Chronology of LTTE terror- Part 48

From the Daily News Archives

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.

Monday August 13, 1990:

29 women and 31 children among victims in Eravur carnage:

Tigers mow down 105 Muslims

From Darryl DE SILVA in Eravur

LTTE terrorists in three batches of around forty each raided the predominantly Eravur Muslim township North of Batticaloa late Saturday night and hacked and shot to death at least 105 Muslims.

Among the killed were 45 men, 29 women and 31 children. Some twenty more, seriously injured were evacuated by road and air to the Minneriya hospital.

The above figures were given by Brigadier A. M. U. Seneviratne who had visited Eravur early yesterday morning. The people of Eravur however, claimed by last afternoon that the death toll was 119.

An exact death figure was not possible as the area near the Saddam Hussein Mosque which bears the same name was a sea of grief-stricken mourners, all lending a helping hand as the dead were being brought in and prepared for burial in a makeshift tent outside the mosque. Later, each body was laid out in the mosque, pending burial last evening in a common grave nearby.

The townfolk said the LTTE groups had started their attack at around 11.30 p.m. Saturday and that they had entered the township from the West just one and a half miles South of the Chenkalady army camp. They came on foot via the Punnekadu area, killing and hacking to death anyone they met.

Those who had escaped being slaughtered said that the terrorists had called out to the occupants of the sleeping households in Sinhala, deluding them into believing they were safe. The butchery lasted until 1.30 a.m. Sunday, with houses at 12 different points being attacked. Homes which did not respond to the terrorists' call were broken into and some even had grenades thrown into them, the people said.

The killings did not take place simultaneously, according to Brig. Seneviratne. They went on in small numbers in each place, with Saddam Hussain village having thirty dead, the largest number in a single place. Even those who had strayed onto the road were gunned down.

Brig. Seneviratne said that the army had learned of the massacre only early Sunday morning. Villagers say that those who tried to reach the Chenkalady camp earlier had been prevented from doing so by the Tigers.

The scene at Eravur last afternoon was pathetic as a special delegation comprising Trade and Shipping Minister A. R. Munsoor, Muslim Religious and Cultural Affairs State Minister A. H. M. Azwer, The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress' M. A. L. M. Hisbullah, former Batticaloa MP Rizwi Sinna Lebbe, Eravur's senior citizens Zahir and Ali Moulana, and SLBC Director A. J. M. Muzamil flew in from Colombo last afternoon, accompanied by media personnel.

The delegation brought with them much needed white cloth with which to shroud the dead, together with medicines for the wounded. State Minister for defence Ranjan Wijeratne and IGP Ernest Perera also visited the scene.

Among the dead this reporter saw was a seven-day-old boy, a little girl with her eyes shot out, and several similar sights.

Minister Munsoor called the massacre "a calculated effort to kill the Muslims". He said that since the terrorists had spoken in Sinhala, it now appeared that the LTTE were trying to put the Muslims against the Sinhalese.

"We talk of human rights, but who is being barbarous?" the Minister asked. "The LTTE consider us Muslims as traitors for not supporting them," he said.

It had been earlier decided to open a police station at Eravur on Sunday morning. But by then, the carnage was all around. The police station, however, is now operational with army support. Brig. Seneviratne said that an operation has already been launched to flush out the terrorists who are suspected to be hiding in the jungles west of Eravur.

"The terrorists probably expected a backlash which would have tied up our troops," he said. "This should never be allowed to happen. We have to give everyone the utmost security," he added.

SLMC's Mr. Hisbullah later said that he was perfectly satisfied with the security arrangements now being provided in Eravur.

Terrorist attacks on civilians kill hundreds of villagers

Wijitha NAKKAWITA

Since the bloody massacre of over 140 people at prayer in the Kattankudy mosque in the eastern province committed by the LTTE terrorists though condemnation from many countries was expressed, the terrorists continued to kill more and more innocent unarmed civilians among them scores of women and children during the coming weeks of August 1990.

