In the run up to the announcement last week that the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers would soon hold peace talks in Geneva, there has been a marked decrease in violence – a trend broken by the abduction of five Tamil aid workers this week. Nevertheless, there have been a number of incidents and developments that have continued to raise tensions in several parts of the Northeast.
In the most serious incident, a senior LTTE cadre killed in an ambush by suspected Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and paramilitary cadres Thursday in Vadamunai in Batticaloa district.
Major Kapilan was killed and at least one cadre was wounded when the paramilitaries and SLA soldiers ambushed their tractor in an LTTE held area in Vadamunai near Welikande in Batticaloa-Polannaruwa border.
In notable developments, the Army's 23-1 Brigade camp in Welikande backed up the withdrawing ambush group with 5" mortar fire from their base, while the attackers had used a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) launcher to hit the tractor.
On Friday normal life and business in Vavuniya town and suburbs came to a standstill due to a hartal (shut down) organised by Tamil Student's Union in protest against the killings of civilians in NorthEast by the Sri Lankan armed forces, military intelligence and paramilitary forces.
A cordon and search operation was conducted by the SLA and Police in Manippuram Housing Scheme, 8 km northwest of Vavuniya, from Friday morning till noon. There were no arrests.
On Monday last week normal life in the Army-controlled Mannar island came to a complete standstill when the Tamil speaking people observed general shut down in response to the call made by the Pesalai Tamil Peoples Forum to condemn the killing of four members of two families by Navy soldiers.
That morning a special mass in connection with the one-month remembrance of four persons killed was also held in the Pesalai Vettri Matha Church heeded by Mannar Bishop.
SLA soldiers cordoned off Kallikaddaikadu village in the northwestern Mannar District and conducted house-to-house search operation the same morning. The village is 10 km east of Mannar town on the Madawachchi-Mannar main road.
SLA troops on foot patrol in Irupalai area along Jaffna Point-Pedro came under fire from unknown gunmen Saturday evening, and in another incident in Chulipuram one trooper was injured when unknown gunmen hurled a grenade at a SLA foot patrol.
Although military officials in Jaffna district said that the two attacks happened after a few days of relative calm, the military desisted from blaming the attacks on any party and speculation is rife among Jaffna residents and local Tamil media that the attacks may have been staged by SLA intelligence operatives and paramilitaries operating with them to pointing blame at pro-Tamil Tiger militia.
The Tamil Resurgence Force, which has claimed several attacks against Sri Lankan security forces in the Jaffna district had said after the LTTE agreed last Wednesday to cease violence that it would also stop its actions.
SLA soldiers on foot patrol shot and injured a civilian, Velupillai Nagarajah, 70, along A9 road in Madathady area in Chavakacheri Thursday morning. The Army claimed it was an accident, but others say the victim was hit by a deliberate burst of fire.
In a similar incident recently, a retired Post Master was killed by SLA gunfire in Point Pedro after which the SLA claimed a gun had fired accidentally, but investigations by the NorthEast Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR) proved that the killing was not accidental.
Two youths were shot and killed whilst riding their bicycles in Jaffna in two separate incidents in Nallur, Jaffna, Wednesday morning last week. Gunmen riding in a motorbike shot and killed a youth on Konavalai lane in Kokkuvil East and another youth, around the same time, in Kondavil East on Potpathy lane.
A student from Varani Yakkalai area was shot dead by unknown gunmen Tuesday afternoon last week. He was a member of a LTTE ‘War Hero’ family. Kandasamy Vaikunthan, 23, who was returing from classes from a privte tutory in Meesalai was shot dead in front of Kannki Amman Temple by gunmen who followed him from his classes. His brother, a member of Liberation Tigers, had died in combat earlier.
The owner of an eating house in Meesalai, Thenmaradchy district, was shot dead along the A9-highway near the Chavakachcheri market by two men riding in a motorbike Monday afternoon last week. A young woman was seriously injured when Sri Lankan soldiers randomly fired at the civilians after the shooting incident at Meesalai, 4 km east of Chavakachcheri along the A9 highway.
Relatives of the deceased allege that Sri Lanka Intelligence operatives were behind the killing. Krishnagobi and two other brothers are involved in eatery business and two of the three brothers were arrested and held in Jaffna prison in 2000 for supporting the Liberation Tigers. They were released after two years.
