Health and agriculture deteriorate in the east
Ambush at dawn
FOURTEEN soldiers were killed in a LTTE dawn ambush at Jayanthiyaya near
Welikanda in Polonnaruwa District on 9 June. The Tigers control territory north
of Welikanda-Valaichenai road and have launched many attacks in an attempt to
disrupt Army supply lines.
Two days earlier the LTTE killed nine soldiers and four Home Guards in
Welikanda. Rehabilitation minister MHM Ashraff criticised the closure of military
camps in the east when he addressed Parliament on 6 June. Mr Ashraff says
increased LTTE activity following troop withdrawal for the northern war is
destabilising the east.
Two Tigers were killed in a clash at Nachchiyantivu on 10 June. On the same day
the LTTE exploded a bomb near Kaluvanchikudy police station injuring a
policeman. Five days later two Tigers were killed in an Army ambush at
Mylambaveli. A tractor was blown up by a LTTE landmine at Paithalai on 21 June
injuring two Sub-Inspectors and two constables. The following day four soldiers
from Urani Army camp died in another landmine attack at Sathurukondan, 5 miles
north of Batticaloa town.
Army restrictions on LTTE-controlled Vaharai, north of Batticaloa town, continue
despite military coordinator Maj. Gen. Cyril PeirisĘ assurance that ICRC-escorted
food convoys will be allowed twice a month. District Health Officer S
Thatchanamurthy is currently conducting a nutritional survey in Vaharai. An
earlier survey indicated that 90% of the people in the area were
malnourished.
People say that conditions in Batticaloa town and other areas are also
deteriorating. The main hospital in the district is in a poor state without adequate
facilities. The hospital lacks personnel and equipment, particularly X-ray machines
need replacement. The mortuary in the hospital lacks refrigeration and has become
a health hazard.
Batticaloa town receives water only for a few hours a day. The power cut in
Batticaloa District is much longer than in the rest of the country and residents say
the telephone system has been neglected. Farmers say security restrictions have
led to a steep rise in the price of rice. Military operations and limitation on
fertiliser and fuel are affecting rice production. Many farmers have simply given
up cultivation.
In Trincomalee District over 200 Tigers launched an attack on the Army at
Meegasgodella killing 29 soldiers on 1 July. The LTTE shot dead six members of
a Survey Department team on 18 June in the same area.
Defence sources say two days before the second attack at Meegasgodella, the
Army overran three LTTE camps in Kumburupiddy jungles, north of Trincomalee
town, killing 25 Tigers. Army Commander Lt. Gen. Rohan Daluwatte declared
after visiting the area on 29 June that the "terrorists are on the run".
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