18th anniversary of Sencholai massacre commemorated across Tamil homeland

Events took place across the North-East today, to mark 18 years since the Sencholai massacre, where four Sri Lankan air force jets flew over the Vanni and dropped sixteen bombs over the Sencholai children's home for orphans, killing 53 school girls and 3 teachers.

The children's home had been designated a humanitarian zone and its GPS coordinates had been passed to the Sri Lankan military via the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, and the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC).

Read more: Remembering the Sencholai massacre 18 years on

In Vallipunam, relatives of the murdered fathered to light lamps and place flowers before portraits of their loved ones.

Tamil families of the disappeared in Vavuniya, also paid tribute to the 53 school children and 3 teachers as they marked 2733 days of continuous roadside protest. 

Former Northern Provincial Council member T Ravikaran visited the site of the bombed orphanage in Mullaitivu, where he lit a flame to commemorate those killed.

To this day, no one has been held accountable for the massacre that took place 18 years ago.