European Union cease-fire monitors project that nearly 4,000 people have been killed in the past 15 months in Sri Lanka and called on the government and rebels to adhere to the cease-fire and avoid unnecessary killing. The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) said that before present government took power 15 months ago and tensions surged, only 130 people died in ethnic clashes.

About 15 months ago, hard-line leader Mahinda Rajapakse took over from moderate Ranil Wickremesinghe. Ironically, Wickremesinghe lost because the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which claims to speak for the Tamils prohibited the Tamils from voting for him.