COLOMBO: Sri Lankan military authorities have imposed indefinite curfew in the entire Jaffna Peninsula early Thursday and launched an offensive “in certain areas” against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) militants.
Six militants and a soldier were killed in separate clashes during the past 24 hours military officials said.
The defence secretary general Cyril Ranatunge said all the three services Army Navy Air force were involved in the operation but declined to give details.
But he said the latest operation might not affect the ongoing special school leaving examinations in the Tamil majority northeast.
Addressing the weekly post cabinet news conference the general said all security force establishments and private security organisations in the capital have been alerted about a possible strike by the LTTE. He said troops under an operation codenamed “thunderbolt” would be mobilised at a very short notice to conduct random searches to prevent a possible strike by the militants in the capital.
He said these steps were taken in view of the latest massacre of civilians in two villages of southern Moneragala district that followed a number of successes by the forces against the militants.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 3, 1991
