6 Sinhalese farmers in the age group 17-24 were gunned down by the LTTE while working in their field at Kalanpattu in Morawewa in Trincomalee on 23rd April. Contrary to the expectations of the LTTE there were no organized mob attacks against Tamil civilians in other parts of Trincomalee due to the vigilance of the security forces acting under the strict instructions of President Mahinda Rajapakse.

The LTTE appears to have specifically targetted Trincomalee, a multi-ethnic district, to provoke and instigate ethnic tensions and violence. However, the prompt response of the Government has averted large scale mob violence against Tamil civilians and an ethnic backlash elsewhere in the country.

It is pertinent to refer to D.B.S Jeyaraj’s article, “Anatomy of violence that shocked Trincomalee” (Sunday Leader, April 23, 2006) where in reference to an earlier attack by the LTTE , he observed, “the next Tiger Tiger attack was even more provocative. Civilians in a predominantly Sinhala market were targeted”. This was in reference to an anti-personnel claymore mine concealed in a parcel attached to a bicycle parked opposite a coconut vendor’s stall which was set-off by the LTTE on April 12, triggering reprisal attacks on Tamil and Muslim civilians and business establishments by mobs before fresh deployment of troops were sent at the directive of the President to quell the mob violence. That the LTTE chose the eve of Sinhala and Tamil New Year demonstrates its scant regard for ethnic harmony and reconciliation.

Meanwhile LTTE’s attacks on the security forces in the North and East by way of claymore mines, grenade-throwing, firing of rocket-propelled grenades etc continues unabated.