Sri Lanka's Health Minister stated that former defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapksa masterminded the creation of Tamil gangs in Jaffna, in a press conference earlier this week.

Speaking to the media Rajitha Senaratne said the gang was created by Mr Rajapaksa during the armed conflict in order to battle against the LTTE. He went on to state that the group had acted with the full knowledge of the Sri Lankan military.

Leaked Sri Lankan State Intelligence Service documents have allegedly revealed former defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa ordered the tapping of journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge's phone, just weeks before he was gunned down in Colombo.

The documents, reportedly obtained by Colombo Telegraph, identified the Sunday Leader editor as a 'national security risk' and ordered tapping of his mobile phone on the 10th of September 2008. A number of other phone numbers were reportedly placed under surveillance, including current prime minister Ranil Wickremasinghe, however Wickrematunge was the only non-politician on the list. He was also the only person on the list to have been killed.

Britain's Minister for the UN and Commonwealth Baroness Anelay will visit Jaffna this weekend, where she will discuss reconciliation and strategies for tackling sexual and gender-based violence.

Whilst in Jaffna the minister will meet with Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council C V Wigneswaran and Governor of the Northern Province Reginald Cooray. In Colombo Baroness Anelay will hold discussions with Sri Lanka's Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and leader of the Tamil National Alliance R Sampanthan.

Sri Lanka and India today reviewed the defence cooperation between the two nations in their annual Indo-Sri Lanka Defence Dialogue, reports Colombo Page.

An Indian defence delegation, led by India’s Defence Secretary Mohan G Kumar participated in the talks which took place in Colombo.

The Annual dialogue has been reviewing and expanding areas of interest between the two nations defence establishments since 2012.

Tamil Guardian interviewed the Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council C V Wigneswaran in London last week.

The Sri Lankan government on Tuesday pledged compensation for the families of two Tamil students at the University of Jaffna who were shot dead by the police last month. 

The decision came following a meeting with the president, prime minister and minister of resettlement, the Colombo Page reported. 

The president also ordered that the post mortem report of the deaths be brought forward. 

Locals in Batticaloa found human skeletal remains within an area of land that was previously used by the Sri Lankan military as a base. 

The remains were found while locals were digging for sanitation in a house opposite the Mariamman temple in Murakkoddaanchenai.

The Northern Provincial Council on Tuesday launched a tree planting initiative to span across the month of November in memory of all those who died in for the Tamil homeland. 

The opening event was attended by the chief minister C V Wigneswaran, the NPC ministers, P Ayngaranesan and Kurukularaja, and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP S Sritharan. 

A photograph of the Sri Lankan president and members of the military were hung on walls of newly built houses that were formally handed over to displaced Tamils on Monday. 

The smiling face of Maithripala Sirisena, who was in the North-East to officially hand over the houses at a ceremony, is placed above a photograph of military commanders with the words, "men in green are friends indeed." 

The leader of the European Parliament delegation to Sri Lanka urged Sri Lanka to improve its human rights conditions, including the replacement of its anti-terror laws to regain the EU Generalised System of Preferences Plus trade concessions.

Speaking in Colombo after meeting government officials and representatives of civil society, Ms Jean Lambert said discussions had taken place on whether or not Sri Lanka’s anti-terrorism laws met international standards.

Ms Jean added that a decision would be finalised in May 2017, reports Reuters.