A fire has destroyed shops and stalls at Kilinochchi market on Friday evening, after local fire services struggled to bring the blaze under control.  

It is not known how the fire, which broke out at midnight started. 

Market vendors, many who had only started to rebuild their lives after the end of the armed conflict, have been left with nothing but ashes. 

Sinhalese journalists from the South were taken on a tour of Jaffna by the Sri Lankan military last week, who briefed them on the "reconciliation process" that was allegedly underway in the region.

The Sri Lankan government called on North Korea to “abide by its international obligations” in a statement released in response to a nuclear test launched last week.

Colombo condemned the testing and said it “notes with concern” that this is the second such test to be carried by the DPRK this year.

The release of land occupied by the Sri Lankan army in Kilinochchi has revealed the widespread destruction of an LTTE cemetery that once stood on that ground, reports TamilNet.

Video footage obtained by TamilNet shows the graves of hundreds of fallen fighters have been obliterated, reportedly by bulldozers. Only fragments of tombstones can now be seen littering the landscape.

Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council's 33rd session in Geneva on Wednesday, the UK mission highlighted the lack of progress on key issues in Sri Lanka and reiterated the UK's support for the full implementation of the resolution adopted by the Council one year ago. 

"Welcome Sri Lanka’s continued progress on implementing resolution 30/1, most recently through the law to establish an Office of Missing Persons. This is a significant step towards reconciliation."

The former Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunge on Thursday called for a federal and 'semi-secular' constitution.

"Sri Lanka should learn a lesson from number of countries which have resolved their issues by formulating federal and secular constitutions," she was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying. 

Officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) visited Sri Lanka on Wednesday to review the $1.5 billion loan given to the country. 

The representatives, Jaewoo Lee and Eteri Kyintradgze met with the Minister of Finance, Ravi Karunanayake, and the secretary to the treasury, R.H.S Samaratunga. 

The Indian coast guard on Tuesday detained a 41 year old Eelam Tamil man who was fleeing his home town of Mullaitivu "fearing harassment by the Sri Lankan armed forces", reported The Hindu. 

The man, Arul Jayarathinam, alias Rajan, was reported by the paper to be a former member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). 

Three men were arrested by CID officers in Jaffna over an attack against the Jaffna court house building in May. 

The men, Akilan, Jegadheesan and Ajanthan are alleged to have attacked the building as hundreds protested against the gang-rape and murder of the school girl, Vidhiya in Pungudutivu island. 

The men have been arrested for further investigation over the incident, the police reported. 
 

Sri Lankan parliamentarian Wimal Weerawansa called on chief Buddhist monks this week, warning them of a “highly dangerous constitution” for the island, which he claims has been drafted by a non-governmental organisation.

Sri Lankan soldiers involved themselves in yet another religious festival in the Tamil North-East, as they facilitated devotees praying at a Christian festival in Jaffna last week.