Earlier last week, in a letter to selected government officers addressed from its office at the Sridhar Theater, Jaffna, , the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) threatened with death those who defy its call to attend a meeting in Vathiri, Karaveddy.
"We are aware that you worked closely with the Liberation Tigers who practise terrorism and who are destroying the culture, justice and administration of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka,” the EPDP said.
“Since you have not fled to Vanni and continue to live in Jaffna, we are keen to include you as part of our force. We are holding a meeting on the 23 January at 3.00 p.m. in Vathiri Pradeshya Sabha offices.
“If you attend your family's and your future will be safe. If not we would like to remind you the fate that befell the family of Bojan in Manipay and expect your attendence,”
In the recently published case histories of Manipay killing of three members of the same family and the separate killing of a 15 year old youth in Kodikamam, the NorthEast Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR) provides details of involvement of Sri Lanka Intelligence operatives and paramilitary cadres belonging to EPDP in the killings.
With several SLA soldiers wearing black bands covering their faces, clearing Kanagasabai Road leading to Bojan's family, nine members of EPDP paramilitaries scaled the fences of the two storied house at 10 p.m. and killed Renuka, 30, Shannuka, 23, and Arthanareeswary Bojan, 51, NESOHR said in its report after interviewing residents of Manipay and family members who escaped death. The killings took place on 14 January.
In the shooting death of student Thambirajah Arulajanthan, 15, of Kodikamam on 28 December, NESOHR report said, EPDP cadres and SLA Intelligence operatives had visited the house three times in search of Arul's brother-in-law Kirubakaran. Kirubakaran was an LTTE member and had left the movement six years ago, the family told NESOHR.
Mr.Thambipillai Selvarajah, 48, a mason by profession was shot dead by unidentified men Wednesday night close to the market in Muttur town in Trincomalee district. He was the second Tamil civilian shot dead by unidentified persons in the SLA controlled Muttur town since Tuesday morning and the third in the Trincomalee district.
Both earlier killings took place Tuesday morning. Soon after the second attack, several Tamil families in Muttur town fled their houses and sought refuge in the Christian Church in the Muttur town.
Mr. Subramaniyam Suhirtharajan, a Tamil journalist, was shot dead in Trincomalee town, close to the Governor's Secretariat. Mr. Ramalingam Suntheralingam, 54, a board member in Muttur Co-operative Society was shot dead in his house located between the Muttur police station and an SLA checkpoint along the Methodist Church Road in Muttur town.
Reporters sans frontières (RSF) in a press release issued Tuesday said that Mr. Suhirtharajan, a correspondent of the Tamil-language daily Sudar Oli was killed for writing about "abuses committed in his region by Tamil paramilitary groups," and that in Sri Lanka, "the impunity enjoyed by the instigators and perpetrators of these murders encourages more violence against the press."
The day before he was killed, the reporter had detailed the abuses committed by Tamil paramilitary groups including the EPDP in the Trincomalee region in an article. The Sudar Oli newspaper also recently ran photos taken by Suhirtharajan showing that five Trincomalee students were shot dead at point-blank range on 2 January, disproving the army¹s claim that they were killed by a grenade explosion. Sri Lankan commandos are blamed for the execution-style killings.
Unknown attackers lobbed a grenade at a civilian residence in Vepankulam, 3 km northwest of Vavuniya town on Sunday night. No one was wounded in the attack, which was the sixth grenade attack to be reported on civilian residences within the last few days, Vavuniya Police said.
At least two houses of reputed businessmen were among the targets in Vavuniya. Incidents of extortions and violence, allegedly by paramilitary cadres, have escalated in the area.
On Saturday night, a 13-year-old boy, his 14-year-old sister, and their mother were wounded when unknown attackers lobbed a grenade into the front-yard of the residence of a reputed trader in Vavuniya, Chandrakumar, the owner of Gopi Agency.
The residence of the owner of Ratnam Travels, another trader in Vavuniya, was also attacked earlier last week, according to Police.
An unidentified extortionist was behind the killing of a private tutor, Kamalachandran, last Monday, according to the relatives of the victim. The gunman had shot the victim after a short conversation, eyewitnesses said.
