SLA operation in Trincomalee
[TamilNet, Wednesday, 29 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]
A Sri Lanka Army (SLA) operation codenamed "Tiger Hunt" which was launched yesterday in the eastern Trincomalee resumed today around 10 a.m. said SLA sources in Trincomalee.
The SLA claimed its troops had moved into Samboor and that the Liberation Tigers had vacated the area and moved into the nearby jungles.
The LTTE had fired on the SLA from their positions in the jungles, said SLA sources.
The SLA claimed to have captured a hut which had been used by the Tigers and that it had recovered some documents and Police uniforms from the hut.
The SLA had also moved into Ichchilampaththai in the Muthur area, said SLA sources.
Civilians from villages of Kathiraveli and Paalchenai, north of Vakarai had fled their homes because of the SLA operation.
Meanwhile, two Muslim fishermen were killed yesterday (Monday) when the Sri Lanka Navy gunboats opened fire on them while they were fishing in the Kinniya lagoon.
The dead body of one of them, identified as Mohamed Sakiriya, 30, was found today by other fishermen who were setting out for fishing.
The body of the other fisherman, Abduhl Samathu Sansan, 20, had not been found yet.
The Sri Lankan Police, shot and killed a Sinhala villager from Thanthirimalai, 18 k.m. west of Cheddikkulam, on Sunday night.
Sirenage Dharmadasam, 18, and two others had gone for hunting in the jungles when the Police opened fire, apparently mistaking them for Tiger fighters.