LTTE Headquarters,
                                                Tamil Eelam.
                                                05. January 1997
PRESS RELEASE
NEWS FROM TAMIL EELAM

GERMAN-FUNDED SHELTER TURNED INTO POLICE STATION
        Sri Lankan security forces have evicted many displaced Tamils
        from a German-funded refugee shelter in Mandoor and turned it
        into a new base for themselves. The shelter had been built with
        money given by Germany for the task of housing Tamil people
        displaced by Sri Lankan military offensives in the island's east.
        Literally hundreds of Tamil families have now been thrown onto
        the streets and are still searching for places to live. Security
        forces have also taken over a number of council buildings in the
        area which has severely affected day to day administration of the
        town.

ARMY CASUALTIES IN EAST
        Though Sri Lanka greatly exaggerates the number of LTTE fighters
        it has killed in the past year, the actual number of Sri Lankan
        soldiers who have been killed in the Amparai and Batticaloa
        districts is staggering. In 1996 alone 563 Sri Lankan soldiers,
        including a large contingent of elite STF personnel, died in
        these two eastern districts.

ARMY FIRES INTO VILLAGES - NEW YEARS DAY
        The Sri Lankan army in Batticaloa celebrated the new year by
        firing rounds of ammunition into neighbouring Tamil residential
        areas. Residents in several  parts of the district reported
        similar behaviour from all Sri Lankan army camps in the region.
        The firing generally lasted for half an hour during which time
        hundreds of Tamils were forced to leave their homes and run for
        cover further afield. Such behaviour by Sri Lankan armed forces
        has become characteristic of their rule in military-occupied
        Tamil areas of the north-east.

TAMILS UNDERGO RITUAL INTERROGATION
        Sri Lankan STF commandos on New Years Day morning subjected all
        Tamil residents of Pandiruppu (in Batticaloa) to a brutal
        interrogation. Locals were ordered to assemble at the STF camp
        with identity documents at the ready. The people were kept there
        for the whole day undergoing procedures which most of them later
        described as "brutal". The families of some 25 Tamils detained at
        the army camp after the incident are anxiously concerned for
        their safety since Sinhala soldiers in occupied Tamil territory
        are notorious for rapes, torture and murder of Tamils in custody.

ARMY WILL TAKE OVER SCHOOLS
        The Sri Lankan army is forging plans to take over certain Tamil
        schools in Batticaloa in order to make army camps out of them.
        Schools on the Senkalady-Badulla road (Batticaloa) have already
        been earmarked and as usual there have been no efforts to
        relocate the students who will be affected. But Tamil residents
        of the densely-populated areas of Karadiyanaru and Siththul are
        making preparations to vacate since living close to a Sri Lankan
        army camp is by itself a terrifying prospect for Tamils.

DAMAGE FROM 'OPERATION RIVIGAYA'
        16 Tamil houses were demolished and 100 Tamil families displaced
        by Sri Lanka's latest military operation in the Tamil heartland.
        Operation Rivigaya took place in Batticaloa and, like all other
        Sri Lankan military operations, showed no respect for the lives
        and property of the Tamil people.



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/ Fax: 0181-470 8593)