starsiege

40 civilian refugees killed in Sri Lankan artillery attack

Emergency Rescue workers in Vaharai say scores of civilians were killed Wednesday around 11:35 a.m. when Sri Lanka Army fired Multi-Barrel Rockets and artillery shells targeting Kathiraveli, a coastal hamlet 15 km north of Vaaharai, hit a school where five thousand Internally Displaced People had sought refuge. 40 dead bodies have been recovered. Six babies below 6-month were killed, said medical sources stating that 30 dead bodies had been brought to Vaaharai hospital. SLMM officials and the ICRC visited the area where more than 120 houses were severely damaged. An area with 2 km perimeter was indiscriminately bombed. 60 severely wounded civilians were brought to Valaichenai hospital.

2 civilians succumbed to their wounds while being transferred to Valaichenai.

Many of the civilians wounded in were struggling without medical facilities as the only hospital in Vaharai was also targeted by the artillery attack.

Patients in Vaharai hospital were forced to flee the hospital following the attack.

"An indiscriminate artillery and MBRL onslaught has continued for more than 30 minutes on Kathiraveli Vigneswara Vidyalayam killing and wounding tens of innocent IDPs," M. Raj, a TRO rescue worker said.

The school is located in a densely populated area.

Vaaharai region has been completely blocked for NGO access. There was no transportation for patients to be treated, the emergency rescue worker added.

Around 1600 families were staying in the IDP camp located at Kathiraveli school. Following the aerial and artillery attack on Paalchenai, more than 2000 IDP persons had arrived at the school during the past 72 hours.

ICRC, SLMM and UNICEF were informed of the attack. Despite the information, they were blocked by the Sri Lanka Army to enter the area, initial reports said. Later, the officials managed to reach Vaharai.

Panic striken people attempted to block ICRC officials from leaving the area fearing further artillery attacks.

NGO workers in Vaharai said they were trying to transport wounded civilians towards the entry/exit points although the SLA was initially not allowing the wounded to be transported in public vehicles.

Later, the SLA soldiers cooperated with the ICRC in transporting the wounded to Valaichenai and Batticaloa hospital.

There is only a single ambulance vehicle which is yet to return to Vaharai hospital.

The massive artillery and MBRL onslaught was launched while Sri Lanka Air Force reconnaissance aircrafts were engaged in operation, according to the initial reports.

pics(oh god)


http://www.tamilnet.com/img/publish/...aha_435_02.jpg

http://www.tamilnet.com/img/publish/..._58157_435.JPG

http://www.tamilnet.com/img/publish/...aha_435_01.jpg

http://www.tamilnet.com/img/publish/..._58149_435.JPG

http://www.tamilnet.com/img/publish/2006/11/08_11_06_vaharai_04_58153_435.JPG[/


the Sl army still denies permission for taking these wounded children to the main hospital in baticalo!!!

edit :some more recent pictures
http://www.sibernews.com/images/stor...-11-2006-2.jpg

http://www.sibernews.com/images/stor...-11-2006-3.jpg

http://www.sibernews.com/images/stor...-11-2006-5.jpg

http://www.sibernews.com/images/stor...-11-2006-4.jpg

http://www.sibernews.com/images/stor...-11-2006-6.jpg

http://www.sibernews.com/images/stor...-11-2006-7.jpg

http://www.sibernews.com/images/stor...-11-2006-8.jpg

http://www.sibernews.com/images/stor...11-2006-11.jpg

link for the statement by the amnesty international
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA370322006


From BBC news


the link for the above posted BBC article
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6128094.stm

starsiege

u know what really pisses me off than the sl army actions? the total silence from the international community regarding this. If one Palestinian gets killed then tis front page news. especially here in California! people protest in the streets..and hundreds of Tamil civilians get killed in sl and no one even utters a word, let alone the papers print a one para story about it. if it was the ltte killing 100 soldiers in a fair fight then all teh govs start saying"no fighting, LTTE shold come to the peace table and blah blah blah..all the while the armed conflict was being instigated by the gov)freaking hypocrites!

and as for the sl gov...........

Draconion

you a tamalian?...seems like it, the guy who once had the audacity to suggest i was a pakistani is now getting regionalistic...do you not remember that it was these bloody tamilians who killed 1,800 indian army jawans...damn you and your kind....if the sl govt has killed 100terrorist , not tamalians mind you, then pray why did they not kill 100more???


and as for you

__________________
"To every man upon this earth, Death cometh soon or late;
And how can a man die better; Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his father; And the temples of his gods."

Samudra

Wake up. There is no such thing called international community. There are only a bunch of nations.

