News from Tamil Eelam - 27 December 1997
	
SINHALESE FORCES ABDUCT TAMIL CIVILIANS
	Occupying Sinhalese armed forces abducted 26 Tamil civilians between
	Saturday and Sunday in army occupied Kilinochchi and Vavuniya. 14
	civilians from LTTE controlled Konavil and Akkarayan who returned to
	collect their valuables from their former homes in army occupied
	Urithirapuram (Kilinochchi) have gone missing since Saturday.
	Meanwhile 12 civilians who went on Sunday to army occupied
	Nelvelikulam-Vilaththikulam (in Vavuniya) to collect their belongings
	from their former homes have also not returned since. Their relatives
	are worried about their safety as the occupying Sinhalese forces are
	known to torture and kill Tamil civilians who go to army controlled
	areas.
	
SINHALESE SOLDIERS RAPE TAMIL GIRL
	Sri Lankan soldiers on Christmas day raped a Tamil female student in
	army occupied Vavuniya while her friend managed to escape to raise the
	alarm. The two girls were walking along a road in Vavuniya town when
	two Sri Lankan soldiers in civil uniform stopped them and asked them
	for their identity papers. When the girls produced their identity
	cards the soldiers took the cards away from them. The girls were then
	forcefully taken to the nearby Seneviratne lodge when one girl
	escaped. The soldiers stuffed cloth into the mouth of the girl in
	their possession and took her into the lodge where they raped her.
	
LTTE CASUALITIES
	2 LTTE fighters and an LTTE supporter were killed on Tuesday in a
	confrontation with the Sinhalese armed forces during a round in
	Thampalakamam (Trincomalee).
	
SINHALESE ARMY TAKES OVER JAFFNA BUSES
	Occupying Sinhalese armed forces have taken over several civilian
	buses in Jaffna for their own personal use. This has severely depleted
	the number of vehicles available for Jaffna's civilian population,
	causing further disruption to normal life.
	
YOUNG TAMIL MAN DIES IN POLICE CUSTODY
	A 25-year old Tamil man has died in the custody of Sinhalese police in
	the Southern town of Maharagama (near Colombo). Krishnapillai died
	under suspicious circumstances in the Maharagama police cell, and was
	found to have a knot around his neck.

CHILDREN CIRCUM TO MALNUTRITION IN VANNI
	Two Tamil children in the Vanni village of Iyapuram Gobikudiyiruppu
	have died from malnutrition caused by Sri Lanka's food blockade to the
	region. In this village there are 264 Tamil families who have been
	repeatedly displaced by successive government offensives. Subsequently
	the people have been unable to produce their own food and have been
	reduced to virtual starvation.
	
TEEDOR EMBARKS ON MAJOR TREE PLANTING PROJECT
	TEEDOR with the Palmyrah development corporation has began a massive
	Palmyrah tree planting project in Vanni. It plans to plant 2 million
	saplings by the year 2000 and thereby give a major boost to Tamil
	Eelam's economy.
	
	
(English translation of the news released by LTTE International Secretariat,
211 Katherine Road, London E6 1BU, United Kingdom.Tel:0181- 503 4294)