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“Heavy beating” for Tigers: Colombo

COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan military on Tuesday claimed that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam had “received heavy beating” during clashes along the Wanni and the Jaffna Forward Defence Lines (FDLs). Three soldiers had been killed, it said.

According to a Defence Ministry statement here, in the Wanni theatre, clashes continued on the Vavuniya, Mannar, and Welioya battlefronts throughout the day. On the Vavuniya front, several confrontations took place in the general area of Kallikulam when troops advanced further towards LTTE territory. “Seven LTTE terrorists were killed in two separate confrontations.”

On the Welioya front, troops advancing towards LTTE strongholds in Mulaithiuvu district had several confrontations with the Tigers and at least two LTTE cadres were reported killed. Four other Tigers cadres were killed or wounded when the troops launched artillery and mortar fire at LTTE strong points in the same area.

Two soldiers were killed and four others were injured in two separate confrontations in Mahamalai area in Jaffna. Sixty-five anti-personnel mines were unearthed in the same area.

In a statement on its website, the LTTE alleged that the Sri Lankan Army was “vandalising the Jaffna-Ellankulam War Heroes cemetery and is taking away the building material in tractor trailer for their use.”

The Tigers further alleged that Sri Lanka Navy had banned fishing along the coast from Thondamanaru to Katkovalam for the last four days and claimed that those who went fishing despite the ban due to poverty were fired at by Navy personnel.

According to the United States Embassy here, the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security, Office of Antiterrorism Assistance donated equipment worth $220,000 to the Sri Lanka National Police.

“The purpose of the equipment is to sustain and enhance the critical capabilities of the security forces of Sri Lanka in their efforts to fight terrorism. The donation consists of three Explosives Incident Countermeasures kits, two Post-Blast Investigation kits and two Hostage Negotiations kits, which will be divided between the SLNP and the Special Task Force,” it said.

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