The LTTE bombed telecommunication equipment in Batticaloa town on 3 February. Two more devices were blasted at Kattankudy two days later. Following these attacks, security in Batticaloa town was tightened. The Army carried out a house-to-house search in Kallady, south of Batticaloa town, on 13 February.
Since the military captured Vaharai, in north Batticaloa in June last year, people in the area are facing more problems. A large number of fishermen are affected by a ban on fishing. Civilians going in to Tiger-held areas of Vaharai are not permitted to carry more than 5kg of food. Local people say soldiers have removed window and door frames from 65 houses in the area. Civilians fled after soldiers began breaking in to houses in Kandalady in late February.
According to Batticaloa MP Joseph Pararajasingham, over 30 youths arrested by the Army in the district in January and February have disappeared. Three refugees from the Kalmadu camp who went fishing on 31 January are missing. The Army shot dead civilian S Vijayakumar at Kiran on 14 February. Mary Benedict of Eravur was killed by unidentified gunmen on 24 February.
Mr Pararajasingham says rice farming in 10,000 acres of land is affected after the Army destroyed two bridges at Sithandy and Vantharumoolai, north of Batticaloa town. Farmers are unable to take their tractors and bullock carts to the fields. The military say that the Tigers were taking hijacked vehicles across the bridges in to areas under their control.
Suspected LTTE cadre shot dead a Home Guard protecting Sinhalese farmers at Aralagangwila in Polonnaruwa District on 17 February. Two others were wounded. The Special Task Force (STF) launched an attack on a Tiger base in Kanjikudichcharu jungle in Amparai District on 2 March. Two Tigers were killed and six others wounded.
In Trincomalee District, the Navy killed A Kamalanathan while fishing near Kadalkaraichenai in Muthur on 6 February. The Navy shelled the shore damaging several houses in the village. Reports say fishermen in Muthur and Serunuwara have stopped going to sea because of fear of Army harassment. Two new military camps have been established in these areas.
Hundreds of people demonstrated before the North-East Governor’s office on 8 February demanding transportation to Jaffna. Over 5,000 Jaffna people have registered their names at the government Divisional Secretariat in Trincomalee to travel to Jaffna.