Observers say that the LTTE has infiltrated many areas of the Jaffna peninsula. Suspected Tiger cadre robbed Army-issued special identity cards from passengers in a bus at Nunavil on 13 July. The identity cards may be used to infiltrate key areas of Jaffna. Tiger posters in Jaffna town in late July warned other Tamil militant groups that they face annihilation if they failed to join the LTTE.
The security forces intensified cordon and search operations in the run-up to Black July, the annual remembrance of the major violence against the Tamil community in July 1983. A number of people were detained. An Army truck narrowly escaped a Tiger landmine attack at Chunnakam on 11 July, but civilian V Thanikasalam, 55, was killed.
The landmine clearance programme in Jaffna was finally underway on 19 July. The UN teams are expected to work only in areas permitted by the Army and use sniffer dogs. Reports say landmines have caused over 100 deaths in Jaffna and maimed 1,000 people.
Over 4,000 Jaffna fishermen demonstrated on 11 July after the Army issued an order prohibiting them wearing sarongs when going to sea for fishing. The Army say sails in boats are banned and the fishermen were using their sarongs as sails. There is also concern over reports that government assistance to 90,000 people in Jaffna will be stopped.
On the mainland, the LTTE has continued to target members of other militant groups which are fighting on the side of the military. Senior PLOTE leader S Baskaran was killed in a Tiger bomb attack on 16 July at Kovilkulam in Vavuniya District. Another PLOTE member N Navaratnam was wounded and died later in hospital. PLOTE’s military commander Manickadasan is said to have left Sri Lanka a week earlier and slipped into the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu for unknown reasons.
Suspected Tiger cadre shot and seriously wounded Tamil group TELO member S Jeyenthiran in Vavuniya town in early July. The LTTE killed three policemen and three civilians at Thekankadu on 26 July.
In the Vanni, the Tigers have again begun targeting the Veli Oya area of Mullaitivu District. The Army shot dead three women LTTE cadre at Janakapura in Veli Oya on 4 July. The military say seven soldiers were killed and six others were seriously injured when the LTTE shelled Kokkuthoduvai on 12 July. Buildings were damaged and several students sustained injuries when the Army shelled Pandiyankulam on 28 July. Over 500 people fled the area.