The children, from an orphanage in Ayithiyamalai, were accompanied by Parish Priest Jeyachandra on a visit to view decorations in the town to celebrate Buddhist Vesak Day. As they approached the Mangalaramaya Buddhist temple, the cycle bomb exploded. Thereafter the security forces fired at the van carrying the children, despite the plea of Rev Jeyachandra, “Please don’t shoot the children; shoot me instead”. The priest was also shot and wounded. The government Media Centre accused the LTTE of inflaming ethnic passions in the district, but failed to mention the shooting of the children. References to the killing of the children in newspapers have been censored.
Observers have condemned both the LTTE and the Sri Lankan security forces for targeting civilians. Eight members of two families, including two children were killed by a Tiger shell on 24 May near Kallady Army camp, three miles south of Batticaloa town. The LTTE also shelled Vavunativu Army camp and Batticaloa airbase on the same day killing a soldier. A Tiger grenade attack at Kattankudy on 31 May killed two policemen. Following the incident police shot and injured three civilians.
On 15 May, the Army closed the bridges at Karuthapalam and Valayiravu connecting Army-held areas to LTTE-controlled territory, west of the lagoon and northern Batticaloa. The Army ban on tractors affected farming and trade, and prevented transport of patients into Batticaloa town for treatment. The bridges were opened on 29 May and private vehicles were allowed. But the ban on state buses remains.
The practice of holding cargo lorries from Batticaloa for 24 hours at the checkpoint in Mannampitiya, nine miles south-east of Polonnaruwa town, ended on 5 May. The procedure was introduced following suspicions that the vehicle used in the LTTE attack on the Kandy Buddhist shrine Dalada Maligawa in January 1998 was from Batticaloa.
In Amparai District, police arrested motor mechanic K Thiyagarajah, 39, in Akkaraipatru, alleging LTTE links. Three other youths were also detained in the area. Tiger suspects S Sriskandarajah and L Asokanathan, detained by the CSU were killed on 31 May. Police say they were taken to a plantation in Akkaraipatru to identify places where explosives were buried and were killed when they attempted to attack the police.
In Trincomalee District, over 4,500 people continued to wait for ship services to Jaffna. On 27 May, the ship Trincomalee City carrying 350 people left for Point Pedro in Jaffna.