vehicles,” LTTE fighter S. Kadalarasan told Reuters as his fellow fighters fired.

 

Fifty caliber heavy machine guns from the other side of the sandy plain at a line of bunkers, razor wire and targets to pave the way for fighters to advance and capture the mock fortification.

 

“If I blow up their vehicles, I will be happy because the enemy is coming to suppress and oppress and kill our innocent civilians, so I will be happy to attack the enemy and kill them,” Kadalarasan further told Reuters.

One wing of the assault was made up of female fighters, rushing forward with Chinese-made T-56 assault rifles, and firing into shallow bunkers to kill imaginary enemies, advancing in threes with mutual cover fire, reported Reuters.

 

The LTTE trainer, Lieutenant-Colonel V. Nishanthan Master a specialist trainer in offensive and defensive tactics, who coordinated the drill told reporters the assault strategy demonstrated will soon be used in a real operation against Sri Lankan troops.

 

“We have gained experience through battles and of course we have read books about strategies and tactics,” Nishanthan Master told Reuters, as he marshaled fighters through the exercise.

 

He told reporters who were in Vanni to observe the drill, that LTTE leader Velupillai Pirapaharan had given him works by the likes of ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu and books on the Napoleonic wars to read.

 

In addition to battle experiences and books, Hollywood blockbuster movies like ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and ‘Black Hawk Down’ also have been used as inspiration for military strategies in the past, Nishanthan master revealed.

 

“There are a lot of movies that have been translated into Tamil, and we have also taken a lot of strategies from those,” he told Reuters.

 

According to the agency, fighters are also shown Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee movies to learn kung fu moves -- as well as some lighter relief like cartoons and children's films such as ‘Finding Nemo’.

 

“I also yearn for a normal life. But I am here and giving training because we need to expel the oppressors,” said Nishanthan Master.

 

“Definitely we will drive the Sri Lankan armed forces from our homeland and we will create Tamil Eelam. I have not an iota of doubt.”

 

“Once I have fallen, another hand will come and take this RPG,” Kadalarasan said after saying a Tiger oath following the training session, showing the glass vials containing white cyanide he wears around his neck like all fellow fighters, reported Reuters.

 

“If we are badly wounded and the enemy is going to capture us or we are about to pass out, then only we bite as a last resort,” he said smiling.

 

“In order to keep our secrets and not be tortured by the enemy -- the cyanide capsule is the solution.”

 

Commenting on the Sri Lankan military claims that it has captured the Thoppigala jungles in the Eastern province, Nishanthan Master said “Gaining territory is not victory, it is a false hope. We will again come out and attack (the government).”

 

The LTTE told reporters who visited Vanni that they have simply switched from conventional warfare to guerrilla tactics in the east, and they still maintain a large swath of territory in the north that they run as a virtual state.

 

5000 Tamils called on the UK to apply pressure on Sri Lanka over its human rights abuses.

Nearly five thousand British Tamils demonstrated Saturday in central London, calling on the UK to apply pressure to halt human rights abuses by Sri Lanka’s security forces and to recognize the right to self-determination of the Tamil people.

 

The rally in Trafalgar square was organized by councilors of Tamil origin in the London area.

 

The protestors were addressed by two UK parliamentarians, Mr. Keith Vaz (Labour) and Mr. Simon Hughes (Liberal Democrats) and two MPs of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Mr. K. Sivajilingam and Mr. Chandrakanthan Chandra Nehru, as well as some of the organizing councilors.

 

The rally was held at the famous London landmark between 11.30 a.m. and 3p.m.

 

Among the councilors who addressed the event were Ms. Sasikala Suresh, Mr. Thaya Idaikadar, Mr. Yogan Yogarajah and Ms. Eliza Mann.

 

The speakers condemned the ongoing human rights abuses against Sri Lanka’s Tamils by the security forces there and urged the British government to pressure the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse to halt the atrocities.

 

Some speakers appealed to the international community to recognize the Tamil people’s right to self-determination, saying self-rule was the only way to safeguard their wellbeing.

 

Thousands of people attending the rally signed a petition addressed to the British government.

 

A resolution passed at the event declared:

 

“On this day, the 14th of July 2007, we, the many thousands who have assembled in London's Trafalgar Square, have come together to severely condemn the ethnic cleansing, killings, abductions, torture and other human rights abuses that the Sri Lankan Government is carrying out against the Tamils of the island as well as those who tell the truth about the state's vicious activities and those who come to the aid of the Tamils.

 

“In one voice, we declare that the only way the language, lands and culture of the Eelam Tamils, as well as their basic rights, may be safeguarded, is through the establishment of the independent state of Tamil Eelam, as the Tamil people so emphatically demanded in 1977.

