COLOMBO: For the first time in five years Sri Lankan troops walked on the streets of Jaffna, clearing the LTTE stronghold of booby traps and mines after day of heavy fighting in which at least 117 militants and soldiers were killed.
The troops sealed off the city and declared the entire Valigamam region from rest of the peninsula as “no ozone.”
The army took full control over the Valigamam region of the peninsula by 5 p.m., the chief military spokesman Brig. Sarath Munasinghe said, adding that the rebels in the town were now left with no options but “to surrender or to jump in the sea or to bite their cyanide capsules,” Apprehending a backlash following the full control of the peninsula from the rebels, president Chandrika Kumaratunga appealed to the people to celebrate the victory with “peace and calm” and “not to intimidate the Tamils.”
Article extracted from this publication >> December 1, 1995
