“There is damage but not as much as LTTE has claimed”, reporters who travelled in the area on Saturday said.

R.G.Dharmadasa, reporting to Sandesaya said that houses in many villages were closed and villagers have gathered to Patalipuram Grama Seva Davison in fear.

“They live in schools and open places”, he said.

Dharmadasa along with other reporters visited about seven Grama Seva Divisions and saw only one flattened house, half damaged two school roofs and a place like a bus halt that had been damaged.

However, LTTE political leader in Trincomalee,Ellilen, told him that all the villagers in the area have been displaced and , houses damaged by about six hundred shellings from artillery and multi barrel rocket launchers.

Ellilen was unable to show damage they claimed and later said most of the bombs had fallen into the sea.

Dharmadasa met the doctor at Dileepan Hospital who said that the number of patients per day has increased from seventy five to 250.

The reasons for this are because many villagers are without sanitary facilities and living in open area without protection.

“Dry weather is causing problems and some have got lung infections”, the doctor said.

One of the major problems he faced with is medicine, and though a NGO is engaged in providing medicine that is also subject to security checks whereby boxes are opened by security forces, he told reporter Dharmadasa.

Shanthilingam Karunawathie expressing her fear said that if the government ensures safety they are prepared to go back to their homes.

“We need protection”, Karunawathie said.