Sun TV retransmission station attacked

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 September 2005, 06:17 GMT]
Unidentified attackers lobbed a handgrenade and opened fire at the Sun Television retransmission station in Vairavarpuliyankulam, located one kilometer west of Vavuniya town at 9:15 p.m. Monday, Vavuniya police said. No one was injured in the attack, according to an official of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation, the organisation that operates the retransmission station in Vavuniya. The station, located 50 meters away from a paramilitary camp belonging to Eelam People Democratic Party (EPDP) was also attacked in June 2005.

The TELO official said that the attackers have used AK-47 assault rifles to fire at the office.

The attackers were riding a Dolphin type van, according to an employee at the station.

The employees standing outside the station before the attack had observed a man riding a bicycle to inform someone via cellphone that there were persons standing outside the building. The attack occured within a few minutes later, the employee who did not wish to be named, told TamilNet.

Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission officials and the Sri Lankan police in Vavuniya who arrived at the spot around 10:15 p.m. examined the retransmission station, sources said.

All the land routes leading to the station have check posts and sentry points manned by Sri Lankan soldiers and the police.