Main street not secure enough for prison

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Sri Lankan army in Jaffna told prison officials that the Main street areain Jaffna town was not secure enough to maintain the newly built prison.

On Sunday the jail came under grenade attack by suspected Liberation Tiger operatives. The Jaffna prison officials are in the process of transferring prisoners from the new Main street jail to some reconstructed buildings on the land where the Jaffna fort formerly stood.

The army's advice is based on recent military intelligence reports that there is significant LTTE infiltration into the suburbs of the Jaffna town.

The army's concern was highlighted when another firefight broke out between the SLA and the Liberation Tigers yesterday around 10 a.m. in the Alavetty area in Jaffna. No details of the incidents were available.

The SLA rounded up and searched the area south of the Kumbilawalai Pillaiyar temple where some displaced residents of Alavetty have resettled following the incident.