Dead soldiers were not accorded decent funeral

(January 06, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) News filtering from LTTE controlled Vanni and from the northern town of Vavuniya give light to information that were not covered in the media due to government imposed media sanctions and suspension of NGO’s to work in the north.

According to information gathered, the LTTE had moved the entire civilian population to Vanni way back from early October 2008 and the town remained empty of people since Deepavali. The LTTE had used its manpower to remove the roofs, windows and furniture from the properties and had set the town to engage in a bitter fight with the government forces.

Sources in the conflict area have confirmed that army casualty in the Kilinochchi advance has been heavy and the government has systematically suppressed the casualty details. Very reliable eye witness said Air force helicopters had taken dead bodies of the soldiers and had dumped them in the thick jungles and in the northern sea. When asked why this treatment was accorded to the army, the witness who is not involved with the LTTE confirmed ‘it may be because the government does want to show the dead bodies to the people in the South and accordingly have termed them as persons missing in action’. - Sri Lanka Guardian