Srirangan

To each his own. Pray that Lanka tries making more friends with Pakistan and China. And pray that idiots like Vaiko don't screw up the lobbying in Chennai and New Delhi. India can be an ally if you play your cards right.

Srirangan

I'm Tamil. Ethnic discrimination of Tamils must end in Lanka. LTTE's actions are counter productive to the Tamil cause in Lanka. And Indian Tamils are some of the most successful and patriotic people in India.

starsiege

regionalistic? heh thats rich
for ur info im not indian tamil if thats what u meant

as for ur commets about those who were killed being terrorists; if u had spent some time to look at the pics u would find out that that they are mostly women and children, from a refugee camp. even the sl gov had accepted that they had attacked civilians. so how come u have this specific intel that they are terrorists? heh? maybe u know soemthing more than all the international observers, amnesty international and even the sl gov(which has accepted its action too)??

and as for the thing about the 1800 indian jawans getting killed in sl, u have to remember that they got killed in a war. a war that was instigated by the srilankan president jr jayawardana who fooled br raj iv into fighting his own war.so stop ur stupid whining.

PS: we dont call ourselves Tamilians, we call ourselvs Tamils.

yeah thanks for pointing out to him that there is discrimination and state sponsored terror in sri lankan agasint tamils, but u have to realise that if not for the LTTE there would be no tamils in sl by this time. rem the 54,58,71,771,and 83 state-sponsored pogroms agasint tamil which left thousands dead and almost a million homeless and destitute? if not for the fact that the sinhala Government is scared of a backlash from the ltte there would have been even more riots!.

Srilanka is much closer to pakistan and china nowadays than to india, especially when the racist parties such as the JVP and the hela urumaya(a party of buddhist monks) openly make fun of and criticize india and welcome pakistan. Pakistan has its military observers and officers working with and alongside the sri lankan forces. thats why the pakistani abassoder was targetted but he barely escaped

Srirangan

LTTE is lead by a bunch of idiots who despite having a wonderfully strong case have managed themselves to be seen as the villains by their horrendous acts, even in places like India where the resident Tamil community could have been a lobby for equal rights in Lanka.

starsiege

a wonderfully strong case which india would not support cos it fears, stupidly that southern indian tamils would want a separate country too. and the rest of the international community does not care. as for the ltte it might stupid as u claim but they are superb at military tactics.

as for ur comment about horrendous acts i can list 10 more horrendous acts commited by the sl gov for every one committed by the LTTE. India is prejudiced agasint the ltte cos of the rajiv thing, thats understandable but to say that LTTE is horrendous while the sl gov which is an even more worse horrendous entity goes scot free is funny


news flash

667medic

When I read about this tragedy, I was very angry....

Not at the Sinhalese but at that bastard Prabakharan.

The Sinhalese are determined to exterminate the Lankan Tamils but what's stopping India from intervening a second time is the assasination of Rajiv Gandhi. Prabakharan did something stupid just to satisfy his ego but ended up alienating the Indian Tamils. The Tamil Nadu politicians gained immense clout in the Parliament only in the 1990's and they could have done wonders for the Lankan Tamils but for the assasination of Rajiv.

India will intervene only if SL moves closer with Pakistan because inevitably the ISI would be involved and that would portend evil for the Southers States...
Also pray for the early death of Karunanidhi as the DMK would most probably fragment due to faction struggle. The winners would be MDMK and ADMK. People have a favourable opinion of Vaiko as he hasn't been tainted, yet....

__________________
Seek Save Serve Medic

667medic

Why would the "international community" care if the country's immediate neighbour maintains a hands off policy...
The LTTE might be superior military force but it means squat because of lack of political recognition.
The PLO were a bunch of wimps when compared to the LTTE but had more power because they were recognised by the UN...
Give us a scape goat, preferrably Prabakharan's head if you want us to intervene, Rajiv's death has got to be avenged

starsiege

the ISI is already working in sri lanka, and also the pakistani army is going to train a "muslim only" regiment as asked by the srilankan president(what a stupido)

as for karunanidhi..everyone hates that doube-dealing old geezer. he acts as if he ias all so full of concern for sl tamils but he is not.i wonder why he still keeps up that charade, when practially every sl tamil knows that its just a charade.

yeah vaiko is a good guy

agreed, but the plo had the support of muslims all over the world.

and u know well as i do that the LTTE would never give up prabhaharan.
its better if india just ignored it as a bad dream and started looking at the current reality. as for the thing about mr rajiv getting killed, do u know that a sinhala soldier tried to kill him by trying to hit his head with the but of his rifle during a military parade?. if the blow had landed right then who would have ended up killing him?

