STF patrol ambushed
[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 January 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers ambushed a Special Task Force patrol last evening near the Thuraineelavanai junction, about 26 kilometers south of Batticaloa, killing a military informant identified only as Kannan. None of the STF personnel in the patrol were injured, said sources today.
Kannan was a youth who, according to sources, had been associated with the LTTE in the area. He was captured by the STF two days ago at the nearby village of Periyaneelavanai. Kannan had offered to point out the LTTE's positions in the stronghold of Thuraineelavanai to the STF. Hence, sources say, the STF was taking him to Thuraineelavanai when it was ambushed yesterday. Meanwhile the Counter Subversive Unit (CSU), the dreaded security intelligence arm of the Sri Lankan Police, launched a sudden operation in the Batticaloa town to thoroughly check all motorcycles and their owners in the town this morning. Sources said this was done on a tip off. The Sri Lankan Police said that they had arrested two members of the Liberation Tigers around 2 a.m. this afternoon in the Batticaloa town. They said two hand grenades had been found in the possession of the arrested youth. Indpendent sources in Batticaloa, however, said that it could not be confirmed wether the arrested youth were Tigers or not.
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