3RD LEAD (Adds details)

Gunmen fire on SLA troopers in Jaffna, 2 soldiers wounded

[TamilNet, Saturday, 06 May 2006, 07:56 GMT]
An unidentified attacker, armed with a handgun, fired on Sri Lanka Army soldier who was guarding policemen providing security to Uthayan newspaper office located on Kasthuriar Road in Jaffna. The incident took place around 12:15 p.m. Saturday. Meanwhile, another gunman in Vadamaradchi, shot and wounded an SLA soldier around 1:00 p.m.

The soldier, seriously wounded in Jaffna town, was rushed to Jaffna Hospital and later transferred to Palaly military hospital.

More than six gunshots were fired on SLA troopers at Malu Santhi in Navindil, Uduppiddy in Vadamaradchi.

Editor of Uthayan, Mr Vidyadaran, told TamilNet that he left the Uthayan office at 8.30 a.m. to Colombo to attend to his ailing mother, and at that time situation was normal in Uthayan office. He added his staff was slowly recovering after Tuesday killings in the office, and today's shooting has again created fear and concern among his staffers. He added that he is trying to manage the affairs from Colombo with some difficulty.