LTTE attack injures five policemen

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 November 1998, 22:02 GMT]
Five Sri Lankan Policemen, including an Assistant Superintendent of Police, were wounded when the Liberation Tigers fired a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) at the jeep they were travelling in, said Police sources. The attack took place at Omanthai, along the A-9 highway, about 13 km. north of Vavuniya around 6.30 p.m.

The ASP, Sriwardene was critically wounded and has been rushed to the Anuradhapura hospital. The other policemen wounded in the attack are: Tilekaratne, Sugathapala, Devapriya and Bandula, the sources said.

The Sri Lankan Army launched Operation Jeyasikurui in May last year, to open the main supply route (MSR) to Jaffna by capturing A-9 highway, which links Vavuniya with Jaffna through Kilinochchi.

Troops engaged in Operation Jayasikurui have captured about 45 km of the road, which is heavily guarded with a long bund along the western side of the road and manned by Police, Navy and Air force.

A distance 20 km north of Vavuniya, along the main supply route, is manned by the Sri Lankan Police to hold the ground captured from the Liberation Tigers.

The rest of the area north of Puliyankulam is guarded by the Sri Lankan Navy and the Air Force.

Meanwhile the Voice of Tigers said that Liberation Tigers have recovered bodies of four SLA soldiers, killed in the ambush this morning at Muthur in the Trincomalee district.

It said the Tigers are making arrangements to hand over the recovered bodies to the SLA officials through the ICRC in the area.

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