Eastern Province (NA): Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2006

Five people were killed and two others sustained injuries during a bomb blast in the eastern town of Trincomalee on January 2, according to BBC. The victims were reportedly young Tamils from the area, about 250km north-east of capital Colombo. A policeman told AFP that officials were investigating whether the Tamil youths had been transporting explosives. Military officials, however, said the explosion occurred when suspected Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres tried to throw a hand grenade at a group of soldiers in Trincomalee. The pro-LTTE website Tamilnet said unidentified men had thrown a grenade at people seated on the bench killing five people and injuring two. Read less...

On January 3, unidentified assailants shot dead a Hindu priest, identified as Selvathamby Vishagaratnam, in the Kiran area of Batticaloa district. Read less...

A suspect in possession of T-56 magazines with 26 rounds of ammunition and a pouch was arrested by Special Task Force troops from the Akkaraipattu area of Amparai district on January 4. Read less...

A woman, identified as Sepamalai Victoria, was killed and her husband sustained injuries in an attack by unidentified assailants in the Sethukkuda area of Batticaloa district, reports Tamil Net. The website further reported that unidentified assailants shot dead a civilian, Kankesan Sivanesan, in the Kayts area of Jaffna district. Read less...

Suspected LTTE cadres shot at and injured two civilians in the Puttur area of Batticaloa district. Elsewhere in the district, two security force (SF) personnel were injured in a grenade attack by the LTTE in the Kallady area. Two more SF personnel were injured in another grenade attack by the LTTE in Jaffna district. Read less...

A civilian, Kunam Thanus, was killed and three others were injured, on January 5, when unidentified assailants lobbed a grenade and subsequently opened fire in the Valaichenai area of Batticaloa district, reports Tamil Net. Read less...

According to Tamil Net, a woman was injured in a grenade attack by unidentified assailants in the Abeyapura Sinhalese settlement area of Trincomalee district. Read less...

At the same time, according to Hindu, the LTTE has warned of "dire consequences" if "repression by the armed forces on Tamil people" is continued. Condemning the recent killing of five Tamil youths in Trincomalee, the outfit’s political wing in a statement charged the Sri Lankan Government with resorting to "dastardly killings to suppress the liberation aspirations of students". Read less...

In a separate incident, a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadre, Rajasanthram P. alias Wannan, was killed in retaliatory fire by security forces (SFs), when he tried to lob two hand grenades at them, in the Kiran area of Batticaloa district. In the subsequent search operation, troops recovered two unexploded grenades and claymore mine wire code. Read less...

The website further reported that unidentified assailants abducted a civilian, Thabendran Mathan, and subsequently stabbed him to death in the Vadamaradchy area of Jaffna district on January 5. Another civilian, identified as Thangarajah Pradeeshkumar, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in the Valigamam area. Separately, three soldiers were injured in a grenade attack by the LTTE in the Abhayapura area of Trincomalee district. Read less...

At least 15 Sri Lankan Navy personnel were killed in a suspected suicide attack by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on a navy gunboat outside the Trincomalee naval harbor in Trincomalee district on January 7, today, according to Hindu. Navy spokesperson, Cmdr. Jayantha Perera, said 15 sailors died and that that search and rescue operations were on to find the three missing. Read less...

The website further reported that unidentified assailants lobbed a hand grenade towards SFs, injuring two SF personnel in the Kopay area of the same district. In a similar incident, on January 7, three SF personnel were injured in a grenade attack by unidentified assailants in the Muttur area of Trincomalee district. Read less...

On January 8, cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) opened fire on an Army patrol in the Sittandy area of Batticaloa district. In the retaliatory fire, security forces (SFs) killed a LTTE cadre and recovered one micro pistol with a filled magazine from his possession. Read less...

According to Hindustan Times, a soldier and two Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres were killed following a gun battle between the LTTE and a military patrol in Muttur near the port city of Trincomalee on January 9. Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said that a machine gun and a T-56 automatic rifle were recovered from the incident site. Read less...

Daily News reports that security forces recovered four claymore mines, planted by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in Mannar and Batticaloa on January 10. Deputy Inspector General of Police (Vavuniya), Gamini Silva, said that an Army and Police road clearing patrol on the Anuradhapura-Mannar road recovered two claymore mines, weighing nearly 30 kilograms, along with a 90-metre wire set to detonate them. One grenade was also recovered from the area, he added. Further, Military spokesperson, Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe, informed that two RPG bombs and two claymore mines, weighing eight kilograms and seven kilograms, were recovered at the 118th mile post on the Punani-Valachchenai road. Troops also recovered a radio set and a wire set to detonate the claymore mines. Read less...

Addressing villagers in Batticaloa at a rural self-defence training and drill programme, the LTTE’s 'special commander for Ampara-Batticaloa', Bhanu, warned that its Air Force is ready to launch attacks on the Sri Lanka Government's armed forces if war breaks out. "Not only the Black Tigers but also the Tamil Tigers’ Air Force too is ready to fight against the Sri Lanka Armed Force," Bhanu declared. He added that the LTTE has now grown to the extent that it can provide weapons to 25,000 people in Batticaloa alone. Read less...

A powerful bomb blast damaged a car belonging to the SLMM in Batticaloa town on January 13. Two police constables guarding the SLMM premises reported the blast which appeared to have been caused by some device attached to a wheel of the pick-up vehicle, police said. Read less...

The Norwegian truce monitors in Sri Lanka have said that a grenade blast at their premises on January 13-night was the first direct attack on their organisation, according to BBC. Several vehicles were damaged but no-one was hurt in the overnight blast in the eastern town of Batticaloa. The explosion occurred when the car was parked at a garage of the Norwegian-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM). The blast came hours after the SLMM issued a statement blaming the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for a latest upsurge in attacks against Government forces and also asked the Government to disarm paramilitary units that target the LTTE. Read less...

