News In Brief

[TamilNet, Sunday, 05 October 1997, 23:59 GMT]
A PLOTE militant suspected of several murders is organising a satyagraha campaign to aid his election campaign and the LTTE have destroyed two SLA trucks at Omanthai.

'Peace protest' by PLOTE mercenary

The PLOTE launched a satyagraha campaign, under Manikkam Dasan last Thursday in Vavuniya as a show of protest about the plight of the arrested and disappeared in Jaffna.

Manikkam Dasan is the ex Tamil militant trusted most by the Sri Lankan army which has hence turned a blind eye to his activities.

He has been accused by human rights workers of many abductions and murders in Vavuniya, including senior leaders of his own organization.

Dasan hails from Jaffna town and is currently working in the peninsula with a view to becoming an MP there. The Sri Lankan military intelligence considers him an asset for their pacification program in the peninsula.

There will be a satyagraha sit in by the PLOTE tomorrow (Oct.6)in Batticaloa and another in Mannar on Oct.7. A sit in was organized on Oct.3 in Trincomalee town.

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Two SLA trucks destroyed

Sri Lankan army officials said today that the Liberation Tigers blew up two trucks carrying drinking water for troops in the Omanthai sector.

Omanthai was captured in June, following heavy fighting as part of the first phase of the Sri Lankan army's operation 'Jaya Sikuru' ('True Victory' in Sinhalese) to capture the main supply route to its Jaffna garrison.

The operation stalled shortly afterwards in the face of fierce resistance (primarily at Puliyankulam) and major counter attacks by the Liberation Tigers.

The Sri Lankan army has committed over 20,000 troops to the offensive. Omanthai is a major staging area for the SLA and the Tigers carried out a major counterattack there a few weeks ago