Tamil National Alliance MP P Ariyanenthiran called for the release of Tamil labourers, held against their will in Kurdistan.

Over 100 Tamils from Batticaloa were being held as hostages, he charged in the letter dated August 11, adding that family members of the men approached him about the issue.

"[...] hundreds of employees [...] have been taken into custody as hostages by the Iraq forces of in Kurdistan Republic of Iraq where severe [clashes  are taking place]," Mr Ariyanenthiran said in the letter.

The police spokesperson Ajith Rohana confirmed on Thursday that a 14 year old girl in Mannar had been sexually assaulted by a Sri Lankan army soldier, reports BBC Tamil.

The attack took place at the beginning of this month said Rohana, adding that a complaint had been filed with the police four days after.

A medical examination by the legal medical officer confirmed the 14 year old had been sexually assaulted, he added.

Families of Tamil workers in Kurdistan continued to express concern over the welfare of the men, who the families say are being held against their will and forced to work for Kurdish forces in the fight against Islamic State militants.

The families, many of whom reside in Pallaisuddi, Jaffna, have named 28 workers who they say remain in detention, and have been forced to carry out military activities, including the building of bunkers and fortifications and the unloading of arms.

“My son and many others are still in Kurdistan. They were not sent back with the other men, as the government claims," the mother of one of the men told Tamil Guardian, speaking anonymously for fear of her son's safety.

"He was beaten and hospitalised when he initially resisted. If they were well looked after as they claim, how does the government explain his injuries?” she added, stating that the men have only been in touch sporadically, calling in secret as they feared being beaten.

Satellite images show the Sri Lankan military has been consolidating its presence in the Tamil North-East of the island, increasing the number of permanent structures that it has built on land seized from Tamil civilians since the end of the armed conflict.

Images released by the Geospatial Technologies and Human Rights Project of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) at the request of the Sri Lanka Campaign, show the Valikamam High Security Zone (HSZ), located in the Jaffna peninsula, has seen a dramatic rise in the number of structures that have been constructed inside it.

AAAS reports “there was a significant increase in structures between 2011 and 2014, with the total structure count rising by nearly 1,500 structures. The structure count includes all types of structures, including guard posts, military buildings, and individual, housing-sized structures.”