PRIEST KILLED IN SRELANKA

Father Karunaratnam, “Chairperson of the North East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR),” was killed in a claymore attack on the Mallavi–Vavunikkulam Road in the Tiger-controlled territory on Sunday.

The LTTE alleged that the attack was carried out by the Army Deep Penetration Unit. However, the military denied the charge and said the attack had occurred deep inside the LTTE held area.

“Rev. Fr. Karunaratnam a longtime human rights activist was the founder — chairperson, of NESOHR which is the foremost human rights body operating in the LTTE administered areas.

“Rev. Fr. Karunaratam was also a working Catholic priest and he was serving in Jaffna until 2006, and the church transferred him to Vanni fearing for his life at the hands of the death squads operating in Jaffna. A tireless voice for the plight of the long suffering Tamils he was active till the very last minute of his life,” said the LTTE in a statement