Colombo (AsiaNews) – As war continues mercilessly in northern Sri Lanka, a severed body is found. It might be that of a Catholic priest that disappeared eight months ago.
New clashes between the military and Tamil Tigers rebels in the north have claimed at least 30 lives last night. Government sources say that “at least” 20 rebels died. Rebel sources for their part claim that the army lost ten of its men.
In the midst of the ongoing clashes a fisherman found a torso, with the head, hands and legs severed and placed in a weighted green bag which got caught in his fishing net around March 15.
The human remains are now in the morgue of Jaffna Teaching Hospital waiting for DNA tests. The local Church requested them fearing that the torso and body parts might belong to Fr Jim Brown who disappeared with an aide back on August 20, 2006, in an area under army control. The two men were last seen by Fr Peter Thurairatnam around 1:50 pm at a check point in Alaipiddy.
Before his disappearance, the priest had been accused of aiding Tamil Tiger rebels to build a bunker around his church in early August at a time of clashes between rebels and government soldiers that had left 20 people dead and 54 wounded.
