DILIP GANGULY , Associated Press,  Wed Jan  4 06:21:04 EST 2006
Sri Lanka's government launched an investigation Wednesday into the deaths of five Tamils after their bodies showed they also came under gunfire despite the military's account that they died when their grenades exploded prematurely.

The military had said the five men were suspected of collaborating with the Tamil Tiger rebels to ambush a military patrol Monday in the northeastern port of Trincomalee when their grenades exploded unexpectedly at a roadside.

However, the rebels said the men came under a grenade attack from government special forces, and the rights group Northeast Secretariat on Human Rights reported that men in uniform had opened fire on the victims.

``The Ministry of Defense, after the post-mortem inquiry into their deaths disclosed that there were also wounds caused by gunshots, has decided to hold a full scale probe into the incident,'' a ministry statement said.

A wave of attacks over the past month in the country's northeast, most of them bombings and shootings targeting government soldiers, has seriously threatened the country's 4-year-old cease-fire between the government and the Tamil Tigers.

The rebels have denied involvement in the violence, but the careful planning and execution of many of the recent attacks make the Tigers the main suspects, given their expertise.

On Wednesday, police found a body of a man with gunshot wounds in the Tamil city of Jaffna in the north, said a police official by telephone. The deceased's identity wasn't immediately known. The official asked not to be named as he wasn't authorized to talk to the media.

Unidentified gunmen also killed a prominent ethnic minority Tamil businessman in Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo. Natarjah Balendran, 45, ran a passenger bus service between Colombo and Jaffna and owned seven Internet cafes in the capital, said police spokesman Rienzie Perera.

Assailants in a white van gunned him down Tuesday night in Colombo's predominantly Tamil district of Wellawatta and he died in a hospital Wednesday morning, Perera said.

He declined to comment on whether the killing might be linked to surging violence in Sri Lanka's Tamil-majority northeast.

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- The Academic

this is why tamils were forced to takeup arms. first report it was the tamils own granade that went off
second report they were palnning an ambush. now lets have an inquire.
this proves my case any tamil who is dead, matter of fact by natural cause is labeled as tiger.


tamils are tigers tigers are tamils

I think its time we fight the GOSL and get our freedom. Peace talks are waste of time. we are capable of fighting the GOSL so why not. These students were shot while in the truck. If they are real Tigers, the army would have taken them to interigate!

I think all the Tamils and Muslim should join together and fight for the freedom is we were not given a solution in the near future. Our youths are dieing and we cant wait.

Riaz_Hussain wrote:

I think its time we fight the GOSL and get our freedom. Peace talks are waste of time. we are capable of fighting the GOSL so why not. These students were shot while in the truck. If they are real Tigers, the army would have taken them to interigate!

I think all the Tamils and Muslim should join together and fight for the freedom is we were not given a solution in the near future. Our youths are dieing and we cant wait.

In my dreams, I'm a viking!

-Nelson Muntz-


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Reality is a construction of mind! random everchanging strings dancing in 11 dimensions.

If this incident done by the GOSL+it's armed forces it would have to pay a heavy price   I think it's legitimate that LTTE attack a military vehicle and kill all the personels. It's stupid to expect otherwise. If a elected government can do this kind of atrocities to it's own people a militant organisation like LTTE able to do atleast teice as harm!!

With what we know at present what seems most likely is that LTTE sympathizers lobbed the grenade which fell short, and then the army retaliated, either with scattered gunfire or by rounding up the nearest Tamils they could find and shooting them in retaliation.

Elementary forensics should be able to tell whose lying, though it would not be that unusual to find that both sides are.

Stephen Jones.... Mr Poirot the detective!

What do we know at present?

How did you come to know that?

Why do you think what you know is true?

Come on! We don't want your assumptions and thesis.

The fact is that killings are going on. The Govt's action to start the inquiry is to please the IC.
Another eye wash? Does anyone have any faith in the neutralityof these?

I seriously think that war is looming.

Fact is LTTE is distributing grenades and weapons among civilians like there’s no tomorrow. They must take the responsibility for these deaths.

