SLA restricts night traffic through entry points in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 April 2004, 02:38 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army on Thursday introduced new rules to restrict traffic at night between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. through the eight entry points in the Batticaloa district through which the public can pass between the Liberation Tigers-controlled areas and the SLA-controlled areas in the district, Tamil media sources in the East said Thursday.

At night, the public will be allowed to pass through the points only under exceptional circumstances on humanitarian grounds, and the army will start more thorough checking of vehicles passing through the entry points.

The entry points include those at Paddiruppu, Mandur, Vavunatheevu, Black Bridge, Kiran, and Valaichenai. The LTTE has charged that the SLA had a role, directly or indirectly, in the recent murders of seven of the LTTE’s cadres near Vavunatheevu. The SLA’s action to restrict traffic starting on Thursday was in response to the LTTE’s charge, the sources said, quoting military authorities.