 

“Witnessing the widespread ethnic cleansing and torture and human rights abuses occurring in Sri Lanka today, we reiterate that remains the only choice for the Tamil people, and we reaffirm our continuing and wholehearted support for this cause - the establishment of Tamil Eelam.

 

“We ask that the countries of the world that respect truth and justice, the United Nations and similar organisations that represent these countries, and human rights organisations, to condemn the human rights abuses perpetrated by the Sri Lankan Government.

 

“We ask that they see the injustice of dismissing as so-called terrorism this legitimate and just struggle for our people’s freedom from racial oppression.”

 

A Canadian parliamentarian last week wrote of his “deepest concern” over the deteriorating human rights situation in Sri Lanka.

 

Mr. Mark Holland, the Member of Parliament for federal electoral district of Ajax-Pickering in Ontario, wrote to the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper also supported fellow parliamentarian Dan McTeague's call to “opening a consulate in Jaffna that is capable of providing immigration services.”

 

The Liberal MP cited the difficulties faced by the Tamil community in the Northeast in traveling to the capital Colombo and the forcible eviction of Tamils from Colombo last month in his letter dated 9 July.

 

The text of the letter follows:

 

Dear Prime Minister:

 

I am writing to you to express my deepest concern about the deteriorating human rights situation in Sri Lanka, and also to urge the Government of Canada to take necessary measures to serve those in the northeast who cannot easily access the Canadian High Commission in Colombo.

 

Last months expulsion of about 400 Tamils from Colombo has been soundly condemned by reputable human rights organizations and by the international community. I have seen statements by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence claiming that only those who could not provide a valid reason for being in the capital were evicted. Such statements only confirm that Sri Lankans of Tamil origin do not have freedom of movement in Sri Lanka, or free access to the capital.

 

My constituency office staff as well as constituents of Tamil origin have told me of the great difficulties experienced by those in the northeast who need to travel to the High Commission in Colombo, especially on immigration matters. In one case, a family member of a constituent died during the long delays attempting unsuccessfully to send paperwork and subsequently to travel to the capital. For many, travel to Colombo is impossible.

 

My colleague, Hon. Dan McTeague, has written to you to ask that Canada consider opening a consulate in Jaffna that is capable of providing immigration services. I strongly support this suggestion, if it can be done securely and without undue risk to personnel.

 

I urge your government to take immediate steps to address this situation, and I would appreciate being kept informed of how your government is responding.

 

Sincerely,

 

Mark Holland, M.P.
Ajax-Pickering

 

An Australian television station last week aired interviews with relatives of Tamils kidnapped in Colombo, and quoted the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Australia dismissing the claims.

 

Dateline, the premier current affairs program of the SBS multicultural channel, investigated families affected by the epidemic of abductions and discussed how their lives have been impacted by the events in Sri Lanka.

 

Journalist Nick Lazaredes spoke to three Sydney families affected, but the program did not reveal the identities of the interviewees citing possible reprisals against their families in Sri Lanka.

 

Dateline reported receiving information on about eighteen cases of Tamils, Australian citizens or permanent residents or their relatives, abducted so far.

 

All of those abducted were held for ransom, with few released and the fate of others are still unknown, the program reported.

 

When questioned, Sri Lanka's High Commissioner for Australia, Kusumpala Balapatabendi dismissed the claims.

 

He says that if some Tamils have been found dead, “it's probably just a result of Sri Lanka's long-running civil war,” the reports said.

 

“I don't like to use the word abductions in that manner. Especially in the sense that every disappearance is not an abduction, because these numbers are exaggerated, highly exaggerated numbers,” he said.

 

“Amazingly he accuses Tamils of making up their kidnapping stories,” the journalist notes.

 

“I can hide some and get them to tell police that I am missing, I am abducted, this is happening. This is tarnishing the image of the country. They're trying to destruct the international community from our community,” Mr. Balapatabendi said.

 

At the end of the program, the host, George Negus noted that “Dateline was told that the Sri Lankan High Commissioner here in Australia says that he has never been approached by the department of foreign affairs in relation to the quite amazing rash of kidnappings.”

 

In one of the interviews, ‘Murali’ (not his real name) says his brother in law, a wealthy businessman, was abducted almost a year ago and there is still no news of his whereabouts.

 

Murali says he has paid almost $1 million Australian dollars to the kidnappers within few days of the abduction.

 

He also adds that a Government Minister told him the paramilitary Karnua Group was behind the abduction.

 

“The Minister confirmed this, that it was the Karnua group involved?” the reported queries.

