Five killed in Lankan shadow war

The Lankan Army allegedly killed five persons, including three medical personnel, reports PK Balachandran.

Even as a Tamil Tiger set-up van bomb killed three in Colombo on Tuesday, the Sri Lankan Army's Deep Penetration Unit allegedly killed five persons, including three medical personnel, in an area controlled by the LTTE in North Sri Lanka.

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The LTTE's Peace Secretariat said in a release on Wednesday, that the claymore mine attack had taken place on the Nedunkerni-Oddusuddan road in Mullaitivu district, where the LTTE's chief Velupillai Prabhakaran is said to have his base.

Among the dead were Dr K Jayamalina (68) and two nurses.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan government announced that it had opened the Mavil Aaru dam in Trincomalee district at 8 pm on Tuesday.

But by then, the LTTE had already claimed that it had opened the dam at 5 pm.

It is likely that the LTTE had opened the dam and quit the area, before the Sri Lankan troops came.

The LTTE as well as the Sri Lankan troops are claiming that they had successfully concluded their "humanitarian mission".

The fight over the Mavil Aaru dam and Mutur town, which followed, had resulted in over a 100 deaths and the displacement of 40,000 people, as per the estimates of international aid agencies.