Troop Relocation in Mannar Area

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 July 1999, 16:17 GMT]
Sri Lankan Army (SLA) troops stationed at Sunny Village, Puthukduiyiruppu and Pesalai have been relocated to the Paappamoddai area and police personnel have taken over these positions, said sources.

Meanwhile troops fired artillery shells from the Thallady and Thiruketheeswaram camps towards LTTE held areas from about 8.00p.m. last night, the sources said.

The shelling went on for three hours and then resumed this morning, the sources added.

Paappamoddai is an agricultural and fishing village. The 200 families who live there rely on two open dug wells in the area for their drinking water. The wells are now providing water for the hundreds of troops stationed there as well, said sources.

However, the troops at Paappamoddai have told civilians that the water problem would be over in a day or two as they will be moving forward.