 

“Yes, the guerilla group of Karnua group, that was involved and they will - he will help to release him. But I think they were trying for nearly two months and at the end of two months he said that we can't help,” Murali replies.

 

When the reporter asks why he couldn’t help, Murali replies: “He said that he can't help, they're not listening to him, the people that have him.”

 

The family was told by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs in Canberra, which spoke to the country’s High Commission in Colombo, to contact the Sri Lankan government, and that nothing more could be done to determine whether he was dead or alive, Mr. Lazaredes reported.

 

Dr Mano Mohan, a leading figure in the Australian Tamil community, told Dateline “the kidnapping and disappearances of Tamils has reached epidemic proportions”.

 

“Tamils of Sri Lanka are fed up. They live in fear, and Tamils of Sri Lanka who live abroad who are citizens of other countries are unable to visit their kin for fear of being abducted, of fear of being killed, this is a state of affairs. It's anarchy,” he said.

 

In another case, Devan (again not his real name) says his sister's husband was kidnapped and the kidnappers told her to get a $60,000 ransom from Sydney.

 

He said “somebody was talking, not in pure Tamil, not in Sinhalese, in between, speaking Tamil but in a different accent, telling her that they got her husband and demanding for 50 Lak, rupees”.

 

Devan’ brother in law was one of the lucky ones – he was released. But Devan says to date his brother in law refuses to speak about the ordeal.

 

In a similar story, Tanvir’s sister’s 20-year-old son was kidnapped from their Colombo apartment last Christmas.

 

Tanvir's family believes the boy may have been taken by the Sri Lankan security forces and handed over to the Karnua group to be trained as a militant, the program reported.

 

“I think he was arrested by the army or police. I don't think it's a rebel group but there have been stories about the army and police arresting kids and handing them over to Karnua group to fight against Tamil Tigers. Maybe that has happened, I'm not sure,” Tanvir said.

 

Dr Mohan also believes that many of the younger kidnapping victims are being forcibly recruited to fight for paramilitary groups. But he says none of it would be possible without the approval of corrupt Government officials.

 

“It's a combination of paramilitary groups, commbination of Government highly placed officials and the military and the armed forces. There should be collaboration between all these groups for effectively to carry this out, again and again and again, without being get caught,” Dr Mohan said.

 

“As implausible as this sounds, just a few months ago, Sri Lanka's police chief announced that criminal gangs were involved in the kidnappings along with corrupt police and military officers,” the reporter noted.

 

The Sri Lankan High Commissioner confirmed the involvement of corrupt military and police officers.

 

“Many of them are ex-service men and a couple of people serving in the police, not many, but two have been thrown out under detention and been charged,” Mr. Balapatabendi said.

 

Sri Lankan security forces rehearse for celebrations to mark their conquest of the eastern province, where 300,000 Tamils have been displaced by offensives. Photo TamilNet

Sri Lanka’s hardline Sinhala government this week said it had cleared the Liberation Tigers from the island’s east and prepared for a major celebration while announcing plans to attack the LTTE’s stronghold in the north.

 

“To bring about permanent peace to this country, the government is dedicated to chase out the terrorists from the Northern Province,'' President Mahinda Rajapaksa vowed, hailing the conquest of the eastern province.

 

As this edition was going to print Wednesday, the Sinhala-nationalist government was preparing island wide ceremonies for Thursday to mark the province's capture, including a military parade of 700 personnel.

 

President Rajapakse, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, is to receive a 21-gun salute at Independence Square in the capital and review the parade and a fly past by Air Force jets.

 

During the celebrations, President Rajapakse will be formally informed of the capture by being presented with a parchment scroll by the head of the Army, Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka.

 

The act mimics victory ceremonies held by Sinhala kings when they defeated Tamil enemies.

 

The government has also made elaborate arrangements to hold lectures at schools to inform students of the military gains in the east of the island, officials said.

 

But amid LTTE warnings of retaliation, there is widespread skepticism of the strategic value of the government’s captured of Thoppigala, the LTTE last bastion in the east,

 

This LTTE admitted its fighters had vacated Thoppigala, but warned a guerilla war was set to escalate in the east.

 

And as if to highlight the continuing volatility of the region, the government’s newly appointed top civil servant there was shot dead Tuesday.

 

The Chief Secretary of the Eastern Provincial Herath Abeyweera, a retired Sinhala army officer appointed by President Mahinda Rajapakse, was shot dead in his office in Trincomalee Tuesday by gunmen who escaped. Police blamed the LTTE.

 

President Rajapakse, whose elaborate victory celebrations are coming under criticism by Sinhala nationalists demanding he drive the Tigers from their northern stronghold said: "this assassination further strengthens our resolve not to give in to the forces of terror, but to proceed with our task of restoring freedom and democracy to the East, and all of Sri Lanka."

