How LTTE guns and bombs shattered the Ceasefire

Before the signing of the CFA

* 1983 Tinnaveli-Jaffna - Thirteen Army personnel killed in an LTTE attack.

Six Army personnel killed in a ensuing gun battle.

* 1987 - LTTE terrorists attack on threatened villages in the East.

Innocent civilians chopped to death by blood thirsty terrorists.

* 1990 - Killing of innocent civilians in Welioya, Trincomalee, Thampalagama and Ampara.

* 1990 April - LTTE bomb blast opposite the Pettah Bodhi killing a large number of civilians.

* LTTE killed 700 Police personnel in the East.

* Killing of Police Intelligence personnel in Vavuniya.

* Attacks on Elephant Pass, Pooneryn and Mannar.

* Killing of Buddhist monk at Tanthirimale.

* Killing of the Viharadhipathi at the Dimbulagala Aranya Senasanaya.

* Bomb attack on the Kandy Sri Dalada Maligawa.

* Killing of Lt. Gen. Denzil Kobbekaduwa, Col. Stephen, Col. Palipana, Commodore Jayamaha and Brig. Vijaya Wimalaratne.

* Killing of Brig. Hamangoda and Col. Bhathiya Jayatilleke.

* Attack on Mullaitivu Army camp killing nearly 1,000 soldiers.

* Killing of DIG Richard Wijesekara in Trincomalee.

* Attack on threatened villages in Polonnaruwa close to the Somawathie Chetiya and chopping innocent civilians to death.

* Killing of 20 Police and Army personnel held in LTTE torture camps.

* Killing of three Army intelligence officers in Jaffna.

* Bomb attack in Colombo killing Navy Commander Admiral Clancey Fernando.

* Killing of Deputy Defence Minister Ranjan Wijeratne.

* Bomb attack on a Presidential election meeting killing Gamini Dissanayake, G. M. Premachandra, Weerasinghe Mallimarachchi, Dr. Gamini Wijesekara, Ossie Abeygunasekara and several others.

* Killing of President Ranasinghe Premadasa.

* Aranthalawa massacre of Buddhist monks.

* Attacking passenger buses in Medawachchiya, Habarana, Ampara, Thambalagama and Mannar and chopping hundreds of civilians including children to death.

* Killing of LTTE Deputy Leader Mahendrarajah alias Mahattaya.

* 1993 - Mass murder, 36 innocent Tamils in Jaffna for opposing the LTTE.

* Attack on a wedding reception in Welikanda and killing a large number attending the function.

* Attack on a house in Polonnaruwa and killing of several mourners attending a funeral.

* Killing farmers working on their fields at Polonnaruwa.

* Killing of A. Thyagarajah, J. Rajasooriya and T. Pulendra.

* 1995 - Missile attack on a plane killing over 100 soldiers.

* 1995 - Missile attack on a plane killing over 100 people including three journalists, Army personnel and civilian passengers.

* 1995 - Another missile attack on a plane at Talawa, Anuradhapura killing a large number of people.

Year 2002

February 27: LTTE terrorists in the Batticaloa region abduct a soldier of the Intelligence Unit of the Security Forces.

July 13: LTTE terrorists by force keep two members of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission who had gone to inspect the Iranathivu area.

October 05: LTTE attack the EPDP Office at Delft in Jaffna.By the end of the year 2002 the LTTE had violated the Cease Fire Agreement 556 times.

Year 2003

March 31: Mudhitha ship belonging to the Sri Lanka Navy came under LTTE attack and causing injury to four soldiers.

June 23: LTTE shot down Sunil Thabrew, the OIC in charge of the Intelligence Unit at Dehiwala Police.

Year 2004

February 23: LTTE shot down Devanayagam Thiruchelvam, a lecturer at the Wandaramulla University,Batticaloa at Kaladi. On the same day they shot down TNA MP, Batticaloa District Candidate Rajan Sathyamurthi.

May 09: The LTTE shot a Corporal of the Intelligence Unit of the Sri Lanka Army in Batticaloa while he was travelling in a bus.

May 19: The LTTE Pistol Unit shot down Sergeant Dasanayake attached to the Intelligence Unit of the Special Task Force.

July 13: The LTTE woman who had come to assassinate EPDP Leader Douglas Devananda explodes the bomb at the Kollupitiya Police Station and kills four Policemen.

July 15: Two members belong to Karuna faction were killed inside the cells at the Batticaloa Prisons. The LTTE killed Ravindra, Chairman of Aliyaduwembu Pradeshiya Sabha, Akkaraipattu, on the same day.

July 25: Eight members of Karuna faction killed at Malabe.

July 30: The LTTE killed Kandaiya Yogarajan, State Security informant at Kollupitiya.

August 16: They Killed Iyar Balanawaraja, Media spokesman of the EPDP at Wellawatte.

August 24: Killed one more member of the Karuna faction at the Akkaraipattu Courts premises.

Sep. 18: Thambithurai Sivakumaran, the EPDP Puttalam District Organiser was shot down by the LTTE

Sep. 23: Central Committee Senior Member of the EPDP Somasundaram Warnakulasingham killed by the LTTE at Wellawatte.

October 03: Muslim school teacher shot dead at the Welikanda Mosque.

Nov. 18: A Lance Corporal who served as a spy of the Army Intelligence Unit shot down at Kaduruwela, Polonnaruwa.

Year 2005

March 26: The LTTE began ‘Eelam Television’ to serve the North and East using satellite technology.

April 15: Thirukkovil Divisional Secretary shot dead.

