Tigers gun down 2 DPU intruders in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 30 October 2007, 20:04 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Tuesday said a roaming patrol of their border security combatants on Monday evening gunned down two Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) intruders inside LTTE controlled Valaignan Kaddu area in Mannaar district. Arrangements were underway to hand over the dead bodies of the SLA soldiers through the ICRC, informed sources in Vanni said. The Tigers have lost a combatant in the counter-ambush.

A Claymore mine, two T-56-type-2 assault rifles, one remote control for the Claymore mine, one smoke bomb, two holsters and two military kit bags were recovered by the LTTE.

The SLA operated ambush units known as Deep Penetration Units (DPUs) are officially named Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) units, a borrowed terminology from the LRRP/Ranger detachments deployed for covert operations by the U.S. military during the Vietnam war.

The Sri Lankan LRRP units are increasingly deployed to attack civilian vehicles in addition to military targets in the LTTE territory.