Chronology of LTTE terror - Part 44

From the Daily News Archives

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When the euphoria of victory dies down, and together with it the media hype ceases, when the guns do not rattle and boom anymore and the sky, the land and the sea become calm and serene, when tranquillity reigns through it is natural to live in the present moment and forget the past. But one cannot live in the present without a past. Nor can one envision the future discarding the experience of the preceding events. Hence the Daily News is serialising the Chronicle of LTTE Terror taken from our own archives which would remind our readers how it all began. An awareness of the chronology of terror would help us prevent the recurrence of such terror and frustrate any attempts by misguided elements to repeat history to suit their evil designs. It was not simple terror. Nor was terror sporadic. It was all pre-planned, pre-determined, well-calculated terror. The victims were innocent people. Though it is too many innumerate we would like to recall the major episodes in the Chronology of Terror.

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Monday, February 13, 1989:

Twenty children killed in massacre at H'potana village

Anuradhapura correspondent

Thirty-four Sinhala villagers, including five women and 20 children, were shot dead by Tamil terrorists at Dutuwewa, in Horowpotana, on Saturday night, police said. The dead included a Buddhist monk, reports reaching Anuradhapura said.

The armed marauders, strongly suspected to belong to the LTTE, burned down eighteen homes in the village, after the massacre. The survivors are hospitalised at Anuradhapura, while police and the military have been deployed to hunt the killers.

In a Colombo-datelined report, Reuter news agency quoted police as saying that the victims had been dragged out of their homes and attacked with knives, stones and gunfire.

"It was a typical Tiger job. They went into the village, opened fire and hacked the people with swords and knives. They then set fire to the village," police said. In a separate incident, a settlement in the Ampara district was attacked on Saturday. Six people were killed. One report said all the victims were Muslims and supporters of the UNP.

Tuesday, February 21, 1989:

Cyanide in meal fells EPRLF group

LTTE suspect in near-fatal crisis at Mullaitivu:

More than 40 members of a Sri Lankan Tamil rebel group turned political party were taken ill after suspected poisoning by rival militants, but most recovered following treatment, reports here said today.

Forty-two members including some women cadres, of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) were taken violently ill late today shortly after taking food at their boarding in Mullaitivu town on the north-eastern coast.

Earlier today, Tamil guerrillas had shot dead the brother-in-law of a former Tamil separatist who was elected to the Sri Lankan Parliament in Wednesday's general election.

Initial reports had placed the number of EPRLF members taken to hospital at 35. A spokesman for the left-wing group here had said many of them were in a serious condition and initial reports had indicated not many would survive.

But Indian officials here said only eight EPRLF members were admitted to a hospital in Mullaitivu and 14 others were taken for treatment in Vavuniya, in the North.

By evening, all but two had responded to treatment and were reportedly in a stable condition.

Twenty others were given preliminary medication.

The EPRLF spokesman blamed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for the poisoning, adding that the Tigers may have mixed poison with the food before it was delivered to the heavily-guarded EPRLF boarding.

Indian officials said nothing could be ruled out.

"This is a new method the LTTE has adopted to strike at us," the EPRLF spokesman said. "The (Mullaitivu) boarding had been targeted for a long time. We will be very careful in the future."

The LTTE, which has rejected a 1987 Indo-Sri Lanka peace pact which sought to end a Tamil separatist campaign, is bitterly opposed to the EPRLF for the latter's reported proximity to the Indian government.

On Sunday, suspected LTTE gunmen shot dead the brother-in-law of an EPRLF MP, Ganeshasankari Yogasangari, in Jaffna, the EPRLF spokesman said.

Mr. Yogasangari had escaped an LTTE assassination attempt about a month ago.

Meanwhile, our Daily News staff correspondent reports from Vavuniya that some of the sweet potatoes bought at the Mullaitivu market, to be cooked for the EPRLF group, contained cyanide.

COLOMBO, Monday, AFP

LTTE dormant for short time starts killing spree

Wijitha NAKKAWITA

While the Indian Peace Keeping Force was asked to leave the country druing the R,Premadasa regime and a newly formed provincial council election was held for electing the pioneering effort at devolution the main terrorist group the LTTE boycotted the election and even killed some of those who advocated it. During 1988 there was a lull in the attacks on civilians by the LTTE but internecine throat splitting had not ceased.

Prabhakaran at this time was reported trying to get the organization of African states OAU to get the IPKF off his back. Apparently the politics of terrorism was changing - at least not a change of heart of terror - with patronage also changing hands from New Delhi to Colombo.

It was in this background that the LTTE also weakened much by the attacks of the IPKF was not involved in major attacks on civilians for some time.

But the complacency was to be short lived as the separatist terrorists had not changed their objective nor their methods.

After the Provincial Council was established and the new chief minister Varadaraja Peruman was initiated the LTTE was determined not to let the PC function as that would resolve some of the grievances of the people of the north and east.

Though the year 1988 ended in a more sober and quiet note the month of February 1989 once again demonstrated that the tiger had not changed its stripes yet.

The IPKF had left and once again the LTTE came to a village near Horowpothana in the north central province, Dutuwewa where the people had gone to bed and in the deep night a group of about 50 cadres quietly crept into the houses and shot the villagers killing 20 children, two women and two men while injuring many others who had escaped death as the terrorists had fired in total darkness.

Afterwards they set fire to some of the houses and the bodies charred beyond recognition was seen the next morning.

On the same day that was February 12 at Ampara terrorist shot 6 Muslims dead. The LTTE was by no means finished with the rival group EPRLF and had poisoned the food a group of 40 cadres who became violently sick after taking a meal of sweet potato and were hospitalized on February 20 at Jaffana.

