COLOMBO, Oct. 2, Reuter: Men in Sri Lankan military van shot dead an Indian soldier and wounded another in the troubled eastern town of Trincomalee on Friday, an Indian diplomat said.
A spokeswoman from the Indian High Commissioner (Embassy) also said Indian soldiers in the eastern port caught five civilians on Thursday who confessed they were sniping at the Indians with guns given by local police.
It was the first time Sri Lankan military or police have been linked with the violence that has killed at least 10 people in Trincomalee over the past two days.
“We still hear some shooting occasionally”, one resident said by telephone on Friday. Police blame Tamil Tiger militants for an outburst of violence in which 300 houses and’ shops of both majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils have been set ablaze since Wednesday.
The soldier was the third Indian killed since New Delhi sent 8,000 troops and 1.000 paramilitary police to enforce a July 29 peace pact that ended a Tamil separatist revolt in the Island. Two died in August in a mine clearing accident.
The spokesman said Indian troops stationed behind Trincomalee town hall were fired at from a white van. One soldier was killed and one wounded.
“This white van was chased and found in the compound of the (Sri Lankan military) coordinating officer.
“Colonel Seneviratne (the coordinating officer) was contacted and he denied involvement. He said the van belonged to the military establishment and was going around to distribute breakfasts”.
He also said a man came out of the Sri Lankan military camp at Fort Fredrick in Trincomalee and fired at an Indian patrol, who chased him back into the fort. “The soldiers gave chase, got hold of the van which turned out be a Sri Lankan police van. Five people in it said they were home guards and were using 5.56 automatic rifles issued by the police there”.
The militant Tigers complain that not all guns have been withdrawn from home guards civilians armed by police at the height of fighting between Tamils and the government as set out in the accord.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 9, 1987
