SLA assault repulsed -LTTE

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 June 2000, 15:21 GMT]
An offensive assault by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in the Sarasalai area of the Jaffna peninsula was repulsed Friday with heavy casualties, the Liberation Tigers said in a statement from their London offices. Civilian settlements in Maduvil and Sarasalai had been hit by artillery and rocket fire, killing six civilians and wounding scores, the statement added.

Following is the full text of the press release:

"Sri Lankan troops suffered heavy casualties as the Tamil Tiger fighting units repulsed an offensive assault made by the army to over-run LTTE's defence front lines at Kanagan Puliyady junction at Sarasalai in Thenmarachi division of the Jaffna peninsula today.

"In the early hours of the morning today, Sri Lankan troops launched an attack on the LTTE positions at Sarasalai under the cover of heavy artillery and aerial bombardment. Fierce fighting flared up and continued for several hours. Unable to sustain the ferocious resistance of the Tamil Tigers the army withdrew to it former positions.

"Civilian settlements in Maduvil and Sarasalai sector sustained the fury of heavy artillery and multi-barrel rocket fire. Kfir combat aircrafts also bombarded the area indiscriminately. Six civilians were killed and scores of them seriously injured in artillery and aerial bombardment in Maduvil today."