Two killed in firefight

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 August 1998, 23:59 GMT]
At least two persons were killed and two injured when the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) clashed with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on the Batticaloa -Valaichenai Road at Sittandy, 15 km north of Batticaloa, , around 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, said sources.

One SLA soldier, A. L. K. Herath succumbed to his injuries at the Batticaloa Hospital.

The SLA said that the body of a young man which it handed over at the Eravur Hospital is of a member of the LTTE.

The body is yet to be identified and has been given to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to be returned to the LTTE. However residents said that the youth was not involved with the LTTE.

Two civilians, Seenithamby (82) and Leelavathi (34), who were injured in the clash have also been admitted to the Batticaloa Hospital. The wreckage of tractor is at the scene of the clash.

Unconfirmed reports said however that bodies of at least two soldiers were seen at the site of the attack said sources.

The confrontation occurred when SLA from the Kiran camp, on being informed that the LTTE was transferring the goods into two tractors from a lorry, arrived on the scene, said sources.

Elsewhere, the decomposed body of a young male was discovered washed onto the beach at Pannichchamkerni near Vakarai, 60 km north of Batticaloa around 10:00 a.m., on Sunday, said sources in Valaichenai.

The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) took the body into its custody and despatched it to the Valaichenai Hospital.

The body which is yet to be identified and must have been in the sea for at least five days, said sources.