In Batticaloa, the house of a cadre of the paramilitary Razeek Group which was located in located at Thiruchchenthuru Temple Road in Kallady was damaged when an unknown assailant hurled a grenade at it.
Meanwhile, the Tamil Teachers Union (CTTU) reiterated a demand that Sri Lankan armed forces personnel should be withdrawn fifty meters away from schools in the Tamil and Muslim dominated Northeast province, and also to vacate schools now occupied in the high security zones in Jaffna district.
The increasing presence of SLA troops near the entrances to several schools in Jaffna district has irked parents and have increased absenteeism in schools. Educational institutions along the Jaffna-Kankesanthurai Road, from Jaffna town to Tellipallai entrance to the High Security Zone (HSZ) are the most affected.
Children attending Mallakam Maha Vidyalayam, Mallakam Visaladchi Maha Vidyalayam, Chunnakam Thirugnanasampantha Vidyalyam, Innuvil Central College, Kokkuvil Tamil Mixed School, Kokuvil Hindu College and Jaffna Hindu College located along the Jaffna-KKS road or nearby cross roads are anxious about the heavily armed troopers outside their school gates.
Meanwhile, incidents of thefts have increased in Chankanai, Kalviyankadu, Tellipalai and surrounding areas, residents said.
Residents allege that despite complaints to the police, police have made no efforts to identify the intruders, nor the SLA command has taken efforts to alleviate the army-imposed lighting restrictions that have affected the security of Jaffna households during the night hours.
In Vavuniya, incidents of extortions allegedly paramilitary cadres have escalated despite the expectations of decrease in violence in the wake of the announcement last week that peace talks would take place in Geneva soon.
Meanwhile, fishermen of Pallimunai in Mannar district are undergoing severe hardship due to restrictions imposed by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) in leaving for fishing and returning from sea.
According to a Navy directive, fishermen can leave for fishing after 6 in the morning and return by 5.30 in the evening. But SLN soldiers are only allowing the fishermen to leave the shore only around 9 in the morning after delaying deliberately conducting checks and other procedures, fishermen have complained to local fisheries officials.
Fishermen are unable to do deep sea fishing because the shortened time window, they said, adding that SLN soldiers who are manning checkpoints along the shore subject them to severe checks openning every item, even their meal packets they take, to delay their departure to sea.
In the most serious incident, a senior LTTE cadre killed in an ambush by suspected Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers and paramilitary cadres Thursday in Vadamunai in Batticaloa district.
Major Kapilan was killed and at least one cadre was wounded when the paramilitaries and SLA soldiers ambushed their tractor in an LTTE held area in Vadamunai near Welikande in Batticaloa-Polannaruwa border.
In notable developments, the Army's 23-1 Brigade camp in Welikande backed up the withdrawing ambush group with 5" mortar fire from their base, while the attackers had used a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) launcher to hit the tractor.
On Friday normal life and business in Vavuniya town and suburbs came to a standstill due to a hartal (shut down) organised by Tamil Student's Union in protest against the killings of civilians in NorthEast by the Sri Lankan armed forces, military intelligence and paramilitary forces.
A cordon and search operation was conducted by the SLA and Police in Manippuram Housing Scheme, 8 km northwest of Vavuniya, from Friday morning till noon. There were no arrests.
On Monday last week normal life in the Army-controlled Mannar island came to a complete standstill when the Tamil speaking people observed general shut down in response to the call made by the Pesalai Tamil Peoples Forum to condemn the killing of four members of two families by Navy soldiers.
That morning a special mass in connection with the one-month remembrance of four persons killed was also held in the Pesalai Vettri Matha Church heeded by Mannar Bishop.
SLA soldiers cordoned off Kallikaddaikadu village in the northwestern Mannar District and conducted house-to-house search operation the same morning. The village is 10 km east of Mannar town on the Madawachchi-Mannar main road.
SLA troops on foot patrol in Irupalai area along Jaffna Point-Pedro came under fire from unknown gunmen Saturday evening, and in another incident in Chulipuram one trooper was injured when unknown gunmen hurled a grenade at a SLA foot patrol.
Although military officials in Jaffna district said that the two attacks happened after a few days of relative calm, the military desisted from blaming the attacks on any party and speculation is rife among Jaffna residents and local Tamil media that the attacks may have been staged by SLA intelligence operatives and paramilitaries operating with them to pointing blame at pro-Tamil Tiger militia.