New Delhi meanwhile called on the government of Sri Lanka to negotiate a settlement with the terrorists who were in no way ready to hold talks for peaceful settlement to be reached by agreement. The political scenario at the time was one of a government exhausted by all its efforts at trying to bring about some agreement with the LTTE now the main terrorist group that had spurned the first effort at devolution of power through a provincial council. The writing on the wall was all too clear. LTTE wanted nothing short of a divided country for them to rule over the north and east with absolute power.

On the night of August 7 terrorists entered a Sinhala village Bandaraduwa near Uhana in the Ampara District. Armed with automatic weapons and also swords and axes the terrorist group hacked 32 villagers to death and critically injured another five people. The entire population of this remote village once a place where a clan of the Veddah commuity lived came under the brutal attack of the terrorists that night.

The next day the terrorists waylaid a bus travelling from Horowpothana to Trincomalee and boarded the bus and started pulling out the passengers and shot dead 27 among them. Among the dead were 9 women and three children. All the passengers in the bus were unarmed civilians.

Just two days later LTTE terrorists came to attack another Muslim village Siyambalagaskada near Medawachchiya and would have wiped out the entire village if the army on information received of the impending terrorist attack arrived at the village and this time several terrorists were killed by the army and the rest who realized they could not contend with the troops fled.

However one day earlier on August 9 LTTE terrorists in yet another attack on Eravur a township on the eastern coast killed 105 Muslims killing 29 women and 32 children.

It was now becoming patently clear to everyone that the LTTE terrorists who were usually cowards were going on a spree of killing day in and day out to cleanse the north and east of all other communities and instill fear in the minds of the people a vast majority among them poor helpless villagers like those of Bandaraduwa who could not fight back or defend themselves against a trained and fully armed terrorists who always used the cloak of night to reach remote villages that were far away from police stations or army detachments.

Saturday August 11, 1990

Several Tigers die in confrontation:

Forces save NCP Muslim village

Security Forces yesterday attacked a 60-member LTTE hit squad at a Muslim settlement at Siyambalagaskada in Medawachchiya in the North Central Province killing several Tigers.

Military sources said the Tigers had stormed Siyambalagaskada around 1.30 a.m. yesterday to track the villagers, while they were asleep. But the timely arrival of troops at the scene prevented the massacre.

Military sources said several Tigers were also wounded, following the attack by the forces, the Tigers abandoned the tractor and trailer they had hidden after it hit a culvert and overturned while they were under attack, military sources said.

Security Forces launched a cordon and search operation in the Medawachchiya jungles immediately after the incident to capture the wounded Tigers who fed into the jungles carrying their dead and the wounded.

Meanwhile, reports reaching Colombo from the North state that four Tigers were killed by the Security Forces at Kankesanthurai during road clearing operations on Thursday afternoon. Another Tiger was killed by the STF at Chanthiveli in Batticaloa the same afternoon when he attempted to hurl a grenade at Security Forces petrol. Security Forces returned fire killing the terrorist instantly and the grenade was discovered.

Security Forces during search operations in Trincomalee town area recovered several T-56 rifles from a LTTE hideout on Thursday evening, Security Sources said.

At Rottekulam in the East troops during a search operation recovered 186 rounds of AK 47 ammunition, two 9mm rounds of ammunition, one S-84 cleaning kit, t6 pen-torch batteries, one webbing set and a large pack of ammunition.

Security Forces cleared the Piyangala-Mangalaoya route and provided security to the Sinhala villages in the area.

Tigers attacked the Kalioda Security Forces camp on Thursday evening. One soldier was killed and another wounded. The wounded soldier was rushed to the Ampara hospital. The number of the terrorists killed by retaliatory action by the troops is not known.

In Batticaloa at Periyapullimalai six soldiers were injured by a landmine explosion on Thursday and admitted to the Ampara Hospital.

Security Forces on Thursday established new camps at Palathoppur and Thoppur in the Trincomalee district.

