Muslim-Tamil tension rises in the east
Abducted and killed
COMMUNAL violence flared in the east in late September after five Muslims
including three Home Guards were killed by suspected LTTE guerrillas.
The Muslims were abducted from Pandiruppu, a mile north of Kalmunai, on 27
September. Their bullet-ridden bodies were found in a cemetery the following day.
The killings sparked reprisal attacks as angry Muslims began damaging and
burning passing vehicles. Eight people died when a lorry was set ablaze in
Maruthamunai. Many people were injured.
Two days earlier police surrounded the 11th Colony village in Amparai and
arrested 45 Tamils. Later 40 were released and the police deny detaining the other
five. The following day all the shops in the village and over 40 houses were
burned. People have taken refuge in nearby villages.
Earlier in the month eleven civilians were massacred in a LTTE attack on a
passenger bus at Arantalawa on Amparai-Maha Oya road. In this 12 September
attack 25 people were injured. Ten of the dead were Sinhalese including two
children and three women. Human rights agency Amnesty International has again
urged the LTTE leadership to halt deliberate civilian killings.
Border Sinhalese villages remain vulnerable to Tiger attacks. Four people working
in their fields at Aralaganwila in Polonnaruwa District were killed on 9 September
by the LTTE.
The economic blockade of LTTE-held rice-producing Vaharai and Paduvankarai
continues. The aim of the Army is to starve the Tigers. Sunday Times columnist
Taraki says large tracts of land in these areas which suffered under Army
regulations are being cultivated again following the closure of 44 military camps.
In recent months the Tigers have resorted to new terror tactics in the
east. A number of soldiers and rival militant group members have received letter
bombs. A soldier was seriously injured on 12 September by a letter bomb received
at the EPRLF office in Batticaloa town. The LTTE attacked the Petroleum
Corporation store in the town a day earlier injuring six policemen. Tiger landmines
killed three soldiers at Pillayarady on 15 September.
Civilian casualties in the east continue. N Hemalatha was shot dead by unidentified
gunmen on 7 September at Vinayagapuram in Valaichenai. Following a Tiger raid,
the Army shelled Nasivantivu on 12 September seriously wounding Saraswathy.
Children V Ramesh, 2, and S Ithyarani, 3, were among the people killed by Army
shells in Pirambaditivu, 7 miles west of Kiran. Reports say Mehala of Sithandy and
K Nadesamurthy of Murakkottanchenai, arrested by the security forces in late
September have disappeared.
Next article.
Back to Sri Lanka Monitor Index page.
Back to The Refugee Council Welcome
page.