People in Nintavur and Sammanthurai demonstrated on 17 December. The STF fired on the demonstrators in Sammanthurai wounding 45 people. They also smashed over 100 bicycles and motorcycles. Relatives reject the claim of the STF that the two Muslims were killed by the LTTE during a confrontation on the night of 15 December. They point out that none of the STF personnel had been injured in the alleged clash and none of the STF vehicles were damaged. The STF also attempted to force the father of the dead men to sign a statement admitting that they were Tiger members.
Further north in Batticaloa District, the people say that the STF have provided support to the National Auxiliary Force (NAF) to commit atrocities. The NAF in Batticaloa comprises former members of Tamil militant groups. Local people say more than 20 complaints have been made against the NAF to the police but no action has been taken. This issue has been brought to the notice of the Human Rights Commission (HRC). In addition, the HRC has also received 146 complaints of arrest by security forces in the district. In December, 61of them were still being held in Army camps and nine people had disappeared.
Reports say that seven Tigers were killed in an Army ambush on 6 December at Vahaneri, on Batticaloa-Colombo road. LTTE’s Batticaloa-Amparai Deputy leader Jeevan was among the dead. Over 300 LTTE cadre assaulted Valaichenai police station on the night of 11 December, said to be in revenge for Jeevan’s death. The Tigers launched simultaneous attacks on the offices of the Assistant Superintendent of Police and a telecommunication building.
Seven policemen, including a Sub-Inspector were killed and 11 were wounded. A telecommunication officer also died in the attack. The LTTE is reported to have removed a large quantity of arms. Following the attack, the police shelled Mavadichenai and Karuvakerni areas, damaging houses and injuring civilians.
On 12 December, suspected Tiger members threw a grenade on a checkpoint in Paddiruppu, 16 miles south of Batticaloa town, injuring two policemen. The attack took place when police were checking people arriving from the LTTE-controlled areas west of the Batticaloa lagoon. On 1 January, soldiers and police in Batticaloa fired their weapons for several hours to welcome the New Year. UD Arasakone and Thavarajah Alagurani of Kallady were injured in the shooting.