OPERATIONAL SUMMARY

The situation in Sri Lanka remains tense and unpredictable in spite of fewer incidents being reported from the ground. SLMM sources indicated that more offensives were to be expected which turned out to be the case with one claymore bomb targeting the army in Colombo and a big LTTE offensive in the island of Delft in Northern Sri Lanka that lead to big casualties (more information will follow in our next weekly report).

 

Northern Region

The problems at the Jaffna University campus continued. Students and staff members have been receiving death threats aimed at people with LTTE affiliations which has caused considerable fear and led to the closing of the campus. The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) denied responsibility. Students coming from outside of Jaffna are considering leaving the area.

 

The murder case of Uthayan journalist Rajiwarman, who was killed in Jaffna on the 29 April 2007, was postponed for third time due to lack of witnesses. The murder was condemned by several agencies, including the Paris based Reporters Without Borders. The French journalist organization also reported that according to journalists in Jaffna the Tamil Political Party EPDP could have been responsible for the assassination.

 

Search operations are ongoing in Jaffna and in the past week the army recovered a large quantity of arms and ammunition acting on civilian information. Two civilians were killed and five abducted in Jaffna. According to the SLA 13 LTTE cadres were killed in skirmishes.

 

The situation remains very tense in Vanni in spite of the Sri Lankan Air Force conducting less air attacks in comparison to the previous weeks. Two strikes were, however, reported, one in eastern Vanni and the other some 25 km southwest of Kilinochchi, an area not targeted before. Extensive fighting was reported from the Forward Defence Localities (FDL) in Jaffna indicating that LTTE positions were being heavily pounded. This continued for some 3 days but then seized altogether.

 

The Omanthai checkpoint has been closed since around 1100 hrs on 17 May. There is conflicting information on what lead to the closure, when the ICRC decided to evacuate from Omanthai. The ICRC worked on a solution to reopen the checkpoint together with the LTTE Peace Secretariat and the SLA.

 

Eastern Region

The Eastern Region (ER) has been calm this week and shown less tension than in previous weeks. On the whole the ER experienced a calm week with relatively few incidents. No shelling was reported from Batticaloa district during the week or in other parts of the ER. Search operations are still being conducted in Trincomalee and it is likely that this is also taking place in Batticaloa and Ampara.

 

The number of assassinations decreased from 14 the previous week to three 3 this week. One of the killings took place in Akkaraipattu (Ampara district), one in Kannikipuram and one in Arttimotai (Trincomalee district). The perpetrators are unknown in all cases. One LTTE cadre was hospitalized in Uppuveli after attempting to trespass the Navy detachments.

 

The number of abductions in the ER decreased this week, from eleven 11 last week to 3 this week, all of which occurred in Trincomalee district. Two of the victims were fishermen who had gone missing after the SLA fired at them while fishing in Muttur (Trincomalee district). One person was reported abducted by unknown persons in Kuchchaveli (Trincomalee district). In Akkaraipattu (Ampara district) one young Tamil surrendered to the ICRC after escaping from the TMVP. The boy was handed over to the Akkaraipattu Police.

 

SLMM received two complaints of harassments during the week, both in Batticaloa district, where the TMVP is the suspected perpetrator.

 

Vakarai Police reported the finding of two unexploded claymore bombs at Panichchankerny. A clash took place between the LTTE and the SLA in Kaddawan area (between A6 and A12 highways) where the SLA lost one soldier and 4 were injured. No causalities were reported on the LTTE side. The Sri Lankan Navy (SLN) in Nilaveli opened fire towards an army helicopter that they misidentified as an LTTE fighter craft. The helicopter was not hit. The harbour Police said the incident was an exercise, which is not believed to be true.

 

The TMVP activity was low this week. One TMVP cadre was admitted to Trincomalee hospital with gunshot injuries he claimed he got in an internal fight.

 

The IDP situation in the ER is unchanged. People are slowly returning to their home areas but some have chosen to stay in the IDP camps.

 

It seems that the LTTE still controls some small areas in the ER, both in Trincomalee district and in Batticaloa & Ampara districts. However, LTTE activity is not very visible in the ER. In spite of the calm situation in the region during the last weeks tension is likely to rise again, especially in Batticaloa district. Shelling towards Thoppigala from the north of Batticaloa district has temporarily reduced, but is believed to resume again.

 

ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES

On the 14 ^th and 15 ^th of May, Head of Mission gathered all SLMM national staff together with most of the international monitors for a staff conference in Habarana. The meeting was of a high importance now that the adapted organizational structure of the SLMM has been developed. This unique get-together of the SLMM staff was vital for the internal information flow and was welcomed by all the attendees.

 

A   PID (presence in districts) went to Vavuniya during the week to assess the general situation.

 

The Northern Regional Office is currently operating from Negombo, but the aim is to move it North in the near future providing the security situation is acceptable.

 

The Eastern Regional Office is operating in Trincomalee, the Operations Centre in Negombo and the Support Centre in Colombo. The Liaison Office in Kilinochchi is also fully operational.