The Liberation Tigers in Batticaloa said that a key associate of renegade commander 'Karuna' was killed in an ambush by one of their special jungle warfare units in Batticaloa Wednesday afternoon around 2.45 p.m. "We ambushed a small group of the paramilitary Karuna Group carrying small arms upon information provided by civilians. We recovered the body of a key person of the Karuna Group. A search is on to apprehend the others", an LTTE military officer said.
The Karuna Group cadres were ambushed south of the road from Batticaloa to Polannaruwa and Colombo near Punanai, LTTE sources said. Two Karuna cadres were seriously injured in the ambush, the LTTE officer said.
Tigers charge that Karuna cadres are operating from Sri Lanka army camps close to the Batticaloa-Polannaruwa border.