The civilian population continues to live under pressure from the Tigers and the military. Sources say that the LTTE continues to demand ‘taxes’ from civilians in areas it controls and in parts of Army-held territory, in some instances even from old people without any income. Five civilians were injured when a ‘tax collector’ threw a hand grenade at a crowd chasing him in Batticaloa town on 10 May. The following day, the LTTE hijacked a lorry with rice bags at Kaluthavalai. Two other lorries were hijacked on the same day at Kattankudy. Two children and an old man were wounded by a landmine at Kiran in early May. Ninety three Tamils working in rice mills in Polonnaruwa District were arrested by the Army on 6 May and taken to Anuradhapura.
The LTTE shelled the Airforce camp and Army headquarters in Batticaloa town on 12 May injuring a soldier. The Army retaliated by heavily shelling Tiger-controlled Paduvankarai, west of Batticaloa lagoon. The LTTE attacked the Army checkpoint at Karuthapalam on Chenkalady-Badulla road on 24 May killing two soldiers and two PLOTE members. Eight soldiers and five PLOTE cadre were injured. The Tigers also blew up a PLOTE office. Ten houses were damaged when the Army retaliated by shelling LTTE-held Vaharai area. Eight Tigers were killed in an Army ambush in Punanai on 26 May.
In Trincomalee District, the LTTE launched an assault on a police post in Muthur on 3 May killing ten policemen and a soldier. The Tigers say the attack was in revenge for the killing of Tiger cadre Arumugam Parameswaran in Soorankal earlier that day. An Army informant was shot dead by the LTTE on 19 May at Thoppur. The Navy says five Sea Tiger boats were sunk off Veruhal in late May.
People in the Glass Factory refugee camp in Trincomalee staged a protest on 23 May demanding to be sent to Jaffna. Over 6,000 refugees in Mannar, 2,000 in Vavuniya and 1,000 in Trincomalee have registered to go to Jaffna. On 27 May 490 more refugees arrived in Trincomalee from Mannar. The government is expected to hire two ships which could carry 1,300 passengers to Jaffna each journey from early June.
Reports say 30,000 people in the Jaffna peninsula have registered to travel by ship to southern areas. Currently two private firms operate five passenger flights to and from Jaffna, six days a week. The cost of the flight is Rs 5,000, which most people cannot afford.