and did srilanka punish that guy who did it? LOL he is actually running for election under the banner of the jvp-sinhala urumaya allience.



the bottom line is that when LTTE carries out attacks, even if they are military targets all the worlds countries rush to condemn it, while there aint even a word about this attack from the world countries except norway and the non-governmental organizations.hypocrites !

starsiege

[QUOTE]SLA denied transport to Vaharai injured for 3 hours- Elilan

Sri Lankan Army (SLA) has not only killed 42 civilians and injured more than 122 others in Kathiravely in LTTE controlled Batticaloa district but has violated all humanitarian norms by delaying giving permission to ambulances to take the injured to the hospital, S Elilan, the Political Head of LTTE for Trincomalee district said Wednesday.


S. Elilan, Trincomalee Political Head of the LTTE
S. Elilan, in an interview to media, provided details of the Vaharai killings.

"SLA has carried out shell attack towards Kathiravely area with Multi Barrel Rocket Launchers (MBRL) and artillery from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm Wednesday. 42 people including children were killed and more than 122 were injured in this non-stop attacks. The attack was directed on Kathiravely Vigneswara Vidyalayam and its environs where Internally Displaced People (IDP) from Muttur area were housed, and people affected in tsunami catastrophe in 2004 from Vaharai and Kathiravely area were settled temporarily in makeshift cottages and tents.

"This is the fifth continous day the SLA has shelled this area. Three people were killed and eight others have been injured in these attacks before today's tragedy.

"Bodies of all killed in today’s attack were kept at Vaharai Government hospital for identification. Most of the injured are wounded seriously and the facilities at Vaharai hospital are inadequate to provide proper care to all the injured.

"On our request, the officials of the Committee of the International Red Cross societies (ICRC) are moving them to Batticaloa Teaching hospital for treatment.

"We have already informed the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) about this tragedy and the officials, have contacted the Sri Lanka Forces for permission to visit the scene. They had earlier informed us that SLA had denied permission to visit the area. However, later they informed us that they obtained the permission and now they are on their way to Kathiravely. We want them to witness the scene of the tragedy," Elilan said.

When asked whether the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) was still in force in Trincomalee district, he said, "As far as we are concerned the CFA is no more in force in Trincomalee district and the Sri Lanka military continues the attacks without any concern for civilians.

"More than 36,000 of people who were displaced from Muttur and took refuge in Vaharai area, are facing enormous difficulties and fear for their lives. We have informed the SLMM officials in Trincomalee district several times about the threats of military attacks and the plight of the people. Since nothing happened, we have now started working with SLMM officials in Batticaloa district."

Commenting on the attacks on IDPs from Trincomalee district, he said, "The Government has already blocked the relief assistance to the IDPs in Vaharai area. They were provided dry rations under the United Nation’s World Food Program (WPP) and that was too stopped for three weeks. Shelling has continued for 5 days. The main access route to Vaharai, the A-15 road, remains closed and other Non Governmental Organizations (NGO) are unable to bring the relief items to the area," Elilan said.

"We have already taken up the matter with the ICRC, which traditionally gives escorts to the food convoys, and other UN bodies, and they are too not in a position to do any thing as SLA routinely denies permission.

"The shortage of food is criticaland the people are in the brink of starvation," Elilan said.

"When the attack began around 11:00 am, there was an ambulance at Vaharai hospital. When people tried to go to the hospital using the ambulance, SLA first refused and later gave permission only after 2:00 p.m," Elilan told the press. [/quote]

the link for the above article
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=20209

More info on the naval battle yesterday in which the Sl Navy lost 2 crafts

Quote:

Sea Tigers sink 2 Sri Lankan attack crafts, seize armament, capture troopers

shame on the Gov..it cant even fight and win a battle but knows full well how to kill innocents.!
the fact that the sea tigers were able to board a sinking ship and dismantle its weapons and rescue its crewmen is proof enough that the rest of the sl nany boats escaped and ran away as the eyewitness claimed

Srirangan

1. I've never said the Sri Lankan forces have done any good.

2. Tamils in Lanka had a wonderful case ruined by stupid mindless acts of the LTTE.

3. As far as Indian tamils wanting to seperate, heh, funny.

Srirangan

I think you are underestimating how badly the LTTE has wrecked the Tamil Cause in Sri Lanka. Child bombers, terrorist/suicide bombing tactics etc. etc. You have become the villains while anybody who known anything knows that the Lankans did the worst acts yet have escaped blame.