The shelling is said to have been in retaliation for an LTTE assault on a military camp in the area, which killed six soldiers. The attack came after a police commando raid on a Tiger jungle base, a day earlier. Reports say the commandos killed 16 Tigers and destroyed the base.
After a policeman was killed in a LTTE attack in Thambiluvil on 2 June, shelling by the Special Task Force wounded Sakuntala Uthayakumar, 12. Soldiers searched the Eastern University at Vantharumoolai on 14 June, following a clash between the Army and the Tigers. On the same day, LTTE intelligence wing’s Ramanan was killed by a landmine in the area while riding a motor cycle. The Tigers say the Army’s Deep Penetration Unit was responsible.
The LTTE abducted four civilians at Oddamavady near Valaichenai on 1 June for ransom. They are workers in a prawn farm and a rice mill. The LTTE’s Pistol Group shot dead a policeman in Eravur town on 7 June. The police Counter Subversive Unit (CSU) arrested a number of people in Batticaloa District during June, including Wilfred Thayakumar of Chenkalady.