Two civilians and one Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) soldier were injured in separate incidents in Trincomalee. According to sources on January 15, a SLAF soldier manning a checkpoint in Anpuvallipuram was injured when an unidentified person lobbed a hand grenade targeting the checkpoint. In a separate incident, two Tamil civilians, Selvanayagam Mayooran and Sabaratnam Mathivathanakumar, were injured when unknown gunmen fired at them while they were going to their residences at Pallathoddam in Trincomalee. Read less...

Suspected Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres triggered a claymore mine explosion on January 17 on the Nilaveli-Trincomalee road, injuring 12 sailors travelling by bus to Trincomalee, according to Colombopage. Following the blast, LTTE cadres also opened fire at the bus, and naval troops retaliated. Two unidentified civilians were killed in the crossfire, while a third was wounded. Read less...

The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) on January 17 decided to temporarily suspend their monitoring activities in Trincomalee due to the recent escalation of violence in the district. "Following the recent escalation of violence in Trincomalee, culminating in the bomb attack against a Sri Lanka Navy bus earlier today, the SLMM has decided to suspend the operational activities in Trincomalee until further notice", a press release from the SLMM stated. "It is important to underline that the suspension is limited to Trincomalee district only and we plan to resume normal monitoring activities as soon as the situation calms down", the release added. The SLMM runs a district office in Trincomalee and a contact point in Muttur. Read less...

According to Daily News, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) will continue operational activities in the seas off Trincomalee despite its earlier decision to suspend operations in the entire district. The SLMM had agreed to commence truce monitoring in the seas of Trincomalee from January 18 following an assurance from the Navy to provide them additional security on board Navy vessels. SLMM spokesperson Helen Olafsdottir said they had decided to restrict operational activities to the seas off Trincomalee, but cease to monitor the ceasefire on the ground for the time being. "Our (SLMM) team in Trinco cannot go out or patrol the area because the land is not safe or and conducive for monitoring," Olafsdottir said. Read less...

In another claymore mine blast along the Trincomalee-Kandy Road on the same day, two Navy personnel, one Police constable and 16 civilians were injured. The claymore mine which exploded was fitted on to a bicycle. Read less...

Suspected LTTE cadres attacked a vehicle carrying air force personnel, injuring one of them, and later fired at a military checkpoint in the eastern port of Trincomalee. The vehicle was carrying the airmen to an air base when it was ambushed by a group of LTTE cadres, said an officer at the Media Unit of the Defense Ministry. Read less...

Three police personnel and a civilian were killed in a suspected Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) triggered claymore mine blast in the Thandavanveli area of Batticaloa district on January 19, according to Daily News. Seven army personnel, 13 police personnel and three civilians were injured in the blast. Read less...

In a separate incident, a 21-year-old youth was shot dead by unidentified assailants, suspected to be from the 'Colonel' Karuna group, near the Mamangam Kovil in Batticaloa on January 22. Read less...

Suspected LTTE cadres shot at and injured four soldiers in an ambush in the Batticaloa district. "A 10-man patrol was ambushed and fired upon after they left a camp in Batticaloa. Four were injured, it was definitely the Tigers," said Police Superintendent Sarath Jayasundara. Read less...

The Special Task Force (STF) recovered a large stock of military items on January 22 from the Tamielyaya area in Ampara district. Eight claymore mines, 370 rounds of Multi-Purpose Machine Gun ammunition and 369 rounds of T-56 ammunition were recovered. Read less...

Suspected LTTE cadres attacked a Sri Lankan army patrol near the Batticaloa town on January 23, today, detonating a claymore mine, killing three soldiers and wounding two others. Read less...

A journalist attached to a Tamil language newspaper Sudar Oli was shot dead by an unidentified gunman at Trincomalee on January 24-morning. Military sources said that political columnist of Sudar Oli, 37-year-old S. Rajan, was shot dead while he was on his way to work. Read less...

At least 10 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres were killed and an unspecified number were injured when ‘Colonel’ Karuna faction cadres attacked a vehicle carrying LTTE cadres in the Vadamunai area of Batticaloa district on January 26, according to Colombopage. The attack followed the killing of a LTTE ‘Major’ in the same area on January 26. Read less...

On January 26, a senior cadre of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), identified as ‘Major’ Kavilan, was killed in the Vadamunai area of Batticaloa district. The LTTE has blamed the security forces (SFs) for this incident. However, the Army has denied its involvement. Read less...

The bullet-riddled dead body of a civilian, identified as Thambimuththu Selvarasa, was recovered from the Muttur area of Trincomalee district. Read less...

In the same district, a soldier was injured in a grenade attack by the LTTE. Read less...

On January 27, a suspected LTTE cadre lobbed a hand grenade targeting a Police post in the Veeramunai area of Amparai district. However, no casualty was reported. Read less...

A civilian, identified as Thambiah Jeyarajah, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in the Lingapuram village of Trincomalee district on January 28, reports Tamil Net. Read less...

A day earlier, a LTTE cadre escaped from outfit’s Sampoor camp and surrendered before the SFs at Marathadiya roadblock in the Trincomalee district. Read less...

The bullet-riddled dead body of a civilian, identified as Thangaiah Jersa, has been recovered near a LTTE camp in the uncleared area of Serunuwara. Further, unidentified assailants shot at and injured a Police officer, identified as Ranjith Ratnayake, from Pachchanoor Police station area of Trincomalee district on January 30, reports Tamil Net. Read less...

The Army Bomb Disposal squad defused a hand grenade recovered from the Padaviya area of Trincomalee district on January 31. Read less...