Tamil residents staged a protest this week against the construction of an illegal Buddhist vihara in the Thaiyiddy area, built on lands belonging to local Tamil families that were forcibly appropriated.

Sri Lankan authorities have recovered around 80 bodies from the Iranian naval vessel IRIS Dena, which sank off the southern coast of Sri Lanka after being struck by a United States torpedo.

Questions are being raised over whether a recent visit by the commander of the United States Pacific Fleet to Sri Lanka is linked to the sinking of an Iranian warship in waters near the island.

The United States has confirmed that one of its submarines sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka, marking the first time an enemy vessel has been destroyed by a US torpedo since the Second World War.

Sri Lanka’s navy has recovered several bodies believed to belong to crew members of the Iranian warship that sank off the island’s southern coast, as search and rescue operations continue in waters near Galle.

At least 101 people are missing and 78 others wounded after a suspected submarine attack on an Iranian naval vessel off the southern coast of Sri Lanka, according to sources in Sri Lanka’s navy and defence ministry who spoke to Reuters on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka faced renewed international scrutiny at the 61st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, as the Sri Lanka Core Group called for the repeal and non-use of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and raised concerns over the government’s proposed replacement legislation.

Thousands of pilgrims from Tamil Eelam, Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu attend historic celebration

A protest was held in Batticaloa last week demanding the full repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act and rejecting the proposed Protection of the State from Terrorism Act, which the government intends to introduce as a replacement.