Nine soldiers missing after Uduvil fire-fight

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 November 1997, 23:59 GMT]
The heavy fighting erupted between the Liberation Tigers and the Sri Lankan army late last night at Uduvil near Manipay in Jaffna. Sources said that 9 soldiers are reported missing. Several have been wounded.

The missing soldiers are most probably dead or seriously wounded said the sources.

The SLA cordoned off the large area in the Waligamam sector comprising Pandaththarippu, Uduvil and Manipay around 4. 30 a.m. early morning today and launched a massive search operation.

The SLA, sources said, had put together the big search operation at short notice to trap the LTTE's attack group in its cordon.

The search operation went on until 2.30 p.m. this afternoon.

All civilians were asked to gather at four places for screening.

Twelve people have been arrested. Their parents were gathered in front of the Uduvil army camp this afternoon trying to find out from reluctant sentries about their children.