SLA, SLN conduct war exercise in northern seas

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 November 2007, 12:17 GMT]
Thousand of troops of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) together with a number of Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) shallow water vessels conducted a three hour war rehearsal Monday morning beginning at 6:00a.m. in Araali, Valigaamam, sources in Jaffna said.

During the war exercise, fishermen from the area were banned from going out to the sea, and civilians residing near the area were forced to leave their residences.

Deafening noise from the artillery barrage reverberated across the peninsula, according to Jaffna residents.

SLN conducted similar rehearsals recently in Valveddithu'rai, Tho'ndamaanaaru and Kaangkeasanthu'rai(KKS).

These exercises are being held to showcase maritime strength along northern coasts to thwart attempts by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eeelam (LTTE) to land along the coastal areas, and to strengthen the High Security Zone (HSZ) along the coast, local observers commented.