 

The Sri Lankan government said it would seek foreign aid to consolidate its grip in the key eastern

Sri Lanka Army commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka at an official ceremony last week. Photo SLA

province, wrested from the Tigers after almost a year of military offensives which have driven 300,000 Tamils from their homes.

 

The LTTE says international aid sent to Sri Lanka is being used to boost the military.

 

Funds are spent on projects such as constructing roads in militarily strategic areas, Mr. S.P. Tamilselvan, head of the LTTE's political wing, told outgoing Norwegian Ambassador Hans Brattskar last week.

 

The Tamil people are disillusioned that the international donor group led by the U.S., the European Union, Japan and Norway is failing to ensure aid is used for humanitarian purposes, Mr. Tamilselvan added.

 

Last week the government announced it had finally captured Thoppigala, the last bastion of the Tigers in the eastern province which comprises the Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai districts.

 

Tiger fighters melted away from Thoppigala, a mountainous jungle area they dominated for more than 13 years, LTTE spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiriyan told reporters from the north.

 

Tamil Tiger forces who remained in the east had gone into "guerrilla" mode, he said, adding that "winning the war was not about taking control of real estate."

 

"They are mentioning this as the end of the war in the east," Ilanthiriyan said. "But that is not the truth. We have the experience in guerrilla tactics. In fact, we have already changed our approach to guerrilla tactics."

 

In comments published in the Daily Mirror Illentheriyan said the Sri Lankan military could have moved into Thoppigala much earlier than it did as the Tigers had already withdrawn from the area after a change of strategy.

 

Former Air Marshall Harry Goonetilleke told the AP news agency that the seizure of Thoppigala was an important success for the military, but keeping it would not be easy.

 

"You can win a battle with 2,000 troops, but to hold it you need 10,000 minimum," he said.

 

President Mahinda Rajapakse hailed the victory and warned he would now smash the LTTE’s de-facto state in the island’s north.

 

He offered a tribute to soldiers who "captured the last stronghold of the terrorists located in Thoppigala."

 

The main opposition UNP meanwhile sneered at the claimed victory and asked whether the government facilitated the withdrawal of 800 LTTE cadres in the Thoppigala area.

 

“We did not see the LTTE manpower and heavy weapons being destroyed at large in the military operations,” senior UNP official Lakshman Kiriella said.

 

Earlier this month, a senior Indian officer who led operations against the Tigers during Delhi’s intervention in the island in the late eighties said the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) did conduct operations in the Thoppigala jungles, but made no attempt to occupy the area because it had no strategic significance.

 

“Thoppigala was a vast jungle area which did not lie on any major line of communication. It was basically a hide out for the LTTE. It had hospitals, prisons and training camps,” former area commander, Maj Gen Ashok Mehta told Hindustan Times.

 

“I have personally led operations to destroy these facilities. But we always came back to base, as there was no need to occupy the area. There was nothing to occupy!" he said.

 

The Hindustan Times quoted independent military observers as saying that the Sri Lankan military’s progress against the Tigers has been slow as there had been stiff resistance by the LTTE and the terrain has been difficult.

 

"If it is a walk over, why the did the Air Force pound the area on Wednesday and Thursday?" asked Iqbal Athas of The Sunday Times asked a day before the government announced it had cleared Thoppigala.

 

The Hindustan Times said Sri Lankan observers felt that the government’s insistence on taking Thoppigala was political rather than military.

 

Meanwhile, the head of the LTTE’s political wing, SP Tamilselvan said peace was "not possible" with President Rajapaksa and warned the war will escalate.

 

"Our targets would be in the future major military and economic structures of the government of Sri Lanka," he told the Reuters.

 

"They will be targets which help the government sustain its military operations and military rule. For instance (our) attack on the oil installations. That is one of the targets that will cripple the economy of Sri Lanka as well as the military capability of Sri Lanka, so such will be the tactic," he further said.

 

The US embassy in Colombo has issued a warning to US citizens to exercise caution in Sri Lanka.

 

“Americans should continue to avoid military installations, military convoys travelling on the roads, and where possible, government buildings and political rallies/events, as they have in the past been targets for LTTE attacks,” the embassy said.

 

Sri Lanka is to ask international donors to fund an ambitious reconstruction bid in the newly seized area of some 9,635 square kilometres (3,720 square miles), Public Administration Minister Karu Jayasuriya said.

 

Both Britain and Germany have frozen aid to Sri Lanka because of concerns about the regimes’ deteriorating rights record.

 

But the island's main financial backer, Japan, which accounts for two thirds of bilateral aid, has said that it will not link development assistance to human rights.