Residents in Mankulam say that the local hospital was completely destroyed by the Army in Operation Jayasikurui. They have to travel further north to Mallavi or Kilinochchi hospital for treatment. Mullaitivu Government Agent Imelda Sugumar says that Rs 150 million ($1.6 million) is needed to repair damage by the military to Mullaitivu hospital.
According to government officers, by end of August, 8,690 families were resettled in Kilinochchi District. But only 400 families have received rehabilitation assistance. The problems of resettled families were exacerbated by drought that hit the Vanni region. Some 3,750 families displaced from other districts have left Kilinochchi, including 3,600 families to Jaffna. There are still 90,400 internally displaced people in the district, including 67,200 from other districts.
According to District Planning Director K Vijayaletchumy, there are currently 15,000 people in Vavuniya refugee camps and some 4,000 want to go to Jaffna. In September, 350 Jaffna residents returned home. The drought in the Vanni has caused water shortages in the refugee camps.
Police have arrested 11 people in southern Sri Lanka, in connection with the murder of three people in the Vanni region of Thatchanamaruthamadu. It is alleged that they were taken to the Vanni in a van from the south and killed. LTTE’s Tamil Eelam Police chief Nadesan has demanded that the 11 suspects should be handed over to them. He says that the offence was committed in Tiger territory and Tamil Eelam Courts have jurisdiction to hear the case.