Uyilankulam check point in Mannar temporarily reopened

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 06 September 2006, 08:54 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Tuesday morning around 11.15 a.m. temporarily re-opened its entry check point located at Uyilankulam for the first time and allowed civilians to travel to and from government controlled and LTTE held villages in the Mannar district. Those civilians stranded more than 20 days on both sides were allowed to go to their destinations, civil sources said.

Mannar district secretariat officials with the facilitation of the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) contacted the army authorities and LTTE officials and made arrangements to reopen the Uyilankulam checkpoint temporarily.

Meanwhile, district secretariat officials are taking steps to open the Uyilankulam check point for three days in a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Since August 11 following the fresh clashes between the Sri Lanka Army and LTTE, the SLA closed its checkpoints located at Madhu junction and Uyilankulam and did not allow civilian and vehicular movements to and from government and LTTE controlled territories. Following this ban, transport of food and essential items including fuel and drugs for hospitals in LTTE held villages came to a halt and public servants who have been working in government offices in LTTE areas did not report for duty. Postal services in LTTE areas were also disrupted.