COLOMBO: Sri Lankan security forces have launched a major mopping up operation in the eastern province and Mannar and Vavuniya districts of north killing 31 Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) militants while losing three of theirs including an officer during the past 24 hours.

Military officials also reported discovery of a mass grave containing highly decomposed bodies of 14 policemen in the Alice Garden Area of Uppuveli in eastern Trincomalee district Thursday. The dead policemen were identified with the help of identity cards found on the bodies.

They were among the 46 policemen taken captive by the LITE from the area on June 13, a communiqué issued by the defense ministry said. Over 600 policemen taken captive by the militants are still untraced.

‘There have been reports of only sporadic militant attack on the 17th century besieged Jaffna fort during the past 24 hours after Thursday’s bombing of a number of LTTE positions around the fort by the Sri Lankan air force.

Thirteen LTTE militants were killed in a major clash between the government forces and the LTTE at Thandykulam, north of Vayuniya. Two soldiers of the Sri Lankan army and a major were killed in the encounter,

A major offensive launched by government Monday against LTTE targets around the besieged Jaffna fort in northern Sri Lanka has failed to ease the militant pressure on troops marooned inside, official sources here said.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in London complained of large scale civilian casualty in the aerial bombing of Jaffna Monday but military officials here said they were not aware of any civilian killings in Jaffna.

A military spokesman admitted that Monday’s joint campaign by the army and air force to relieve the fort was met with only limited success and that only few packets of food articles and medicine could be air dropped.

Civilians living around the camp were warned in advance about the impending military action through leaflets dropped from the air and asked them to evacuate from the areas.

Seven army personnel including an officer were injured in the battle around Jaffna Fort Monday, he said,

Nineteen persons, 13 of them LTTE militants and five soldiers, were killed in the Tamil majority northeast during the past 24 hours, official reports reaching here said,

A bullet riddled body tied on a lamppost was found Monday in Ottamanadi area of eastern Batticaloa district with a poster left behind by the LTTE saying “punishment to informers.”

Five Sri Lankan soldiers were killed in a militant ambush at Madhukande in northern Vavuniya district Tuesday. Four militants were killed in eastern Trincomalee clash with government forces while nine others were killed in Kallady area of eastern Batticaloa in major confrontations.

Whatever you are trying to avoid won’t go away until you confront it.

Article extracted from this publication >> July 6, 1990