Reports say that in the year 2000 the NORAD-assisted Development of Batticaloa (DERBA) project will not be implemented in Tiger-held areas. Although the programme covered all areas of Batticaloa in 1998, the government decided last year to develop only the Army-controlled parts. NORAD has allocated Rs 520 million ($7.2 million) for the period 1998-2003.
Thirteen police were killed and 15 others were wounded in an LTTE attack on a military convoy on 15 February near Miyankulam on Polonnaruwa-Batticaloa road. Military convoys use this important supply route through LTTE-controlled jungle areas several times a week, carrying equipment and personnel. Many military camps have been established along this road. The Tigers shelled Punanai Army camp on 25 February injuring seven soldiers. Local residents have complained to Batticaloa MPs that many houses have been damaged in shelling from Kalkudah military camp which followed Tiger attacks.
After suspected Tiger cadre fired on an Army patrol near Sithandy on Batticaloa-Valaichenai road on 19 February, soldiers shot and wounded three members of a family, including seven year-old R Ranitha. On 29 February, two soldiers were wounded in a Tiger assault on Kayankerni Army camp on Valaichenai-Vaharai road. In Army shelling that followed, four civilians, including four year-old Y Sutharsan, were injured.
In Trincomalee District, a suicide bomber targeted the district Army commander Piyal Abeysekera on 2 March. The commander sustained minor injuries but the driver of his vehicle was killed. Security in Trincomalee has been tightened following several LTTE attacks.
Three policemen were killed when the Tigers assaulted a police post in Muthur Central College on 22 February. Three days later, a naval officer was killed and three injured in an LTTE ambush at Salli near Sambaltivu. Navy personnel ran amok and burned 11 houses two shops and over 40 vehicles in Salli. The next day, over 4,000 people staged a protest against the attack. Two more sailors died in an attack at Nilaveli, seven miles north of Trincomalee town on 28 February.
Amnesty International has expressed concern for the safety of fisherman Vyramuthu Jeyakili who has been missing since his arrest by the Navy at Sambaltivu on 25 February. Amnesty says Mr Jeyakili may be in need of medical treatment as he was reportedly hit on the head at the time of his arrest and was seen bleeding.