<p>Sri Lanka’s prolonged political turmoil is continuing to impact on tourist numbers as cancellations to the island continue in the middle of peak tourist season, reports Reuters.</p> <p>Despite Sri Lanka currently being at peak tourist season, flights and hotel bookings are being cancelled after Colombo was thrown into crisis in late October, with the attempted appointment of Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister.</p>

A Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP has raised suspicion about the timing of the killings of two police officers in Batticaloa, claiming the killings were instigated to create political chaos.

“This incident occurred after the [TNA] parliamentary group announced in writing that it would support a United National Front government,” parliamentarian for the Vanni district Charles Nirmalanathan said in parliament on Wednesday. “We are of the opinion that this could have been carried out purely to cause chaos in the country.”

Several thousand Indian fishermen were reportedly chased away by the Sri Lankan navy this week, whilst fishing near Katchatheevu on Thursday.

Rameswaram Fishermen Association President P Sesuraja told reporters that over 3,300 fishermen in approximately 500 boats were chased away by the Sri Lankan navy, whilst over 4,000 were harassed earlier this week.

Homes in Jaffna were vandalised earlier this week, as crime continues to take place across the peninsula.

The gates of homes, fences and water boring in Columbuthurai were damaged earlier this week, in yet another episode of vandalism.

Civil society organisations and former LTTE cadres staged a demonstration in Batticaloa this week, protesting against the arrests of former fighters.

Protestors called for the released of the former LTTE cadres, with as many as six members reportedly arrested this week in connection with the murder of two Sri Lankan policemen.

<p>Three Tamil youths were arrested by the Sri Lankan army yesterday in Kankesanthurai, in two separate incidents.&nbsp;</p> <p>One Tamil youth was arrested for allegedly stealing from tourists visiting the military holiday resort Thalsevana. The youth has been handed over to the police for further investigation.&nbsp;</p> <p>Two other youths were arrested for allegedly stealing iron materials in the Thaiyiddy area.&nbsp;</p> <p>The youths have also been handed over to the police and were later produced before Mallakam Magistrate Court.&nbsp;</p>

A skeleton with its leg in a shackle was unearthed today at the mass grave site in Mannar. 

Over 250 whole skeletons have been recovered from the site to date. 

<p>The UK Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Mark Field on Tuesday called for the political turmoil in the Sri Lanka to be resolved "as soon as possible".&nbsp;</p> <p>"It is vital that all sides refrain from violence and make efforts to resolve the situation peacefully and as soon as possible. Our High Commissioner to Sri Lanka continues to meet regularly with all political parties, and has expressed our concern at the behaviour of some MPs in disrupting Parliamentary proceedings. We have stressed the importance of MPs allowing Parliament to do its job," Field said.&nbsp;</p> <p>Field's comments came in response to a question posed by the Labour MP, Keith Vaz who asked if he had plans to visit the island.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The United National Party (UNP) and its leader Ranil Wickremesinghe are now facing the consequences of failing to hold Mahinda Rajapaksa accountable, a TNA MP has said.</p> <p>“The UNP should have thrown Mahinda Rajapaksa and his crew in jail as soon as they came to power in 2015,” said MP for Batticaloa district, S Yogeswaran.</p> <p>“Ranil Wickremesinghe is now experiencing the consequences for that [failure],” he said.</p>

The new US ambassador to Sri Lanka, Alaina Teplitz stressed the need to resolve the country's political crisis in a transparent and democratic manner, in an interview with the Daily FT. 

“We have no dog in this fight. We do not have favourites in this political contest. We are looking at an outcome that respects constitutional processes and transparency and produce a legitimate government," Teplitz said.