Fresh fighting near Mankulam

[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Troops of Operation Jeyasikurui made a fresh attempt to capture the strategic town of Mankulam today said sources close to the Liberation Tigers in Europe. The SLA advance was repulsed, they added.

30 Sri Lankan Army soldiers were killed in and many more wounded the fighting which went on till evening. Few bodies of the Sri Lankan Army soldiers had been recovered the sources added.

Four Liberation Tigers died in the fighting today the sources said.

The fresh fighting comes after a lull of several weeks. The SLA has been trying to capture Mankulam and environs for several months.

Mankulam is a strategic town, 37 km north of Vavuniya, on the A-9 highway from Vavuniya to Kilinochchi.

The Operation Jeyasikurui was launched in May 1997 with the objective of capturing A-9 highway to provide a land based supply rout to the Sri Lankan Government troops in Jaffna.