Air attack kills one and injures seven

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 January 1999, 07:40 GMT]
One student was killed and 7 others seriously wounded in an air attack by the Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) kfir jet planes on Sunday around 5.30 p.m. in residential areas in Mullaithivu district in the northeast of the island sources in the Vanni said.

Four among the injured belong to the same family that included 3 children, the sources added.

The wounded are:

Sebasitan Jude Suthan (07), Sebastian Suthan (09), Sebasitan Mayooran (12), Mariayadas Sebastian (37), Yesunayagam Thileep (13), Sinniah Manoharaseelan (24) and Thanabalasingam Saraswathi (59).

Three of the wounded are in serious condition, according to hospital sources.

Meanwhile Government Agent (GA) Vavuniya K.Ganesh said that 3 youths who had been missing for the past few days from Moondrumurippu in Mallavi area in the LTTE controlled region of the Vanni, are in the custody of the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) in Vavuniya.

He said that the relatives of the missing youths had complained to him, about their disappearance when he visited the area on Thursday.

When the GA contacted the military authorities in Vavuniya, they had said the youths in question were in their custody and would be released after the completion of the on going inquiry.

The three youths,Sithamparapillai Santhirasekaran (19) Vigneswaran Thuvaragan (17) and Namasivayam Jeyakumar (18) are from Moondrumurippu in Mallavi area who went missing after they went to look after the grazing cattle a few days ago.

Sources in Vanni said that these youths had been to the jungles near the defence lines of the SLA in Mankulam area and must have been arrested by the SLA while they were on patrol duty ahead of their defences.