Five days earlier in a cordon search operation at Thanganagar, seven Tamils were taken into custody and five were detained. In this operation, all residents were ordered to assemble near the Senbagavalli Amman temple.
On 10 January, the Tigers attacked an Army patrol near Mallikaitivu killing two soldiers and two policemen. The LTTE launched a mortar attack on a passing out parade at the Police Training College in Morawewa on 20 January. A policeman and four civilians were killed and 58 other policemen were wounded.
In Mannar District, five bodies were found with gunshot wounds in Kunjukulam in Madhu area on 24 January. Reports say that the five people went to their fields the previous night.
Mannar Bishop Rayappu Joseph said in mid-January that people’s freedom of movement is extremely restricted and disappearances have been reported. Refugees in Madhu area are unable to visit their fields because of continued shelling by both parties.