SLA lays new minefield near Jaffna village

[TamilNet, Sunday, 07 December 2003, 14:29 GMT]
The Sri Lanka army is planting landmines in the vicinity of Manalkaadu, a village on the southeastern coast of Jaffna, residents told TamilNet Sunday. Three cattle from the village were killed in newly laid minefield on Saturday and another was blown up Sunday morning, according to them.

The SLA began laying the minefield on the southern outskirts of the village since Friday near the casuarinas plantation south of Manalkaadu. The S. L army built a new camp inside the casuarinas plantation on 19 October this year.

SLA officers in the area were not available for comment.

The ‘National Steering Committee for Mine Action’ (NSCMA) of the Sri Lankan Prime Minister’s office launched the well-publicized ‘Mine Action Media Campaign’ on Thursday, 4 December 2003, with the target of achieving a mine free Sri Lanka by the end of 2006.

Sri Lanka is one of the 44 countries that have not signed the Ottawa Convention on totally banning the use of landmines in the world.

Meanwhile, sources in Jaffna’s Thenmaradchi Division said that the SLA has been cutting down Palmyra palms on private properties in Mirsuvil since Saturday. They said that the logs from the palms are being taken to strengthen SLA’s defenses along the line of control in southern Jaffna that separates the LTTE held region in the peninsula from the area held by Colombo.