Three SLA soldiers, policeman killed

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 July 1999, 19:06 GMT]
Two Sri Lanka army soldiers were killed and two were wounded when the Liberation Tigers attacked their bunker near the village of Jayanthiyaaya at around 6.30 a.m. this morning, said sources.

Jayanthiyaaya is a Muslim settlement, 22 kilometres west of Valaichenai in the Batticaloa district.

The hamlet was originally situated in the interior. It was relocated by the highway from Valaichenai to Polannaruwa after 1990.

Meanwhile, three civilians, including a four year old child were wounded when the Sri Lankan Police indiscriminately opened fire in Eravur, 16 kilometres north of Batticaloa at around 8.30 p.m. this evening.

The firing followed an attack by the Liberation Tigers on a Police sentry in the town in which one military trained Policeman was killed.

Elsewhere in east the Liberation Tigers snipped and killed a Sri Lanka Army soldier on a route clearing patrol at Kalmadu, about 30 km. north of Batticaloa this morning.

Sources said a fire-fight lasted for nearly 15 minutes following the incident.

The SLA soldiers cordoned of the villages of Kalmadu and Vembu following the attack. Several civilians were assaulted by the soldiers, the sources added.