The massacre of 53 schoolgirls by the Sri Lankan air force was remembered in the Tamil homeland on Wednesday on the thirteenth anniversary of the attack.
On 14 August 2006, 53 schoolgirls and three teachers in Mullaitivu were killed by the Sri Lankan air force who bombed the Sencholai school in Vallipunam.
The attack was conducted by the Sri Lankan air force after the children's home was designated a humanitarian safe zone and its GSP coordinates were handed to the military by the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, and the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC).
A vigil was held at the original site of the school, while a larger memorial event was held in Vallipunam where families of the victims attended, as well as ITAK leader and TNA MP Mavai Senathirajah and TNA MP S Sivamohan. Later on Wednesday, the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) also held a memorial event at the party's Mullaitivu headquarters in Puthukudiyiruppu.
Students at the University of Jaffna also held a vigil on the campus.
