News In Brief

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers ambushed a Sri Lankan military vehicle in the North and the Sri Lankan security forces in the Jaffna town went on full alert after an attack on the Jaffna Prison.

Two Sri Lankan soldiers killed in Tiger ambush

The Liberation Tigers attacked a Sri Lankan military vehicle between Chavakachcheri and Kodikamam in Jaffna this evening.

Two soldiers were reported killed when the LTTE opened fire on the vehicle at Aiya Kadai junction.

The vehicle lost control as the driver was hit by the gunfire and smashed into a tree by the road.

SL army units from Kodikamam and Chavakachcheri rushed to the scene and cordoned off the area. The dead were flown to Palali, said sources in Chavakachcheri.

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SLA in Jaffna on full alert after an attack on the Jaffna Prison

The newly built Jaffna prison on Main street in the town came under a grenade attack last night around 7.30 p.m.

The prison was built recently near the water tank on main street after several Sri Lankan Police stations were established by the army mainly to ease the pressure on its manpower and to supervise to some degree civilian affairs in the military zones of the peninsula .

The Police have blamed the Liberation Tigers for the attack.

Five prison guards - four Sinhalese and one Muslim- were injured. Two of these who were seriously wounded have been admitted to the intensive care unit of the Jaffna hospital.

The injured prison guards are Nimal Jayaratne, U.S.C Kulatunge, S.H.A Hameed, Karunaratne and Kuruppuarachchi.

The Sri Lankan security forces in the Jaffna town went on full alert following the grenade attack. Checking was intensified this morning. The attack, right in the heart of the town, has alarmed both the police and the army and hence a cordon and search operation is likely soon said a resident of Main street today.