Mullaitivu Government Agent R Tharmakulasingham says that the Health Ministry has failed to supply certain types of essential medicines to the district even after approval by the Defence Ministry.
Hospitals at Mullaitivu, Mulankavil and Mallavi are particularly affected. The Mallavi hospital treated over 16,400 out-patients in March. Reports say thousands of people have contracted malaria and the shortage of medicines is forcing the hospitals to send many patients to Mannar for treatment.
As troops continue attempts to capture Mankulam in Army’s Operation Jayasikurui, began in May last year to open a landroute to Jaffna from Vavuniya, services to the local population and the refugees is becoming more difficult. Government secretariats at Mankulam and Oddusuddan have now been shifted to Thunukkai.
In early April a commando unit advanced seven miles from Karipattamurippu on Mankulam-Oddusuddan road. According to the Defence Ministry, eight Tigers were killed in clashes. Troop advances on Mankulam from eastern Olumadu on 20 April came to a halt following stiff LTTE resistance. Thirty nine soldiers were killed and 294 others wounded. The Tigers say 11 cadre died. The Army believes that Major Chandima Gunaratne, missing after the battle, has been taken prisoner by the LTTE.
As military operations progress, the Vanni areas continue to be bombed and shelled. In Mullaitivu the people staged a demonstration on 4 April against indiscriminate bombing and shelling by the security forces. They submitted a petition to international refugee agency UNHCR.
In Vavuniya, a policeman was injured by a grenade while interrogating suspected Tigers on 14 April at Varikuttiyur. Following the incident, a youth took cyanide and committed suicide.