Sri Lanka army behind attack on border post- LTTE [TamilNet, September 08, 2004 04:50 GMT]

An attack by a group of heavily armed men suspected to be Sri Lanka army commandos on the Liberation Tigers' border post in Pullumalai, 65 kilometres from Batticaloa, Tuesday night around 10.15 p.m. was repulsed, a senior LTTE official in Batticaloa said. "Two men in the group were killed in our counter fire according to mine clearing workers in the area who were forced by the attackers to carry their wounded across the border last night", he said after visiting the scene of attack Wedenesday morning.

"Two attackers were wounded in our counter attack.There were 34 well armed men in the group. The SLA commandos were assisted by some armed paramilitary cadres. Local mine clearing workers from MAG who were forced by the attackers to carry their wounded told us that an injured paramilitary cadre identified as 'Nagulan' died while being carried back to the Sri Lanka armed forces camp in Tempitiya", the LTTE official said.

MAG is a British mine clearing organisation.

The attackers had severely assaulted the MAG mine clearing workers to make them carry the wounded,according to a local village official who was in Pullumalai Wednesday morning.

"MAG workers told us that the attackers allowed them to leave when they got close to the Sri Lankan armed forces camp in Tempitiya", the LTTE official said. He dismissed reports reaching Colombo as "silly fabrications planted by Sri Lankan intelligence".

Meanwhile Mr. E. Kousalyan, head of the LTTE's political division for Batticaloa-Amparai, speaking to TamilNet from Kilinochchi Wednesday said: "This is a very serious development. We are studying the matter".