A group of ethnic Tamil lawmakers submitted to Parliament a list of 15 serious incidents that they say occurred in the northern Jaffna peninsula in the past two months. They asked the government to explain how such crimes could take place considering the area’s security situation. The area is the cultural heartland of ethnic Tamils and was a stronghold of Tamil Tigers before their 26-year campaign for an independent state was put down by the military in 2009. About 50,000 government troops have been stationed on the peninsula since. The list submitted to Parliament included five killings, four suspected killings, three abductions and three incidents of rape. “These things are happening under a heavy security blanket. How could they happen without the government knowing?” said Suresh Premachandran, one of the lawmakers.