Locals of Oddusuddan, Mullaitivu are concerned about threats to the ancient Vavettimalai hill, whose history intertwines with the district’s iconic Thanthondreeswarar temple. Large scale stone mining in the area is destroying the hill’s archaeological and spiritual characteristics, locals say.

The massacre of 53 schoolgirls by the Sri Lankan air force was remembered in the Tamil homeland on Wednesday on the thirteenth anniversary of the attack.

On 14 August 2006, 53 schoolgirls and three teachers in Mullaitivu were killed by the Sri Lankan air force who bombed the Sencholai school in Vallipunam.

Sri Lanka’s former defence secretary, who oversaw the military offensive that killed tens of thousands of Tamils in Mullivaikkal, officially launched his presidential bid this week.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa accepted the nomination made by his brother and former president Mahinda Rajapaksa to represent the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna as its presidential candidate.

Amnesty International has said that reforms are required in Sri Lanka if new investigations into the ‘Trinco 5’ massacre are to be effective.

In a statement welcoming the Sri Lankan attorney general’s decision to recommence investigations after 13 Special Task Force (STF) suspects were acquitted last month, the organisation noted the “importance of a thorough, effective and impartial investigation into the killing to ensure that victims of human rights violations and abuses can access justice”.

An Indian government-funded model village was inaugurated in the Jaffna District on Saturday.

The village in Valikamam West, called Senthamizh (‘pure Tamil’) Village, consists of 24 homes built with Indian grant assistance.

Sri Lanka’s tourism industry sees signs of a gradual recovery after the tragic Easter Sunday bombings, which killed over 250 people.

Tourism is one of Sri Lanka’s largest revenue streams, with tourists arriving from Europe and Asia-Pacific accounting for 90% of the total visitors. Sri Lanka’s Tourism Development Authority reports that after the attack on 21 April, the number of tourists halved in July from a year ago.

Chief executive officers of Sri Lankan Airlines, the country’s sole carrier, reported that they would likely see a loss of as much as $160 million in the financial year to end-March 2020 due to the concerns raised by the attack.

This year marks 36 years since the Black July pogroms. The brutal state-sponsored violence by Sinhala mobs lasted a week and saw the death of at least 3,000 Tamils, destruction of 5,000 shops, and displacement of over 150,000 Tamils. At least 500 Tamil women were raped and many families were burned alive. It also prompted the first large exodus of Tamils: 500,000 fled the island, giving seed to a global Tamil diaspora. 

Sri Lankan soldiers stationed at the University of Jaffna stood by as Sinhalese students clashed outside the campus on Wednesday, instead harassing passers-by and onlookers.

The soldiers forced onlookers away from the incident and berated individuals who had filmed the clashes, forcing them to delete all photographs and videos.

The University’s administration said that since the clash had happened outside the campus, no disciplinary action would be taken, but that Koppay police had been informed.

A team of Sri Lankan Air Force personnel are to be deployed to Central Africa next month to undertake United Nations (UN) peacekeeping duties.

The Passing Out Parade of the No 5 contingent of the Aviation Unit under the UN helicopter deployment was held yesterday at the Sri Lankan Air Force Base in Katunayake.

The helicopter deployment includes 18 officers and 92 airmen and are scheduled to start in September 2019.

A Tamil think-tank based in Jaffna was visited and its staff questioned by Sri Lankan terrorism police.

Kumaravadivel Guruparan, executive director of Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research (ACPR) and senior law lecturer at Jaffna University, reported that the office of ACPR were visited by three TID (Terrorism Investigation Division) officials who claimed to have been sent by their superiors in Colombo to inquire into the human rights policy-think tank.