Tamil newspaper editor attacked in northern Sri Lanka

Tamil newspaper editor attacked in northern Sri Lanka

2011-07-30 03:14:59 GMT+7 (ICT)

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA (BNO NEWS) -- The chief editor of a newspaper in northern Sri Lanka was attacked on Friday by an unidentified gang outside his office, police said.

The Colombo Page reported that according to reports two men followed Gnanalingam Kanganathan of the Tamil language Uthayan newspaper in the city of Jaffna and assaulted him with iron bars. The attack occurred while the news editor was traveling along the Navalar road.

Kanganathan was rushed to the Jaffna Hospital with head injuries. Police are conducting further investigations.

The newspaper, which was critical of the government during the country's civil war, has come under attack before. In 2006, an armed group attacked the office in Jaffna and killed two employees.

The bloody civil war between the government and the Tamil Tigers left as many as 100,000 people dead. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was militarily wiped out in May 2009, ending the 26-year-old civil war. Both sides have been accused of war crimes and other human rights violations.

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