Tuesday, September 14, 2004

SLA soldier killed near Chenkalady [TamilNet, September 14, 1998 07:42 GMT]

Five soldiers were wounded and one was killed when an SLA convoy from Batticaloa town to Polannaruwa was hit by a claymore mine blast this morning around 10.40 a.m. near Chenkalady, 16 kilometers north of the eastern town.

Unconfirmed reports said that more soldiers could have been killed.

The wounded soldiers were rushed to the Batticaloa hospital while the dead soldier has been taken to Polannaruwa said sources.

Ex-Tamil militants operating with the SLA said that it is now difficult to determine the number of SLA personnel who are killed in such attacks because their bodies are immediately removed to Polannaruwa, 95 kilometers northwest of Batticaloa.

The claymore hit an army bus while it was less than 400 meters from the Kommathurai SLA base by the Chenkalady junction they said.

The attack took place in a high security zone defended and patrolled by the SLA, military trained Police and heavily armed cadres of the PLOTE, TELO and the Razeek group.

An armed cadre of a TELO night patrol was killed last Friday near this spot.