Mankulam fighting continues

[TamilNet, Sunday, 21 June 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Heavy fighting broke out between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan Army yesterday in the general area of Mankulam, when the troops engaged in Operation Jayasikurui made a fresh attempt to advance from their positions around 10.45 a.m. said LTTE sources in Europe.

One battle tank was destroyed in the fighting yesterday which went on till late in the night, they added.

The SLA advance is said to have involved battle tanks, artillery fire and air-cover, they said.

They said that the fighting was heavy and the Tigers inflicted heavy casualties on SLA troops. But did not give the exact figures for the SLA and LTTE casualties.

However, ex militant sources in Europe said that based on the information received yesterday over 100 SLA soldiers had been wounded in the fighting yesterday.

The Sri Lankan government has imposed strict censorship on the reporting of military action. This, combined with the ban on correspondents entering the war zone has made it impossible to independently verify events taking place there.