On the same day the LTTE shot dead the brother of the member of parliament G.Yogasangari of the TULF in Jaffna. For once again the LTTE was now the main terrorist group and later event would prove that it had to be completely wiped off if there was to be any peaces for anyone.

Again on February 27 the LTTE attacked some houses in a remote village off Anuradhapura Sinhapura Colony village and killed 6 sleeping villagers and injured 10 others.

In all these killings of villagers the same old method was followed, entering an unprotected remote village, attacking and killing the villagers and escaping into the darkness and night before security forces or police could arrive.

January 14, 1889 Saturday:

Tiger split? Jaffna for boycott, Wanni wants peace

Sri Lanka's militant Tamil Tigers have called on the island's Tamil minority to boycott next month's general elections.

In a statement received today, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the only major Tamil organisation still conducting an armed rebellion, said all other Tamil separatist groups were traitors who "have betrayed the Tamil cause for their petty political ambitions."

Three former Tamil militant groups have formed an alliance with a moderate Tamil party to contest jointly in the northern and eastern areas. An earlier Tigers' statement threatened to destroy the Tamil groups contesting the elections. The January 11 statement contained no direct threats, but predicted the elections would "bring further chaos and blood-shed".

Meanwhile, K.P. Premadasa, our staff correspondent in Anuradhapura reports:

The LTTE's regional leaders in the Wanni have decided to lay down arms and enter the democratic process, according to informed sources yesterday.

These leaders also recently attended a peace conference in Vavuniya, in which lay and religious leaders representing the three major ethnic and religious groups participated.

Col. C.E.B. Ratnayake, in charge of civil administration in the district, was present too at the talks. COLOMBO, Friday, Reuter

Wednesday, September 14, 1988:

Terrorists' landmine kills 7 policemen

A sub-inspector and six constables attached to the Maha Kalugollewa police post and two civilians were killed when their jeep hit a terrorist landmine at Lahugala on the Pottuvil road around 8.30 am yesterday.

Ampara police said the policemen were on a routine patrol when they fell into the terrorist ambush. The other person killed was a civilian.

An eyewitness said the jeep was blown off the road by the force of the explosion and its occupants fell out of their vehicle when the terrorists lying in ambush opened fire.

They escaped with the arms and ammunition carried by the policemen.

Among the dead are Sub Inspector N.K. Wickremasinghe and Police Constables N.S. Priyantha, A.P.S. Edirisuriya, N. Kulatunge, H. Bandupala, A.K.S. Pushpakumara, K.G. Ranasinghe and A. Ruwanpala.

Wednesday September 7, 1988:

5 killed, 40 injured by Pettah bomb

By Sarath MALALASEKERA

Five persons were killed and about 40 others injured when a parcel-bomb left behind in a Pettah hotel at Malwatte Road (Front Street), exploded at 6.35 p.m. yesterday.

Police said investigations revealed that a man who had come into the hotel had left behind a parcel on a stool. The manager of the hotel sensing it to be a bomb had picked it up and was in the process of throwing it out when it exploded, causing death and destruction. Several of the injured are reported to be in a critical condition.

No arrests have yet been made. Investigations are being conducted by SP Lal Ratnayake and the Pettah Police OIC Chief Inspector Hector Dharmasiri.

Among the injured are Mohamed Salim, Jauffer Saly, H.M. Silawathie, H.M.B. Sriyani, Shiranee Gomez, Wilson Gunasinghe, A.W. Najeem, Y.M. Raufdeen, Mohamed Raheem, S. Hussein, H.M. Aboobucker, Upul Vasantha, E.W. Sarath, K.U. Upatissa, Somaratne, Somaratne, C.B. Athula, W.A. Abeyratne, Hussein Jiffry, Prematilleke Dahanayake, J.D. Dharmadasa, Mohamed Fareed, L. Gomez, Y. Karunaratne, Nimal Soysa, M.A.M. Hussein, M. Saleen, Nizam, A.A.M. Sadeek Khan, Samsudeen Farook and Amarasena Weerasinghe.

Tuesday, Oct. 25, 1988:

21 killed in Tiger massacre of rivals

LTTE terrorists had killed 21 young men at Kalawanchikudi, Jaffna town, Adampan, Koviladi and Trincomalee town between Sunday night and 6 a.m. yesterday, a spokesman for the IPKF operations room in Jaffna Fort said.

It is not yet known to which terrorist groups the victims belonged, he added. However it is clear that the LTTE has launched a campaign to eliminate EPRLF and ENDLF cadres and attack their campaign meetings.

All shops in Jaffna town stayed closed yesterday under LTTE threat.

The LTTE had also ordered school principals in the peninsula to close schools for a week from today.

A spokesman for the Joint Operation Command in Jaffna said the Jaffna Teachers' Union will have talks with the LTTE today in an effort to get this order rescinded.

Friday, February 24, 1989:

Killed by terrorists as they slept

A group of nearly 30 Tamil terrorists armed with automatic weapons stormed into the Sinhapura tract 13 colony in Anuradhapura on Wednesday night and killed six sleeping villagers, including a woman and three children and later set fire to their homes.

Ten other injured during the attack were admitted to the Sripura and Anuradhapura hospitals.

Police said the body of one of the victims had been burnt to cinders. A security forces patrol arrived on the scene soon after the attack but the attackers had already crossed the Pulmoddai lagoon in boats.

Monday: Tigers slaughter 45 villagers

Yesterday: Tigers ambush busload at Sittaru: 26 killed