Five soldiers killed in Mutur attacks

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 November 2001, 12:04 GMT]
At least five Sri Lanka army soldiers were killed Saturday afternoon in two attacks by the Liberation Tigers in Mutur, security sources said. Four soldiers were killed in a claymore blast and one was killed in an ambush in the general area of Mallikaithivu, on the coastal road from Mutur to Batticaloa

Around 1.45 p.m. a group of Liberation Tigers ambushed a SLA foot patrol, killing one soldier near Mallikathivu village, four kilometres south of Mutur town.

A woman was wounded in the SLA retaliatory fire following the attack. She was dispatched to Trincomalee base hospital from Mutur, medical sources said.

In the second attack four SLA soldiers were killed when a claymore mine hit an army vehicle, around 2 p.m. at Munnampoddiveddai, about two km. south of Mallikaithivu, sources said. Two civilians were killed in the ensuing fire-fight, local residents told TamilNet sources.

Troops stationed at Monkey Bridge SLA camp opened up heavy shelling towards areas controlled by Liberation Tigers, from 3 p.m., the residents said.

The villages of Mallikaithivu and Munnampoddiveddai are situated in the region controlled by government troops, on the Muttur-Batticaloa road.