9 SLA bodies exchanged through ICRC

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
An International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) official confirmed that around 4.00 p.m. today the bodies of 9 soldiers, killed in the latest fighting near Ampakamam, were handed over to Sri Lankan army officials in Vavuniya by representatives of the ICRC. The ICRC received the bodies from the Liberation Tigers at Mallavi, earlier today, the official added.

The Tigers said that they recovered bodies of 20 SLA soldiers in the fighting near Ampakamam and cremated 11 as they were disfigured.

Meanwhile the Liberation Tigers said in a press release, issued from their international secretariat, that they had successfully beaten back the SLA column that was advancing from Ampakamam, killing over 50 and wounding many more.

"Soldiers moving from Ampakamam were brought to a sudden halt by a powerful LTTE counter-attack," the statement said.

The latest fighting erupted when the troops of Operation Jeyasikurui launched a fresh assault to capture the strategic Mankulam Junction on the A9 highway to Jaffna.

The Sri Lankan Army sources said they lost 8 soldiers in the fighting yesterday.