Terrorists continued their mortar and small arms attacks on the Jaffna Fort, Elephant Pass, Mullaitivu and Talaimannar Security Forces camps. No troop casualties were reported.

Wednesday August 1, 1990:

Tigers kill 14 Muslim farmers

Fourteen Muslims described by the Police as farmers were brutally killed by the LTTE at Akkaraipattu in the Eastern Province on Monday night, Police confirmed.

Some of them had been shot dead while the others had been hacked with swords, kris knives and mammoties, police said.

Police said that the bodies were found scattered in the market town of Akkaraipattu yesterday morning. According to the police the farmers are believed to have been attacked when they were returning after harvesting.

Akkaraipattu Police said that shops were seen closed into the town last morning and the situation was tense.

Police were patrolling the town area round the clock yesterday to prevent an outbreak of violence between the Tamils and Muslims.

Security authorities said that the Army too has been deployed to intensify security while a joint Army-STF operation was launched to apprehend the killers.

The Tigers have been constantly attacking the Muslim community in the East during the past weeks.

On July 15, Tigers ambushed three lorries and two buses in Batticaloa and massacred 60 Muslims.

Last Saturday, Tigers raided a mosque and killed six Muslims who were praying. Three other Muslims were also injured in this attack. A few days ago they stormed another mosque in the same area and opened fire killing two persons, including the preacher and injuring four others.

Thursday, August 09, 1990

Two separate incidents in NCP, EP:

Tigers massacre 59 villagers

By Prasad GUNEWARDENA

Fifty nine people were massacred by Tigers in two separate incidents in the North Central and Eastern Provinces on Tuesday and Wednesday in LTTE attacks at Uhana in Ampara and Mahadivulwewa in the Anuradhapura district.

Security sources said Tigers armed with swords, axes and kris and knives stormed the village of Bandaraduwa in Uhana on Tuesday night and massacred 32 villages and critically wounded another five. The wounded were rushed to the Ampara Hospital.

In the other incident at Mahadivulwewa, Tigers killed 27 passengers who were on a bus from Horowpotana to Trincomalee. They were dragged out from the bus by gunmen near Mahadivulwewa and shot dead. Five other passengers were also wounded by gunfire.

The dead include 15 men, nine women and three children.

Anuradhapura police said that investigations had revealed that these murders were committed by the Tigers.

In the massacre at Bandaraduwa, Tigers hacked dead their victims without opening fire as the nearby police post would hear the gunfire.

According, to the police, about fifty Tigers had entered the village from it's southern border. They were dressed in army type uniforms.

Leaving the scene the Tiger gang had attempted to attack the Galapitagala Police post. Police had repulsed the attack with assistance from the Sinnawatte army camp.

A senior Air Force spokesman said that retreating Tigers have turned on innocent civilians, in a bid to force the authorities to halt the ongoing security operations in the Northern Province.

Police said there were women and small children among the Bandaraduwa dead.

Meanwhile in Mannar, troops cleared and secured the Manthai-Thiruketeswaran area Tigers fled seeing the advancing troops leaving their bunkers. One soldier was injured due to an anti-personnel mine explosion. Troops recovered a box containing 7.62 ammunition, one 40kg landmine and locally made anti-personnel mines.

In the North Tigers continued mortar. RPGs and small arms attacks on the KKS, Elephant Pass and Paranthan security forces detachments on Tuesday night. No troop casualties were reported.

Security forces opened fire at a gang of terrorists at Elephant Pass near the 162nd mile post on Tuesday evening. Terrorist casualties are not known.

Tuesday August 7, 1990:

Tigers kill 51 Muslims, lose 13 men

From C. W. Ranaweera, Athula Priyankara Dissanayake and Sisira Priyantha Gunasena

Fifty one Muslims were killed by a group of Tigers in two separate attacks in the Eastern Province, 17 at Attalaichenai on Sunday and 34 at Akkaraipattu yesterday.

Twenty Muslims were also injured during the two attacks while the Security Forces killed 13 terrorists.