LTTE Headquarters,
                                                Tamil Eelam.
                                                09. June 1997

PRESS RELEASE
NEWS FROM TAMIL EELAM                                           
                                                
7 DEAD, 17 FIGHTING FOR LIFE - AS MANKULAM IS FLATTENED
	Sri Lankan artillery fired from Omanthai has killed 7 Tamil
	civilians and critically injured 17 more in Mankulam's crowded
	town centre. The artillery shells were launched yesterday from
	what is a distance of over 18 miles.  This attack like all others
	is an attempt to hurt Tamil civilians and wreak civilian centres.
	Nedunkerni was in the same way razed to the ground by Sinhala
	forces recently and it appears the army now has its sights on
	Mankulam, where the same method - buildings flattened, trees
	demolished - is being applied. The massive exodus of Tamils from
	Mankulam in all directions is complete, as the Vanni's civilian
	population becomes ever-more destitute. Sri Lanka's latest
	military operation is nowhere near complete and looks like
	continuing for many more months. The 17 people wounded so far in
	Mankulam are fighting for their lives without adequate medicines
	or even pain-killers to numb their pain, due to the long-running
	(and ongoing) medical embargo on Tamil areas. Below are the
	details of dead and injured.

ON RECORD - TAMIL CIVILIANS KILLED BY SRI LANKAN (SINHALA) FORCES ON 8.6.97		 

KILLED				AGE	SEX	OTHER DETAILS

K. Thayanithy			33	f	teacher in Mankulam

Mallika				-	f

A. Balachandran			40	m

Kanthasamy			-	m	from Uthayanagar

(The remaining 3 killed could not yet be identified due to the
condition of their bodies)

TAMIL CIVILIANS CRITICALLY INJURED BY SRI LANKAN (SINHALA) FORCES ON 8.6.97			

INJURED				AGE	SEX	OTHER DETAILS

Xavier Vathsala			5	f	lived at 36 Mullaitivu Road

K. Raji				6	m	from Mankulam

Sukumar Vinoteepan		14	m	lived on Thunukai Road

K. Sugithakumar			20	m	from Mankulam

Sepamalai Regina		64	f	lived on Station Road

Sarasu Pathmalingam		21	f	from Mankulam

Kanthasamy Ponnar		32	m	from New Colony

Nallathamby Kunamalai		66	m	from Mankulam

Manikam Saravanamuthu		34	m	from Mankulam

Balasubramaniam Jeyakumar	29	m	from Mankulam

Thrugnam Manoharan		24	m	from Mankulam

Aiyathurai Parameswaran	  	56	m	-

Xavier Manorajitham		36	m	lived on Mullaitivu Road

Muruku Rasadurai		63	m	from 1000 House Colony

Tharamarajah Jeeva		36	m	from Mankulam

M. Saravanamuthu		52	m	from Mankulam

Rasaratnam			33	m	from Mankulam

FURTHER TOWNS UNDER HEAVY FIRE
	Army shells from Omanthai have also been targeting civilian
	centres in Puliyankulam, Kanakarayankulam and Puthur. Firing
	began at 1am and continued for many hours. At least one person is
	known so far to have died. He is Balasuntharampillai Sivapalan
	(31) of Puthukulam, and he was killed in his sleep.
	
URGENT SHELTER SOUGHT
	Mullaitivu's education officer has appealed to the government
	agent to help construct shelters for the displaced. He says
	schools in the district are now full to the brim with internally
	displaced Tamils. NGOs have also been approached for help. There
	are over half a million Tamil people who are homeless as a result
	of the Sinhala government's war on Tamils.
	
MEDICAL STOCKS FINISH
	Tharmapuram hospital has run dry of medical supplies. The
	hospital will close in a few days without fresh stocks being
	allowed into Vanni by the Sri Lankan government. Sri Lanka is
	duty-bound to supply hospitals with adequate medicines but it
	actually stops Tamil hospitals from receiving medicines from
	anywhere else either. With the number of displaced steadily
	growing the hospital crisis has become unmanageable.

	
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 / Fax: 0181-470 8593)