Trincomalee ambush toll rises

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 May 2001, 05:50 GMT]
Seventeen Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) sailors were killed and twenty-eight wounded in a claymore mine blast Wednesday morning around 9.45 a.m. near Thambalagamam on the Trincomalee-Habarana road. The SLN personnel were travelling in a convoy when a bus carrying them was hit by the blast, sources said.

The powerful claymore was set off by the Liberation Tigers, between the 98th and 99th mileposts on the highway, they said. The bus is badly damaged,according to them.

The wounded have been rushed to hospitals in Trincomalee and Colombo.

Meanwhile tension prevailed in Muttur town, south of Trincomalee, Wednesday afternoon following Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers opened up heavy mortar and machine gun fire towards Ralkulai area. The firing which began around 2 p.m continued for nearly 30 minutes, local residents said.

Later the SLA claimed that it had repulsed an attack by the Liberation Tigers on the police sentry near the Muttur Central College, close to Ralkuli area.