Nagar Kovil SLA counters barrage

[TamilNet, Friday, 31 March 2000, 08:02 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers opened up a barrage with artillery and mortars on the Sri Lanka army camp at Nagar Kovil on Jaffna's east coast last night. The bombardment began around 8 p.m. and went on until 3 a.m. this morning.

The SLA retaliated with counter fire until 1 a.m. this morning when Sri Lanka Air Force took on the LTTE positions ahead of the forward defence line of the Nagar Kovil camp. Sources said about ten soldiers were wounded in the Tiger barrage. SLA sources in Pt.Pedro, however, said that they were not aware of the casualties.

The army vacated another mini-camp at the junction where the road from Kudathanai meets the Kodikamam - Pt.Pedro road through Varani. The camp at Karukkai, about two kilometers from this junction, was vacated by the SLA yesterday.

Meanwhile, civilians continued to move out of Nagar Kovil, fearing further escalation of the fighting. Other who fled the war zones said that the seriously wounded civilians in the Thalaiyadi and Maruthankerni sectors were taken by the LTTE's medical corps vehicles to the Wanni for treatment.