Homeguards defy orders amid fear of LTTE attacks

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 March 1998, 23:59 GMT]
175 homeguards and 7 reserve policemen were interdicted today by the Sri Lankan defence authorities when they refused to take up duties in Aranthalawa, on the boarder between Amparai and Batticaloa districts.

The policemen and the homeguards were ordered to take up duties in the boarder region which has regularly come under attack by the Liberation Tigers, operating in the western hinterland of Batticaloa.

The homeguards and the policemen refused to take up duties amidst reports that the Liberation Tigers are preparing for a major operation in the Batticaloa district.

Meanwhile police sources in Amparai said that the Special Task Force (STF) operation in the Kanjikudichcha Aaru jungles continues.

They said that the STF had found an abandoned camp of the Liberation Tigers during the operation.