Two fishermen wounded

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 December 1998, 10:15 GMT]
(Corrected) Commandos of Sri Lanka's Special Task Force (STF) shot two fishermen in the southern part of the Batticaloa lagoon, close to the Mandoor Murukan temple in the early hours of the morning today.

The fishermen, Vellikkutti Arumporul, 33, and Vellikutty Thillainayakam,24, are brothers. They were taken to the Kalmunai base hospital with gunshot wounds this morning.

Mandoor is about 24 kilometers southwest of Batticaloa.

Relatives of the wounded fishermen said that the STF had signaled them to come ashore when the Vellaikkutti brothers were fishing in their canoe ('thony') in the early hours of the morning and that as the two had begun to paddle towards the coast, the commandos had opened fire, injuring both.

The STF maintains a camp in the village of Mandoor.