LTTE Headquarters,
                                                Tamil Eelam.
                                                20. July 1997

PRESS RELEASE 
NEWS FROM TAMIL EELAM
                                           
ANGRY TROOPS VENT THEIR FRUSTRATION AGAINST CIVILIANS
        Violating all norms of civilised warfare recognised and enforced
        by the world community of nations, Sri Lanka's demoralised
        Sinhalese armed forces based at Vanni sites are bombarding Tamil
        civilians with artillery and mortars. Neither hospitals, schools,
        temples nor refugee camps are being spared.
        
        Spy planes are sent to identify prominent civilian targets and
        are soon followed by intense ground and air attacks.
        
        Akkarayan's main hospital was targeted this week. It is a
        prominent building marked on ordinary maps of Vanni, easily
        visible from the sky and its location is well known to Sri
        Lanka's armed forces. Yet this building was directly pounded with
        volley upon volley of artillery shells, killing 4 civilians
        inside and critically wounding 6 others. The hospital's employees
        quarters have been completely demolished in the attack.
        
        Such premeditated assaults serve to prove that this is a Sinhala
        government's war on Tamils. They also clarify the need of the
        Tamil people to defend themselves from such sustained physical
        violence by an essentially 'foreign' Sinhala army with no feeling
        for their well-being.
        
        Sinhala troops at Nedunkerni are meanwhile engaged in the latest
        round of Tamil refugee-generation. They have pounded three towns
        - Olumadu, Thatchadampan and Karipattamurippu - and made
        thousands more people homeless. A young crowd returning from a
        religious function was hit by the shelling: four died.
        
        Sinhalese troops are enveloped in a sense of hopelessness. The
        army's advance through Vanni has been buffeted; while the
        military's sea-link to soldiers in the peninsula has been
        severed. Facing an unprecedented logistical nightmare, the army
        is venting its growing feeling of impotence by intensifying
        attacks against Tamil civilians. More such atrocities can
        therefore be expected.
        
DECAYED CORPSES DISCOVERED - BATTICALOA
        The discovery of a number of decaying corpses of Tamils - killed
        by Sri Lanka's STF forces - has caused further unease among
        Batticaloa's Tamil inhabitants. The body of 19-year old Yogarajah
        Vimalarajah was found washed ashore near the Pethalai lagoon
        while Kumariyan (from Kinniyady) and his neighbour - both farmers
        - were found rotting in a palmyrah jungle. Sri Lanka's
        (exclusively Sinhalese) STF forces have been responsible for many
        hundreds of extra-judicial killings of Tamils in recent times.
        Meanwhile, 22 STF officers charged with murdering 21 Tamil youths
        have been freed by a Colombo court. They are now back in service
        with back-pay, promotion and other perks. They have returned to
        their job of harassing, molesting and murdering Tamil people.
        
SPORTS FESTIVAL IN PUTHUKUDIYIRUPPU
        Children in primary schools in Sivanagar are taking part in a
        sports and athletics festival yesterday evening. The event was
        held among children from Maruthu, Thilak and Thilaka schools. The
        programme (at Paskaran memorial grounds) began with the raising
        of Tamil Eelam's national flag.
	
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)