SLA blocks Jaffna - Pt.Pedro Road to transport supplies, casualties

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 January 2008, 20:30 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army in Jaffna blocked Jaffna - Point Pedro Road for more than 3 hours Monday morning to transport dead and wounded soldiers in two vehicles from Naakarkoayil frontline where an artillery duel and direct clash was reported in the early hours of Monday. Meanwhile, truck loads of military hardware were transported from Palaali military base to SLA positions in Naakarkoayil through this supply route. The stepped-up clashes and the renewed preparations come following a top-level meeting by Sri Lankan military officials at Va'rani 52-4 Brigade HQ on Sunday, sources in Jaffna said. In the meantime, LTTE Northern Forces Command put the SLA casualty figure at 3 dead, 13 wounded.

The Tigers further said their Col. Kiddu Artillery Brigade and Lt. Col. Kuddi Sree Mortar Brigade mounted a moderate level of artillery barrage on SLA positions to counter the SLA attack.

The SLA ground forces that attempted to advance were unable to cross the no-man zone between the LTTE and SLA forward defence line in Naakarkoayil, the Tigers said.

There were no LTTE casualties in the confrontations at Naakarkoyail on Monday.

However, the SLA claimed fifteen Tigers were killed and more than 30 wounded in the clash at Naakarkoayil.