2ND LEAD

SLAF bombing raid injures 3 civilians in Vanni

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 January 2008, 17:07 GMT]
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLA) fighter jets dropped 12 bombs in 3 sorties Friday morning on civilian settlements in Va'l'lipunam in Vanni, injuring three civilians including a woman, besides completely destroying a settlement, sources in Vanni said. An event enrolling new students to Grade I in Udaiyaarkaddu Mahavithtiyaalayam was disrupted when the bombs fell and exploded near by. Chentha'lir Children Home for girls, relocated from Mullaitheevu coast to Va'l'lipunam after Tsunami, narrowly escaped the air-strike.

The students dispersed in panic during the raid.

Five houses in the settlement were badly damaged in the bombing.

The SLAF bombers continually targeted the IDP settlements where people displaced from Trincomalee and Jaffna districts in 1994 and 1995 due to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) offensives, live.

Five houses in the settlement and crops in the farm lands were badly damaged in the bombing.

Va'l'lipunam Saiva Tamil Mixed School with nearly 540 students too is in the area which the bombers struck.

Residents in the settlements escaped death as they managed to find places of safety.

Tension prevailed in Va'l'lipunam IDP settlement located 4 km north of Puthukkudiruppu in Mullaitheevu district.

Chentha'lir Children Home serves girls who had lost their parents and family members in the continuing attacks on Tamils by the armed forces of Sri Lanka government.

On August 14 2006, Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Kfir jet attack killed 51 girls and four staff at Sencholai children's home campus in Va'l'lipunam in Mullaithivu district.

"In the aerial strikes, many died on the spot, and many were wounded, most had multiple injuries, some lost their limbs, some had severe burns. All the girls were pleading for help, pleading to be taken to a hospital," Juliet, a survivor of the bombing told TamilNet 23 August 2006.