When the attack took place, dry rations for poor families from Tiger areas were being issued. Relief provisions under the government’s Samurthi poverty alleviation programme, are issued at the camp once a month. The military believe that the Black Tiger had entered the camp posing as a civilian.
In a change of strategy, the Tigers have intensified small-scale operations in eastern and southern Sri Lanka. As the Army shelled LTTE-controlled Paduvankarai area, west of Batticaloa lagoon in early August, the Tigers ambushed a military convoy near Welikande, killing two soldiers and wounding seven others. Nine policemen died and 20 were injured in a landmine attack in Batticaloa town on 11 August.
The LTTE’s Pistol Group shot dead an intelligence officer at Oddamavady in mid-August. The military imposed restrictions on civilian movement and began search operations. Reports say over 135 people were arrested in Batticaloa and Amparai in August. The Army launched a military operation north of Vaharai on 1 September and brought Kathiraveli under control. Reports say the Tigers withdrew without resistance.
The military have restricted food, medicines and fuel into Paduvankarai. Press reports say that in recent months 37 people died in the area due to difficulties in transporting patients to Batticaloa town for treatment. Tamil MP Joseph Pararajasingham says soldiers attacked civilians during a festival at Sithandy Murugan Hindu temple on 24 August. The Committee of Inquiry into Undue Arrest and Harassment (CIUAH) has directed the Army to conduct an enquiry. Press reports say hundreds of Muslims fled from Kudapokuna, 15 miles east of Welikande in Polonnaruwa District, fearing LTTE attacks after a police post in the village was closed on 12 August.
In Amparai District, the LTTE attacked a Special Task Force (STF) patrol near Central Camp on 18 August killing six and wounding five others. A week later, the Tigers ambushed another STF unit at Kevuliyamadu, near Arantalawa. Five STF died in the attack and eight others were injured.
Sources say that the LTTE have begun enforcing the order that NGOs must obtain permission to operate in Tiger areas and approval for each project. The government earlier announced that development programmes will not be implemented in Tiger areas. The new demands from NGOs will no doubt adversely affect humanitarian work with impact on the civilian population.