The rising number of civilian casualties in Sri Lanka is a cause for grave concern to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM). In four days, from 25 to 28 November, 49 civilians have been killed and 60 injured in incidents involving heavy civilian casualties.

This morning an SLAF air strike in Vanni resulted in the death of reportedly six persons among them the Head of the LTTE Political Wing and leader of the LTTE negotiating team Mr. S.P. Tamilselvan.

The SLMM regrets misunderstandings about the purpose of Mr. Vestmann’s visit.

Nearly 4000 people have lost their lives in incidents connected to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka during the past 15 months. A large number of persons have been seriously injured, and thousands of families have been fleeing from areas of fighting. In contrast, during the three previous years less than 130 deaths related to the conflict were recorded.

The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) is deeply concerned about the explosions carried out on civilian buses on 05 and 06 January 2007. The blasts have caused a high number of civilian casualties.

On 2 January 2007 the Sri Lanka Air Force conducted an air strike in Illupaikadavi, north of Mannar.

The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) is deeply concerned about the explosions carried out on civilian buses on 05 and 06 January 2007. The blasts have caused a high number of civilian casualties.

The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) is deeply concerned about the recent increase in claymore attacks, creating a serious threat not only to the targets, but also to the civilian population. There has been a sharp increase in the number of claymore attacks in the Vavuniya district in particular, some of which caused fatal injuries.