A recurrent feature of the on going ‘dirty war’ between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Tamil Tigers is the continuous victimisation of innocent Tamil civilians in aerial bombardment and artillery shelling.

After these pathetic victims are killed, maimed and injured the state comes out with the usual story that only LTTE positions were targeted and that there were no civilian casualties.

It has become routine for the state to justify these attacks as part of its propaganda war.

Any one daring to articulate the inconvenient truth is wrongfully accused of being a Tiger agent or propagandist.

The suffering of civilians caught up in a war they do not want is ignored. Humanity is forgotten in this climate of charges and counter-charges. Human beings are reduced to insignificance.

Iluppaikkadavai in the North - Western district of Mannar became the site of another atrocity in this continuing pattern. It is a small village about 25 km to the north of Mannar town along the Mannar - Pooneryn road.

Iluppaikkadavai’s population had increased over the years with more than 4000 displaced people from other parts of the North seeking refuge there.

The village falls within areas in Mannar district controlled by the LTTE.

Four planes, all of them Israeli Kfir jet bombers, swooped down from the skies at 9. 35 am on January 2. There were twelve explosions with two bombs failing to explode. People screamed and ran in search of elusive safety. It was all over in ten minutes.

Around 25 dwellings were destroyed and damaged. About 50 - 60 people were injured. Some of them succumbed to injuries. There were people whose bodies were blown to pieces. Others were maimed losing limbs.

People from Iluppaikkadavai rushed to the scene of bombing. Among these were the parish priest Fr. Arulnathan and Village service officer or Grama Sevaka , Sinnathurai Vejendran.

Parents rushed many wounded children to hospitals. But ambulances despatched from hospitals in government-controlled areas were blocked by Sri Lankan security forces at the crossing point into LTTE areas. Photo TamilNet.

The villagers led by Catholic priests and nuns of the area administered first aid and began efforts to take the people to hospitals. There were two small hospitals in the region. One was at Mulankaavil to the north and the other at Pallamadhu to the South of Iluppaikkadavai.

Even as injured people were taken to these two hospitals it became apparent that many of the serious needed medical care that could not be provided adequately at the Mulankaavil and Pallamadhu hospitals.

The closest big hospital was at Mannar town only a 40 minutes ride away. An urgent message was sent. Mannar hospital authorities promptly despatched two ambulances.

The entry - exit point for GOSL and LTTE controlled areas was at Uyilankulam. The Sri Lankan security officials there refused to let the ambulances go to Iluppaikkadavai.

No amount of pleading by civilian officials would make the army relent. This was not due to the individual whims of security personnel. They were acting on orders from the Defence ministry in Colombo.

There is a visible design here.

In the East the security personnel at the Mankerny entry - exit point display the same conduct when it comes to helping the beleaguered civilians of Vaaharai get medical treatment.

There too the callous cruelty is due to orders from Colombo.

The next best alternative was the hospital at Kilinochchi which is a Tiger controlled area. Two ambulances drove down from Kilinochchi and transported the serious cases there. Instead of being taken to Mannar hospital that was only 25 km away the injured had to be taken to Kilinochchi 80 km away.

Two of those admitted to Kilinochchi hospital died subsequently. With these deaths the death toll went up to sixteen. Seven of the sixteen were children under 10 years. Some of those killed too had their limbs blown away.

The body of a youth killed in the bombing was taken away by the Tigers. The victim was a member of the LTTE and had come on leave for the new year to visit his family.

At least ten of the injured in the Kilinochchi hospital are under ten years of age. Three pregnant women are also seriously injured.

Of the twenty five warded at Kilinochchi seventeen are reportedly serious, six are said to be critical. Five of the injured have lost limbs. The eyesight of another three is impaired severely.

Even as this civilian tragedy was unfolding the official version related a different tale. The Sri Lanka army website had this to say -:

“With a view to eradicating Sea Tiger capabilities in north of MANNAR, Air Force Kfir jets this morning (2) bombed several identified Tiger terrorist targets in Illuppaikadavai, Mannar and Panichchankerni, Vakare.

“The Sea Tiger base, north of Mannar has been regularly used by Tiger terrorists to launch deadly attacks on Sri Lanka Naval fleet on duty in the seas around the gulf of Mannar. Intercepted Tiger transmissions confirmed that Tuesday’s air strike inflicted damages to them."

Many children were amongst those killed by the Sri Lankan jets. Photo TamilNet.

The Catholic Bishop of Mannar - Vavuniya diocese Rt. Rev Joseph Rayappu was at Iluppaikkadavai at 12. 45 pm on the day of the bombing.

He inspected Padaguthurai and spoke with survivors.

He also made detailed inquiries about the alleged presence of an LTTE sea tiger base in the vicinity. The prelate also went to Pallamadhu hospital.

Thereafter Bishop Rayappu wrote a letter to President Mahinda Rajapakse on the bombing. He also released the letter to the media and held a media conference and spoke about the actualities at Iluppaikkadavai.

Bishop Rayappu was quite candid in his interview to the BBC ‘Thamilosai.’ He categorically denied that there was a tiger camp or base in Padaguthurai.

The Bishop said that he had come to know that there was a Tiger communications point one and a half km away from the bombed site. There was also a LTTE warehouse at another place about one and a half km away from Padaguthurai. There was however no LTTE presence in Padaguthurai, asserted the Bishop.

The Bishop’s revelations evoked a hostile response from the state. The Media Centre issued a diatribe against the Bishop in very harsh language. A senior priest from a ‘minority’ religion was unfairly condemned for voicing the suffering of a section of his flock.

One wonders whether the media centre would have the temerity to issue such a statement against a Buddhist prelate or even a Sinhala Catholic Bishop? The silence of the Sinhala Catholics on matters like this is truly deafening!

With the world waking up slowly to what actually happened at Padaguthurai, the GOSL was under increasing pressure. All sorts of explanations were offered.

Colombo kept insisting that only a Sea Tiger base was hit. Then it changed position and blamed the LTTE for 'any” civilians being affected.

One accusation was that the civilians were brought to the area deliberately in anticipation of an air strike. Another charge was that the civilians were working as slaves of the LTTE in a tiger camp.

Even Air Force chief Roshan Goonetilleke - himself a Christian like most of the victims - emphasised to the media that the air force engaged only in precision bombing based on precise information.

Meanwhile terrified Tamil civilians began moving out of some coastal areas in LTTE controlled Mannar fearing more air strikes. More dispersals can be expected if indiscriminate aerial bombardment continues.

Edited, original published Jan 5, 2007 on transcurrents.com