Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe pledged to continue with the preservation of Buddhist sites across the island, as he slammed the former regime for claiming to be ‘Sinhala Buddhist’ without spending as much on archaeology as the present government has.

ColomboPage reports Mr Wickremesinghe as stating “it is no use of claiming 'Sinhala Buddhist' to obtain the votes without preserving the ancient historic Buddhist temples to tell the world about their glory”.

Sri Lanka's CID has summoned the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa over the abduction and assault of the associate editor of The Nation, Keith Noyahr in May 2008. 

Mr Rajapaksa has been summoned to the CID office on August 17 to record a statement. 

The summons was delivered to his official residence on Sunday by the Organized Crimes Investigation Unit. 

Two Tamil men have been arrested on suspicion of carrying out a sword attack three months ago, Koppay police said.

A 24-year-old and a 28-year old were arrested on Tuesday in connection with a sword attack in Neerveli in May.

Anger has been mounting in Mullaitivu after arson attacks in Nayaru devastated hundreds of thousands of rupees worth of fishing equipment of Tamil fishermen from the area.

The Sri Lankan president has promised to personally intervene in the issue of Sinhalese fishermen fishing illegally in Mullaitivu, which has caused tension in the areas, Minister Mano Ganesan has said.

“At Cabinet, I raised the issue of violence at Semmalai, Mullaitivu between Fishermen factions of North & South. President promised to hold special discussion to permanently settle the conflict when he visits North on 22nd,” Mano Ganesan said on Twitter.

The Sri Lankan army declared that it had renovated and built a series of buildings and a war memorial statue, at a military camp in Vanni this week, as it continues to consolidate its presence in the North-East.

Former Sri Lankan Navy Lieutenant Commander Prasad Chandana Hettiarachchi, alias 'Navy Sampath', has been arrested by Sri Lankan authorities after skipping bail earlier this year.

The Tamil National People’s Front held an event to mark 12 years since the Sencholai massacre, at their Batticaloa office earlier today.

The massacre of 53 schoolgirls in Mullaitivu on August 14, 2006 by the Sri Lankan airforce was remembered today at the site of the bombed Sencholai school in Vallipunam. 

Local residents gathered at the site 12 years on and lit a lamp in memory of the girls and their three teachers who were also killed in the attack. 

The UK will provide £1 million in funding for families resettling back into their lands following the release of land from military occupation in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Batticaloa. 

Families of the 53 massacred schoolgirls, who were killed in a Sri Lankan air force bombing raid 12 years ago, gathered in Mullaitivu today, where a community event was held to mark the anniversary of the Sencholai massacre.

- Brannavy Jeyasundaram

It was August 14, 2006; two years after the earth-shattering tsunami had ravaged Sri Lanka, leaving its people in destitute. The North-East was particularly vulnerable, with limited access to resources and deprivation of aid by the Sri Lankan government — despite being the worst-affected region.

In this aftermath stood the Sencholai children’s home for orphans in Mullaitivu. In an effort to shift the dependence on state-sponsored relief, a ten-day workshop on first aid and disaster management was organized by the Mullaithivu and Kandavalai Principals Association. Over 400 young women between the ages of 17 and 20 years old were gathered at the home to learn how to provide for the suffering.

At the beginning of day four, shortly after sunrise, four Sri Lankan air force jets dropped sixteen bombs over the home, killing 53 school girls and 3 teachers. Over 150 girls were seriously injured, suffering deep wounds, lost limbs, and severe burns. In a devastating irony, they had become the subject of their study.

The massacre of 53 Sencholai schoolgirls by the Sri Lankan air force on August 14, 2006, was remembered today in Mullaitivu. 

The Northern Provincial Council member T Ravikaran led a remembrance event, where a lamp was lit and flowers laid in memory of the girls. 

Students and staff at the University of Jaffna today remembered the massacre of 53 schoolgirls in Mullaitivu on August 14, 2006, when the Sri Lankan air force bombed their Sencholai school. 

Three teachers were also killed in the bombing. To date, no-one has been held to account for the deaths.

The children's home had been designated a humanitarian zone and its GPS coordinates had been passed to the Sri Lankan military via the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, and the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC).

Read more here.