LTTE Headquarters,
                                                Tamil Eelam.
                                                25. August 1997
PRESS RELEASE
NEWS FROM TAMIL EELAM

LTTE'S COMMITMENT TO AUTHENTIC CASUALTY FIGURES
	The LTTE wishes to place on record its commitment to the truth in
	the matter of declaring the actual number of its fallen martyrs.
	This policy the LTTE has strictly followed since the first day it
	took up arms for the restoration of the lost rights of the Tamil
	nation. A deliberate reduction of the number of our fallen
	martyrs would be an insult to their memory and the cause they
	stand for. The LTTE will not for any reason whatsoever falsify
	figures pertaining to its dead.
	
	The LTTE reiterates that the total number of its dead in the 5
	days of battle for Puliyankulam - between 19 August to 23 August
	- is 76 (seventy-six). A more detailed statement is appended
	herein below.
														
DATEPLACE OF BATTLENUMBER OF DEAD

19.08.97	Palayawadai					07

19.08.97	Mathiamadu					02

20+21.08.97	Palayawadai and Mathiamadu			56

22.08.97	Puliyankulam					08

22.08.97	Mathiamadu					01

			TOTAL					74

Two LTTE fighters who were critically injured on the
19th and 20th August died on the 23rd.				02

				GRAND TOTAL			76

	The LTTE asserts that drastically reducing the numbers regarding
	dead soldiers, refusing to accept their dead bodies and taking
	refuge behind such patently false devices like "missing in
	action" is the stock in trade of the Sinhala military, which is
	notorious for denigrating its dead.
	
	
SINHALA TROOPS SHOOT-TO-KILL IN JAFFNA
	Two Tamil farmers who went to water their plants early in the
	morning in Kaithady (Thenmaradchy, Jaffna) were shot dead by
	occupying Sinhalese soldiers as they fled in fear from an
	approaching army patrol. The farmers - like most Tamils in Jaffna
	- were scared of being taken away to army camps and tortured or
	killed, and therefore chose to leave before the army patrol
	reached them. But the soldiers wasted no time opening fire on the
	men, killing both instantly. One of the dead has been identified
	as Mailavaganam Thavapalan (37) of Kaithady north. Sri Lankan
	troops in army-occupied Tamil areas like Jaffna operate a
	shoot-to-kill policy against Tamils. Soldiers are not held
	accountable for their actions.
	
20 YOUNG MEN ASSAULTED IN ARMY CAMP
	Twenty Tamil youths playing volleyball in Thottilady (Chankanai,
	Jaffna) were arbitrarily rounded up by Sinhalese troops occupying
	this area. The young men were chained together and dragged to the
	local military camp where soldiers beat them senseless. The
	reason for this punishment is not known. On appeals made by the
	young men's parents, 14 were released. But the remaining six are
	still held in the military camp. The parents of these 6 fear the
	worst.
	
NO COMPENSATION FOR TAMIL VICTIMS OF ARMY ATROCITIES
	Although Sri Lankan law provides for the compensation of victims
	of military atrocities, the present Chandrika government has
	shown no inclination to compensate the enormous number of Tamils
	in Jaffna who have fallen victim to Sri Lankan army excesses.
	Some Tamil families have become destitute after Sinhalese forces
	have killed their main breadwinners, either by bullets, artillery
	shells or airforce bombs, but no action has been taken by the
	government to ease their burdens in the areas it is occupying.
	
JAFFNA PENINSULA'S ARMY LANDMINES CLAIM A VICTIM EVERY DAY
	victim to army landmines in army-occupied Jaffna peninsula.
	Reports suggest that as many as one person a day is injured or
	killed by them. The increase in casualties is largely due to the
	ever-increasing shifting-around of army camps to new locations.
	This regular rotation of soldiers may partly be due to the
	shortage of troops in the peninsula. When such moves occur, the
	army leaves in place their fences of anti-personnel mines.
	Civilians who try to reclaim their hitherto army-occupied homes
	after the army moves away, are usually the main victims of the
	landmines the army leaves behind.
	
LTTE MOVES STUDENTS TO SAFER AREA
	The LTTE administration has relocated students of Puliyankulam
	Hindu college to Vavunikulam Sivapuram GTM school. The Hindu
	college building has been razed to the ground by Sri Lankan bombs
	dropped by its Kfir planes during the second week of this month.
	
BOMBER VICTIM DIES IN HOSPITAL
	A Tamil lady, Mrs. Kunasingam Sarojadevi (35), who was critically
	injured by a Sri Lankan Kfir bombing raid last week has died in
	hospital, five days after the incident. She was a resident of
	Puthuvilankulam, a residential Tamil area which was subject to
	numerous bombing raids this month.
	
UNEXPLODED SHELL INJURES FARMER
	A Tamil farmer and his three cows have been gravely injured by a
	Sri Lankan shell which had earlier failed to explode. The man --
	an inhabitant of Alaveddy -- was tilling land near Arunothaya
	college when he accidentally knocked the shell which was
	half-buried in the ground, causing it to explode.
        
Political Committee,
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
	
(English translation of the LTTE statement released by LTTE
International Secretariat, 211 Katherine Road, London E6 1BU,
United Kingdom.  Tel:0181- 503 4294)