Casualties in Vanni clashes

[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 January 1999, 17:24 GMT]
The Operational Head Quarters of the Ministry of Defence said today that five suspected members of the Liberation Tigers were killed in an engagement north west of Mankulam yesterday (January 20).

Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops on small group operation had observed a group of LTTE members and engaged them with mortars and small arms, it said.

The LTTE had retaliated and withdrawn from the area with their casualties and the number of Tiger casualties in the confrontation had been confirmed by LTTE transmissions that had been monitored by the SLA, the Operational Head Quarters added.

Meanwhile, the VoT in its night transmission said that two LTTE members were killed in a confrontation with the SLA in Mankulam area yesterday.

Anbarasan (Somasunderam Kuganesan of Jaffna) and Nedumaran (Thangavadivel Manivannan of Mulliyawalai were the dead members in the confrontation, the VoT said.

Sources in the Vanni said that the SLA based at Oddusuddan had fired artillery shells towards Muththyankaddu injuring Navaratnam Nagalingam (16), killing cattle and destroying paddy in the fields in the area.

The attack had taken place around 11.30 am today, they said.