Tigers counter attack SLA ambush

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 September 2001, 13:20 GMT]
A Sri Lanka army soldier was killed and another was seriously wounded when a group of Liberation Tigers counter attacked a SLA ambush party at Adampan junction, eight kilometres south east of Mannar, Wednesday morning. A firefight erupted as the LTTE group walked into an ambush by three teams from the nearby SLA camp in Maanthai around 9 a.m. sources said. The Tigers had then taken up position to counter attack the SLA ambush teams, killing one and seriously injuring another.

The Liberation Tigers often cross the Adampan junction, although the SLA claims that the area is under its control. The military says that the Tigers and their supporters smuggle goods that are banned under Colombo’s harsh economic embargo on the Vanni through points on the Main Supply Route to Mannar (the western sector of the A14 highway) such as the Adampan junction.

The SLA and the Special Task Force deployed along the MSR to Mannar seek to control the smuggling and interdict logistical runs by the Tigers by setting up ambushes in suspected crossing points on the A14.