JAFFNA, Nov 23: The Sri Lankan government put its military on high alert this week in Jaffna as unrest is expected as the LTTE prepares to celebrate its “heroes week” to coincide with the birthday of Velupillai Prabhakaran on the 26th of November.

The “heroes week” celebrations have already begun in the form of public speeches with full participation of the Jaffna student bodies under the guidance of the LTTE hierarchy and had its first run-in with the Sri Lankan military.

The military and the police, under the direction of the ministry of defence began removing all LTTE decorations and banners put up in Jaffna by the LTTE which resulted in clashes in two areas in Jaffna in which three police personnel were injured and admitted in hospital.

AFP adds: At least one soldier was wounded in a shooting in northern Sri Lanka as Tiger rebels honoured more than 17,000 of their war dead, putting new pressures on an already uneasy truce, officials said on Sunday.

The soldier was wounded during an overnight clash in the Jaffna peninsula with students who were putting up a decorative arch on a main road to mark the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) “heroes’ week”.

Defence officials said students were arguing with soldiers who said the decorations were in violation of a truce agreement.

During the row a gun went off, wounding a government soldier.

Defence officials downplayed the incident, saying they believed a trooper’s gun went off accidentally, injuring his colleague.

The LTTE is commemorating its guerrillas killed in battle, including 241 suicide bombers, since the first rebel fatality 21 years ago.

“Heroes’ week” will culminate on Thursday with an annual speech by Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran.

The first Tiger killed by Sri Lankan troops died on November 27, 1982, a few days after being shot.

With his death began a bloodier phase in the conflict by minority Tamils for an independent homeland. More than 60,000 people have died in ethnic bloodshed in Sri Lanka since the Tigers were formed in 1972.

Tamil sources and local officials reported tension in Jaffna on Friday after security forces took down the Tigers’ red and yellow decorations in an area under government control.

Similar incidents in the past have degenerated into violent protests, but officials said the situation was under control.

Scandinavian peace brokers monitoring a truce between the troops and Tigers in place since February 2002 said they had stepped up meetings with both sides in a bid to ensure that there was no escalation of tensions.

“We have good cooperation from the security forces and the LTTE,” Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission spokeswoman Agnes Bragadottir said.—AFP