Tiger ambush kills 12

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 September 1999, 04:45 GMT]
Ten Sri Lankan Army(SLA) soldiers were killed and twenty wounded in an attack by the Liberation Tigers in Thatchanaamaruthamadu in Mannar this morning around 7.30 a.m. The soldiers were from the SLA's Sinha Regiment, sources said.

The Tigers had ambushed the soldiers near Thatchanaamaruthamadu which is north east of Mannar in the forest covered interior.

The area was captured earlier this year by the SLA.

Heavy fighting erupted between the army and the Liberation Tigers about 20 kilometers west of Thatchanaamaruthamadu on Sunday in which the government forces suffered heavy casualties.

Meanwhile two policemen were killed when the Liberation Tigers fired at a jeep at Kinniya, 15 km. south west of Trincomalee, around 12.30 a.m. this morning.

The police men were travelling from Kuttikarachchi to Thoona police post in the Kinniya area.

Sources said five police personnel were travelling in the jeep.

The other three policemen escaped, leaving behind the jeep and the dead policemen, close to the Mancholaichchenai junction.

The police cordoned off the area and conducted a search operation.

Elsewhere in Trincomalee, an electric transformer was blasted around 12.30 a.m. at Maharoof Nagar residents said.

Meanwhile Sri Lanka Army fired RPG shells at LTTE's sentries at 3rd mile post in the Vavunathivu area, west of Batticaloa. A SLA soldier was wounded when the Tigers retaliated.

The SLA fired mortars from 23-3 Brigade Head Quarters towards areas held by the Liberation Tigers.