2ND LEAD

Tiger artillery fire kills SLA soldier in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 September 2008, 16:35 GMT]
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launched artillery shells Friday around 10:00 a.m.,across Jaffna lagoon, targeted Sri Lanka Army (SLA) coastal posts in Kurunakar, Paasaiyoor and Ariyaalai East, killing an SLA soldier and seriously injuring two, sources in Jaffna said. Heavy artillery exchange followed between the SLA and LTTE which lasted nearly for an hour. Meanwhile, a Kurunakar fisherman was injured when one of the shells fell and exploded in Jaffna lagoon.

The seriously injured SLA soldiers were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of Jaffna Teaching Hospital Friday afternoon and their condition is critical, hospital sources said.

The wounded fisherman Vincerkone Mohan alias Santhiyapillai Alphonsus or Chandramohan, 35, a father of three children, is admitted to Jaffna Teaching Hospital.

SLA artillery bases in Koappaay and areas close to it kept firing artillery shells intermittently towards LTTE controlled Poonakari across Jaffna lagoon until Friday evening.