Riaz_Hussain wrote:

  Time to fight and solve the problem
I think its time we fight the GOSL and get our freedom. Peace talks are waste of time. we are capable of fighting the GOSL so why not. These students were shot while in the truck. If they are real Tigers, the army would have taken them to interigate!

I think all the Tamils and Muslim should join together and fight for the freedom is we were not given a solution in the near future. Our youths are dieing and we cant wait.

Dear Riaz Hussain,

1 If you are going to hide behind a Muslim name at least make it convincing!

2 Mr AS Balasingham will shortly be contacting you so that you can enlist with the LTTE fighters and die like a REAL man.

3 Have a nice day

One para in Mr Ganguly's report is a gem!

"The rebels have denied involvement in the violence, but the careful planning and execution of many of the recent attacks make the Tigers the main suspects, given their expertise."

Too bad, it is bad publicity if you are an expert.

Come on SLA, what the [profanities deleted by moderator] are you doing wasting SL taxpayers' money.

Why can't you too be experts (other than in putting blame on LTTE for every disaster)?

According to the law in Sri Lanka no body can keep a fire arms without a proper license. Even if it is a license one, hand grenades are not one of them. Recently LTTE has distributed weapons and gave them training to send all who follows them to the same fate. Youth with weapons act rigorously as they do not think twice before act. This unfortunate act was a result of untrained use of weaponries.
Whoever done this there should be a proper investigation to reveal the truth.



Last edited by amaka on Wed Jan 04, 2006 6:10 pm; edited 1 time in total

It is difficult to digest, but it is a fact that the army and the GOSL were responsible and aided the growth of LTTE.  Initially there were only a handful of youths.  But this kind of shooting civilians and mass arrest and torture, made more and more people joining LTTE.

I don't know when these people who try to defend the wrong doings of army and GOSL will understand these.  Because of some bad elemnts in the army, brave and patriotic soldiers are killed who give their lives to the country.  Please punish and send the culprits home and save our young patriotic sodiers.


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Be patriotic .. think of the motherland

The details about the incident in Trinco are still very sketchy. So many different versions.
However,  if the army is involved, and they killed these youths in an 'execution style' murder, the culprits should be brought to justice. LTTE is responsible for the detoriating situation in N&E, resulting in such murders, hwoever, that shouldnt be an excuse for the army for executing youths like that.

LTTE is dying, and the terrorists will be done before the end of this year. We shouldnt give them life support now-

It is not only the SLA and GOSL that helped the LTTE grow..

'Fifteen year old Raja went to the Teaching Hospital in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, complaining of insomnia, aggressive outbursts and irrational abnormal behaviour in late 1994. He had joined the LTTE at the age of 11 and underwent extensive training. He told doctors that after one attack where he lost many friends he was shown a videos of dead women and children and told that his enemies had done this. Soon afterwards he was involved in attacks on several Muslim villages near Batticaloa. When recounting one attack, he described how he held a child by the legs and bashed its head against a wall and how he enjoyed hearing the mother’s screaming. He said they deserved to die.'

Amnesty International Index 04/01/98; Page 38.

kavalan wrote:

Stephen Jones.... Mr Poirot the detective!

What do we know at present?

How did you come to know that?

Why do you think what you know is true?

Come on! We don't want your assumptions and thesis.

The fact is that killings are going on. The Govt's action to start the inquiry is to please the IC.
Another eye wash? Does anyone have any faith in the neutralityof these?

I seriously think that war is looming.

I seriously think that war is looming.

My question is when did the war stopped????  to start ...  Since the day one of CFA signed LTTE has started their killing on other Tamil groups and who opposed to them. GOSL deliberately allowed the LTTE to kill other Tamils and Muslims in order to score the brownie points in IC , (that’s how CFA was designed)When LTTE start to kill Singhalese soldiers and people , SLA and its intelligence retaliating on Tamils and LTTE.

At this juncture what Tamils needed is a clever leadership, not some one like SADAM HUSINE  power hungry autocratic profound genius . He was a golden goose for USA to achieve their goal.   Same here for Tamils. LTTE leader is a golden goose for INDIA and GOSL.  He is the  main obstacle for Tamils to achieve their course. I know Tamils never agree or accept this for some time, specialy tamils living in west. but time will make us realise , by the time it will be too late.