AI says SL Navy and EPDP were present at the scene of shooting

London based human rights watchdog, Amnesty International, has highlighted the killing of thirteen Tamil civilians, including two children, at the weekend on the islet of Kayts, near Jaffna.

Kayts Island is controlled by the Sri Lankan navy.

Amnesty said it welcomed the government's announcement that an investigation was under way.

Navy and EPDP 'involved'

But it said such investigations were often incomplete or ineffective, with the result that the perpetrators of such violence generally operated with impunity.

Amnesty International has received credible reports that Sri Lanka Navy personnel and armed cadres affiliated with the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), were present at the scene of the killings AI statement

“Amnesty International has received credible reports that Sri Lanka Navy personnel and armed cadres affiliated with the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), were present at the scene of the killings,” the statement added.

However, the EPDP has denied any involvement in the incident.

"There is no link between the EPDP and the incidents in northern Sri Lanka," EPDP leader Douglas Devananda told BBC Tamil Service.

Amnesty said it was alarmed by the increasing number of civilian deaths in Sri Lanka.

It said more than two-hundred civilians had been killed in the past month despite a ceasefire agreed four years ago by the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tiger rebels.