The Tamil Resurgence Force, which has claimed several attacks against Sri Lankan security forces in the Jaffna district had said after the LTTE agreed last Wednesday to cease violence that it would also stop its actions.
SLA soldiers on foot patrol shot and injured a civilian, Velupillai Nagarajah, 70, along A9 road in Madathady area in Chavakacheri Thursday morning. The Army claimed it was an accident, but others say the victim was hit by a deliberate burst of fire.
In a similar incident recently, a retired Post Master was killed by SLA gunfire in Point Pedro after which the SLA claimed a gun had fired accidentally, but investigations by the NorthEast Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR) proved that the killing was not accidental.
Two youths were shot and killed whilst riding their bicycles in Jaffna in two separate incidents in Nallur, Jaffna, Wednesday morning last week. Gunmen riding in a motorbike shot and killed a youth on Konavalai lane in Kokkuvil East and another youth, around the same time, in Kondavil East on Potpathy lane.
A student from Varani Yakkalai area was shot dead by unknown gunmen Tuesday afternoon last week. He was a member of a LTTE ‘War Hero’ family. Kandasamy Vaikunthan, 23, who was returing from classes from a privte tutory in Meesalai was shot dead in front of Kannki Amman Temple by gunmen who followed him from his classes. His brother, a member of Liberation Tigers, had died in combat earlier.
The owner of an eating house in Meesalai, Thenmaradchy district, was shot dead along the A9-highway near the Chavakachcheri market by two men riding in a motorbike Monday afternoon last week. A young woman was seriously injured when Sri Lankan soldiers randomly fired at the civilians after the shooting incident at Meesalai, 4 km east of Chavakachcheri along the A9 highway.
Relatives of the deceased allege that Sri Lanka Intelligence operatives were behind the killing. Krishnagobi and two other brothers are involved in eatery business and two of the three brothers were arrested and held in Jaffna prison in 2000 for supporting the Liberation Tigers. They were released after two years.
Earlier last week, in a letter to selected government officers addressed from its office at the Sridhar Theater, Jaffna, , the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) threatened with death those who defy its call to attend a meeting in Vathiri, Karaveddy.
"We are aware that you worked closely with the Liberation Tigers who practise terrorism and who are destroying the culture, justice and administration of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka,” the EPDP said.
“Since you have not fled to Vanni and continue to live in Jaffna, we are keen to include you as part of our force. We are holding a meeting on the 23 January at 3.00 p.m. in Vathiri Pradeshya Sabha offices.
“If you attend your family's and your future will be safe. If not we would like to remind you the fate that befell the family of Bojan in Manipay and expect your attendence,”
In the recently published case histories of Manipay killing of three members of the same family and the separate killing of a 15 year old youth in Kodikamam, the NorthEast Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR) provides details of involvement of Sri Lanka Intelligence operatives and paramilitary cadres belonging to EPDP in the killings.
With several SLA soldiers wearing black bands covering their faces, clearing Kanagasabai Road leading to Bojan's family, nine members of EPDP paramilitaries scaled the fences of the two storied house at 10 p.m. and killed Renuka, 30, Shannuka, 23, and Arthanareeswary Bojan, 51, NESOHR said in its report after interviewing residents of Manipay and family members who escaped death. The killings took place on 14 January.
In the shooting death of student Thambirajah Arulajanthan, 15, of Kodikamam on 28 December, NESOHR report said, EPDP cadres and SLA Intelligence operatives had visited the house three times in search of Arul's brother-in-law Kirubakaran. Kirubakaran was an LTTE member and had left the movement six years ago, the family told NESOHR.
Mr.Thambipillai Selvarajah, 48, a mason by profession was shot dead by unidentified men Wednesday night close to the market in Muttur town in Trincomalee district. He was the second Tamil civilian shot dead by unidentified persons in the SLA controlled Muttur town since Tuesday morning and the third in the Trincomalee district.
Both earlier killings took place Tuesday morning. Soon after the second attack, several Tamil families in Muttur town fled their houses and sought refuge in the Christian Church in the Muttur town.
