[Doctors Without Borders]

As heavy fighting continues in northern Sri Lanka, over 200,000 civilians remain trapped in the conflict in the Vanni region. But, over the past few weeks, some 35,000 people have managed to flee to the city of Vavuniya, 80 km south of the conflict zone. They tell of a beleaguered population living under constant threat of shelling and surrounded by the bodies of the dead and wounded. Food and drinking water are scare, and there is almost no access to medical care. Here are some of their stories.

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[BBC]

The editor of a Sri Lankan weekly newspaper and his wife have been assaulted in Colombo in the latest of a series of attacks on journalists. Reporters on the Rivira weekly say four men on motorcycles blocked Upali Tennakoon’s car and attacked the couple with iron rods and other weapons. The pair are in a stable condition. The attack comes two weeks after top editor Lasantha Wickramatunga was shot dead. Meanwhile, fierce fighting continues as troops battle rebels in the north-east.

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[BBC]

Sri Lanka’s parliamentarians from the ruling coalition and the opposition have accused the government of being responsible for killing Tamil MP, T Maheswaran. Colombo District United National Party (UNP) legislator T Maheswaran, has been shot dead at a Hindu temple in the capital, Colombo. Maheswaran, a former minister and an outspoken critic of government’s policy towards minority Tamils, was clinically dead when he was taken to the hospital, authorities told the BBC.

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[AFP]

An outspoken ethnic Tamil opposition MP was shot dead during a New Year service at a Hindu temple in the Sri Lankan capital Tuesday, the third assassination of a minority legislator in two years. Thiagarajah Maheswaran from the United National Party (UNP) was a vehement critic of the government’s escalating war against Tamil Tiger rebels and a campaigner for the rights of Tamils in the Sinhalese-majority island.

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