A local councillor in Mullaitivu has appealed for public support to finally establish a permanent memorial for the eight victims, including six school students, who were killed in a Claymore mine attack carried out by the Sri Lankan Army’s Deep Penetration Unit in Iyankankulam, Thunukkai, on 27 November 2007.
Thunukkai Pradeshiya Sabha member Sarkunananthan Sujansan said a resolution has now been formally passed by the council to construct the memorial tower and remembrance site at the exact location where the patient transport vehicle was ambushed. He urged the public to contribute towards completing the project, stating that “justice must be delivered for the slain students” and that the struggle for accountability “will continue until it is achieved”.
Sujansan spoke to the media ahead of the 18th anniversary commemoration, which will take place at the site of the attack on 27 November. He noted that previous attempts by families and local organisers to build a memorial had been repeatedly hindered, but affirmed that this year the project has official backing from the Pradeshiya Sabha.
The 2007 Claymore attack remains one of the most harrowing incidents in Mullaitivu during the final years of the armed conflict. The Sri Lankan Army’s Deep Penetration Unit detonated a Claymore mine targeting an ambulance used to transport students and health volunteers. All eight victims were killed instantly.
The students murdered in the attack were:
• Nagarathinam Pradeepa, age 16
• Nagarathinam Mathikaran, age 15
• Nithiyanandan Nitharsana, age 13
• Karunakaran Kowsika, age 15
• Chandrasekaram Dhirosha, age 16
• Arputharasa Ajithnath, age 17
The two health volunteers killed were:
• Shanmugavadivel Sakunthaladevi, age 19
• Marimuthu Krishnaveeni, age 21
Local organisers say this year’s remembrance event will proceed as planned, despite the continued climate of surveillance and intimidation in the district. Sujansan called on parents, students, community groups, and civil society organisations to attend the ceremony and support the memorial project, adding that the Tamil people “will not abandon the demand for justice” for the murdered children.
The massacre remains one of many Sri Lankan Deep Penetration Unit attacks that targeted civilians across the Tamil homeland, with no member of the Sri Lankan military ever held accountable.
