Claymore ambush in Weli Oya kills 2 STF commandos

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 May 2008, 08:54 GMT]
Sri Lankan military officials said two Special Task Force (STF) commandos deployed in the Sinhala settlement of Dutuwewa in Ma'nalaa'ru (Weli Oya) region were killed in a Claymore attack Thursday around 6:45 a.m. This is the first time the STF has admitted to have lost its men in an ambush attack in the Vanni front after STF units were deployed in the sector bordering Trincomalee and Vavuniyaa districts in the North Central Province for providing security to the Sinhalese settlements.

Meanwhile the STF sources claimed that they had gunned down two guerrillas who set off the Claymore mine.

Although the Sri Lankan authorities earlier said they were relocating the STF from Ampaa'rai to North Central Province, there is still a seizable number of STF commandos stationed in Ampaa'rai district.