Mr. Subramaniyam Suhirtharajan, a Tamil journalist, was shot dead in Trincomalee town, close to the Governor's Secretariat. Mr. Ramalingam Suntheralingam, 54, a board member in Muttur Co-operative Society was shot dead in his house located between the Muttur police station and an SLA checkpoint along the Methodist Church Road in Muttur town.
Reporters sans frontières (RSF) in a press release issued Tuesday said that Mr. Suhirtharajan, a correspondent of the Tamil-language daily Sudar Oli was killed for writing about "abuses committed in his region by Tamil paramilitary groups," and that in Sri Lanka, "the impunity enjoyed by the instigators and perpetrators of these murders encourages more violence against the press."
The day before he was killed, the reporter had detailed the abuses committed by Tamil paramilitary groups including the EPDP in the Trincomalee region in an article. The Sudar Oli newspaper also recently ran photos taken by Suhirtharajan showing that five Trincomalee students were shot dead at point-blank range on 2 January, disproving the army¹s claim that they were killed by a grenade explosion. Sri Lankan commandos are blamed for the execution-style killings.
Unknown attackers lobbed a grenade at a civilian residence in Vepankulam, 3 km northwest of Vavuniya town on Sunday night. No one was wounded in the attack, which was the sixth grenade attack to be reported on civilian residences within the last few days, Vavuniya Police said.
At least two houses of reputed businessmen were among the targets in Vavuniya. Incidents of extortions and violence, allegedly by paramilitary cadres, have escalated in the area.
On Saturday night, a 13-year-old boy, his 14-year-old sister, and their mother were wounded when unknown attackers lobbed a grenade into the front-yard of the residence of a reputed trader in Vavuniya, Chandrakumar, the owner of Gopi Agency.
The residence of the owner of Ratnam Travels, another trader in Vavuniya, was also attacked earlier last week, according to Police.
An unidentified extortionist was behind the killing of a private tutor, Kamalachandran, last Monday, according to the relatives of the victim. The gunman had shot the victim after a short conversation, eyewitnesses said.
In Batticaloa, the house of a cadre of the paramilitary Razeek Group which was located in located at Thiruchchenthuru Temple Road in Kallady was damaged when an unknown assailant hurled a grenade at it.
Meanwhile, the Tamil Teachers Union (CTTU) reiterated a demand that Sri Lankan armed forces personnel should be withdrawn fifty meters away from schools in the Tamil and Muslim dominated Northeast province, and also to vacate schools now occupied in the high security zones in Jaffna district.
The increasing presence of SLA troops near the entrances to several schools in Jaffna district has irked parents and have increased absenteeism in schools. Educational institutions along the Jaffna-Kankesanthurai Road, from Jaffna town to Tellipallai entrance to the High Security Zone (HSZ) are the most affected.
Children attending Mallakam Maha Vidyalayam, Mallakam Visaladchi Maha Vidyalayam, Chunnakam Thirugnanasampantha Vidyalyam, Innuvil Central College, Kokkuvil Tamil Mixed School, Kokuvil Hindu College and Jaffna Hindu College located along the Jaffna-KKS road or nearby cross roads are anxious about the heavily armed troopers outside their school gates.
Meanwhile, incidents of thefts have increased in Chankanai, Kalviyankadu, Tellipalai and surrounding areas, residents said.
Residents allege that despite complaints to the police, police have made no efforts to identify the intruders, nor the SLA command has taken efforts to alleviate the army-imposed lighting restrictions that have affected the security of Jaffna households during the night hours.
In Vavuniya, incidents of extortions allegedly paramilitary cadres have escalated despite the expectations of decrease in violence in the wake of the announcement last week that peace talks would take place in Geneva soon.
Meanwhile, fishermen of Pallimunai in Mannar district are undergoing severe hardship due to restrictions imposed by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) in leaving for fishing and returning from sea.
According to a Navy directive, fishermen can leave for fishing after 6 in the morning and return by 5.30 in the evening. But SLN soldiers are only allowing the fishermen to leave the shore only around 9 in the morning after delaying deliberately conducting checks and other procedures, fishermen have complained to local fisheries officials.
Fishermen are unable to do deep sea fishing because the shortened time window, they said, adding that SLN soldiers who are manning checkpoints along the shore subject them to severe checks openning every item, even their meal packets they take, to delay their departure to sea.
