The Sri Lankan army’s 62 Division celebrated its 8 year anniversary by building a holiday bungalow for soldiers at its Vanni headquarters, consolidating its presence in the region, despite calls for demilitarisation.

Hindu temples in Batticaloa have been attacked at least eleven times in the last three years, an MP for the district has said.

TNA MP S Viyalenthiran said that attacks on Hindu temples went underreported but that they were taking place at a worrying rate across the North-East, with Batticaloa no exception.

Around 3000 acres of privately-owned land in Amparai remains under military or other state occupation according to activists in the district.

Sri Lanka's former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa accused the current coalition government of mismanagement which has allowed for an inflation crisis. 

"[There is] no confidence in this government and they can’t control it," Rajapaksa said. "They are not doing anything. I mean we want to defeat this government. We want to have elections. The first thing is to have elections, so we are fighting for it."

Sri Lankan police on Friday filed an injunction in an attempt to prevent an event commemorating Lt Col Thileepan's fast unto death. 

The event is currently being planned for September 26 to take place in Nallur, Jaffna. 

Another protest took place today demanding that all Tamil political prisoners be released. 

The protest, which took the form of a symbolic hunger strike, in solidarity with the eight political prisoners at Anuradhapuram prison who have been protesting for their release, took place outside the Government Agent Office. 

The Sri Lankan military has once more held events with Tamil schoolchildren at schools in the Vanni last week, as it continues with its militarisation of the North-East.

The Sri Lankan government is undermining its own Office of Missing Persons (OMP) with the appointment of Mahinda Samarasinghe, a politician who has denounced reports of enforced disappearances, to head a cabinet sub-committee said the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP).

Scotland‘s police will train a contingent of Sri Lankan policemen later this month, including a controversial head of the Sri Lanka Police IGP Pujith Jayasundara who is being investigated over bribery and corruption allegations.

The Sri Lankan army declared open a pre-school that it had constructed in Jaffna last week, as it continues with its militarisation of the Tamil homeland.

Sri Lanka's president Maithripala Sirisena arrived at New York today, where he will address the United Nations General Assembly and meet with senior officials this week.

Sirisena told reporters last week that during his visit he will ask the United Nations not pursue accountability for war crimes committed by Sri Lankan troops and will instead call on the Human Rights Council to “remove these charges”.

Tamils in Jaffna commemorated the 1995 Sri Lankan air force bombing of a school this week, as calls for justice for the massacre continue.

Protesters in Jaffna on Friday demanded the release of Tamil political prisoners, eight of whom are currently engaged in a hunger strike. 

Holding placards condemning the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and the prolonged, indefinite imprisonment of Tamil political prisoners, protesters gathered by Jaffna bus station. 

Eight Tamil political prisoners at Anuradhapura prison, M Sulaksan, E Thiruvarul, S Jeyachandran, R Rupan, S Thillairaj, E Jegan, S Sivaseelan and T Nirmalan, launched a hunger strike this month demanding they be released following a quick rehabilitation. 

A blood donation drive was organised in Jaffna on Sunday to remember the 9th day of Lt Col Thileepan's fast unto death in 1987. 

The event, organised by the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) saw a residents, party supporters and members come forward to give blood in memory of the sacrifice made by Thileepan.