2ND LEAD

Armed men destroy NGO office in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 24 August 2006, 09:10 GMT]
A group of armed persons, believed to be paramilitary men working with Sri Lanka Army (SLA), entered the Jaffna District Secretariat of the NGO, Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), located on Temple Road, smashed the computers and accessories and set-fire to the building, destroying tools and data inside the office Wednesday night during the curfew hours. The TRO Jaffna office, opposite the UN officials' residence and close to many UN offices including UNHCR, UNICEF and UNDP, and several international organizations, is located 200 meters away from the SLA checkposts at Kailayapillayar temple.

At least six armed men entered the office, forced the watchman to leave the premises Wedesday around 11:30 p.m. and stayed at the office for two-hours destroying the tools, documents and data, finally setting fire to the office.

TRO officials said all the documents including the North East Community Organisation Restoration and Development (NECORD) project documents, were destroyed.

The NGO officials estimated at least one-million worth of equipment, tools and accessories were lost in the attack.

The Fire Brigade of Jaffna Municipality, notified by another NGO in the area, only managed to save the building complex from total destruction, NGO sources said.

Earlier, on July 15, unidentified attackers lobbed a grenade into the TRO office in daylight.

Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) office is also located in the vicinity.