STF trooper killed, 5 injured in Thoppigala explosion

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 September 2007, 21:05 GMT]
One Special Task Force (STF) soldier was killed and five others injured when a bomb hidden inside a van exploded while the soldiers were checking the van in Narakamulla area in Thoppigala at 11:05 a.m. Saturday, sources in Batticaloa said. The injured have been air-lifted by helicopters to Ampaa'rai district hospital. The body of the STF trooper also has been transported to the same hospital for postmortem examinations.

Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troopers have increased security operations including search of vehicles in Batticaloa Northwestern areas after the recent military offensives.

The incident occurred in the continued security operations in former Liberation Tigers controlled areas, SLA sources said.

SLA sources said that large amounts of ammunitions and explosives have been recovered from these areas during the search operations. The searches will likely to continue for an unspecified period, SLA sources added.