Artillery barrage follows skirmish

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 May 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and police camps around Valaichenai, 30 km north of Batticaloa, went on a shelling spree last night following an attack on the SLA-Police checkpoint at Ottamaavadi bridge, 36 km northwest of Batticaloa, by the Liberation Tigers around 2:50 a.m. today, said sources in Valaichenai.

The LTTE came by boat from across the lagoon to attack the checkpoint said the sources.

The SLA sources said that the LTTE withdrew after the soldiers gave fierce resistance. They also said that one soldier was wounded.

Following this incident however, mortars in the SLA camps around Valaichenai opened up and continued an artillery barrage for about an hour, said sources.

The SLA camps at Valaichenai Paper Mill and Navalady Junction, and Valaichenai police station also fired.

The firing was directed at Naasivanthivu, across the Valaichenai lagoon from where the SLA suspected the LTTE's boat came.

Except for slight damage for houses in the area, there was no other destruction or casualties, said sources.