May 31: Commander, Intelligence Unit of Sri Lanka Army Major Thuvan Muthaliff killed by the LTTE.

August 05: LTTE killed SSP Charles Wijewardene by cutting his throat.

August 12: Former Foreign Affairs Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar was assassinated by the LTTE.

Sep. 10: Three officers of the Child Protection Authority taken into LTTE Custody when they visited Murukkan, Mannar in search of a suspect.

October 30: The LTTE killed Thuvan Risvy Meedin attached to the Intelligence Unit of the Sri Lanka Army at Kiribathgoda.

Dec. 04: Six Army soldiers were killed due to bomb explosion on the same day, the A.L.M. Faleel, Divisional Secretary, Kaththankudi was killed by the LTTE.

Dec. 06: One Lieutenant and seven others were killed by an explosion of a bomb at Nallur.

Dec. 24: At Pesali 13 soldiers travelling in a bus were killed when the LTTE fired RPGs at them.

Dec. 25: Killing of TNA Parliamentarian Joseph Parajasingham in Batticaloa.

Year 2006

January 8: Bomb attack killing 15 sailors.

January 12: Claymore mine attack killing nine naval personnel.

January 24: Simultaneous minor bomb blasts at Nugegoda, Borella, Mt. Lavinia, Wattala and Kiribathgoda. No casualties reported.

March 17: Attack on a naval craft carrying SLMM observers. (No casualties)

April 11: LTTE attack on a navy vehicle from Trincomalee to Colombo killing 10 Navy personnel.

April 12: bomb explosion at Trincomalee market killing 16 civilians and injuring 60 others.

April 16: LTTE attacks at Vavuniya, Trincomalee and Jaffna killing 9 army personnel.

April 19: Chopping 5 civilians to death in Jaffna.

April 20: Breakdown of peace talks between the Government and the LTTE.

April 26: Abortive LTTE suicide attack on Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka at Army headquarters.

May 12: LTTE bomb attack on Naval ship carrying 700 unarmed sailors.

July 15: Bomb attack on a bus at Kebethigollewa killing 60 civilians and injuring 10 others.

Failed attack on the Colombo harbour the same day.

July 21: Forcible closure of Verugal Aru anicut.

July 24: Killing of Minister Douglas Devananda’s clerk at Wellawatta.

July 27: Attempted attack on the Kalpitiya Naval base.

August 1: Attack on a ship carrying 854 Navy personnel. (no casualties)

August 3: Killing of 17 Muslim civilians.

August 4: Thwarted attack on Muttur jetty.

August 8: Attempt on the life of Former EPDP Parliamentarian Sangara Pillai.

August 11: Failed bid to capture Jaffna.

August 13: Killing of K. Loganathan, Deputy Secretary General of the Peace Secretariat.

August 14: Attempt on the life of former Pakistan High Commissioner.

October 16: LTTE suicide attack killing nearly 100 Naval personnel.

October 18: Attack on Southern Naval headquarters.

November 1: Killing of Parliamentarian Nadaraja Raviraj.

December 1: Attempt on the life of Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.

Year 2007

January 5: LTTE bomb explosion in a civilian bus at Nittambuwa killing six civilian passengers and injuring 63 others.

January 6: Bomb explosion in civilian bus at Meetiyagoda killing 11 and injuring 42 others.

January 21: LTTE attack on ship “City of Liverpool” at Pt. Pedro.

February 7: Killing of Hindu priest at Eravur, Batticaloa.

February 28: Mortar attack on planes carrying several foreign diplomats.

March 8: Killing of Army and wild life officials on the Wilpattu reserve.

March 25: LTTE attack on Katunayake Air Force base.

March 26: Bomb attack on civilians at Chenkaladi, Batticaloa.

April 2: Bomb attack on civilian bus from Ampara to Badulla killing 16 and injuring 25 others.

April 22: Bomb attack on civilian bus at Vavuniya.

April 28: Abortive LTTE aerial attack on the Kolonnawa oil installations.

Nov. 28: Attempt on the life of Minister Douglas Devananda which killed the Minister’s Public Relations Officer. Bomb explosion at Nugegoda junction the same day killing 19 civilians.In this manner the LTTE had flouted the terms of the CFA on more than 8,500 occasions.

Tigers caused pain to thousands

The LTTE has never been known for adhering to ceasefires. It has always seen ceasefires an opportunity to regain lost strength, re-arm and re-train. Military analysts say that the LTTE enterers ceasefires and negotiations when it is militarily weak and later, after regaining strength, begins hostilities again.

The LTTE unilaterally withdrew from ceasefires in 1990 and 1995, mainly by staging attacks on military facilities. The idea of the just-annulled ceasefire was mooted in 2001 December by the LTTE itself, declaring a Christmas truce.

The then Government, with the facilitation of Norway, reciprocated this gesture, which led to the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement in February 2002. There was one major difference in the 2002 ceasefire - there was a monitoring mechanism.

The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), comprising Scandinavian representatives, had a mandate to monitor and report violations. But it could enforce the ceasefire in the strictest sense of the word or punish any violators, collectively or individually.

Several rounds of peace talks were held during the ceasefire, but the LTTE pulled out citing vague excuses.

The ceasefire was never an obstacle for the LTTE to engage in acts of terrorism against military and civilian targets.

It violated the ceasefire over 3,000 times. Despite grave provocations, the Government Forces stuck to the ceasefire and retaliated only after the attack on the Army Commander in April 2006.

The LTTE’s acts of terror against the civilian population led the Government to launch humanitarian missions to liberate the Eastern masses. Now the Government Forces are poised to liberate the Northern masses as well.