SLA bars civilian travel through Uyilankulam checkpoint

[TamilNet, Thursday, 14 September 2006, 16:08 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Thursday refused passage for stranded Tamil civilians in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Mannar territories and in areas controlled by the Sri Lanka government to cross over through Uyilankulam SLA check point, civil sources said.

Hundreds of stranded civilians in Mannar GoSL controlled areas Thursday morning gathered at the entry point Uyilankulam to travel to LTTE controlled territory following an announcement by the SLA that those registered with the Mannar district secretariat would be allowed to proceed.

Similarly, stranded civilians in LTTE held areas also gathered at the Uyilankulam checkpoint on other side to travel to GoSL controlled areas.

But the SLA said only stranded civilians in government controlled areas would be allowed to enter LTTE held villages and civilians stranded in LTTE area would not be allowed to enter government held areas.

SLA's refusal to civilians to travel from LTTE held areas created uproar at the Uyilankulam checkpoint as SLA soldiers used force to push back civilians who had arrived from LTTE areas from the checkpoint.

Finally stranded civilians on the both sides were not allowed to travel through Uyilankulam check point by the SLA.