News from Tamil Eelam - 18 December 1997
	
IDENTITIES OF INJURED TAMIL POLITICAL PRISONERS
	The names are now available of 20 Tamils injured after the Kalutara
	jail attack, in which Tamil political detainees were attacked by
	Sinhalese convicts while prison authorities looked on.

	The names are as follows:
	Krishnapillai Srimohan (Kokuvil, Jaffna);
	Geevananthan Dhivakaran (Kiran, Batticaloa);
	Sellathurai Karunakaran (Kodikamam, Jaffna);
	Vettivel Thiruchelvam (Kokkadicholai, Batticaloa);
	Rasathurai Gopalakrishnan (Thirukovil, Amparai);
	Ratnam Thanapalasingam (Kayts, Jaffna);
	Pasupathipillai Senthiran (Uruthirapuram, Kilinochchi);
	Murugamoorthy Thilakeswaran (Kaluwanchikudi, Batticaloa);
	Nagamani Theivendran (Batticaloa Town);
	Nalliah Rajalingam (Palugamam, Batticaloa);
	Ilayathamby Sriskantharajah (Batticaloa town);
	Selvaratnam Kumar (Jaffna town);
	Panchacharam Senkodan (Jaffna town);
	Sivapirakasam Sorupan (Vavuniya);
	Ilayathamby Suthakaran (Thirukovil, Amparai);
	Alakaiyah Raveenthiran (Mulliyawalai, Mullaitivu);
	Veerappan Yogarasa (Jaffna town);
	K Sangarathas (Colombo);
	Selvaratnam Karunakaran (Kodikamam, Jaffna) and
	Atchuthapillai Balachandran (Neeraviyadi; Jaffna)
	
TAMIL MAN LOSES LEG IN SRI LANKAN ARMY LANDMINE
	52-year old Tamil man Karuppiah Arulampalan was erecting a shed in his
	house in Kondavil East (Jaffna) when a landmine buried by the
	Sinhalese army exploded. He lost his left leg below the knee. He is a
	father of two children, and is now being treated in Jaffna hospital.

MALARIA RAMPANT IN MULLAITIVU
	The number of patients seeking treatment at Puthukudiyiruppu hospital
	in Mullaitivu district has increased to unmanageable levels, with many
	having to be turned away without treatment. The majority of patients
	are suffering from Malaria. Last Monday alone, 110 Tamil patients had
	to be treated outside due to insufficient hospital space to
	accommodate them. The outpatients department also had to turn away
	many patients owing to lack of doctors. The Sri Lankan government has
	for many years clamped a medical embargo on Tamil areas as part of its
	war strategy.
	
	Meanwhile in Kilinochchi district, Malaria and Diarrhoea are spreading
	due to the heavy rains. At Akkarayan hospital, the number of
	outpatients has subsequently increased several-fold.
	
SECURITY CHECKS IN COLOMBO USED TO ROB TAMILS
	A Tamil paper in Colombo has reported that Sinhalese police
	intelligence officers and army personnel are robbing jewellery and
	other valuables from Tamils during security checks. Such robberies are
	becoming as common as security checks on Tamils. There are also many
	Sinhalese criminals pretending to be members of the CID in order to
	rob Tamils. It is not difficult for such criminals to operate since
	Tamils in Colombo live in a state of perpetual fear. Tamils dare not
	ask the bogus officials for proof of identity because they risk being
	harassed further. Tamils are also unable to report these fraudsters to
	police as they fear being interrogated themselves if they go to a
	police station. The paper says Tamils in Colombo are suffering in
	silence.
	
LTTE CASUALTIES
	In Sinthupuram (Batticaloa) last Monday, two LTTE fighters died in a
	clash with Sinhalese occupying forces. They are: Lt. Kandeepan and 2nd
	Lt. Maharajah. Meanwhile on Tuesday, LTTE Captain Sudaroli died after
	a period of illness.
	
(English translation of the news released by LTTE International Secretariat,
211 Katherine Road, London E6 1BU, United Kingdom. Tel:0181- 503 4294)