2 SLA soldiers killed after exchanging gunfire in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 May 2012, 13:00 GMT]
Two Sinhala soldiers of the occupying Sri Lanka Army opened fire killing each other Friday morning in Jaffna, informed sources told TamilNet. The incident took place while the soldiers were on duty at a sentry post of the 51-2 division camp, situated close to Srithar Theatre, the office of the EPDP paramilitary on Stanley Road. In the meantime, Sri Lanka Army spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasuriya, hiding the venue of the incident, has gone on record in Colombo saying that a soldier who was providing security to the Buddhist Naga vihara in the city has shot himself after gunning down one of his fellow soldiers. The SLA, engaged in the militarisation of the city of Jaffna, has been refusing to vacate the 51-2 division cantonment.

Only a small area previously used by the military cantonment was released to the public after the war.

Despite the repeated appeals to relocate the military establishment away from the city centre, the SLA has been refusing to vacate the camp, which is a key component of the continued SL militarisation of Jaffna city encompassing the Hospital Road and Jaffna Point Pedro Road.

A camouflaging excuse given by the SLA earlier was that its civil affairs coordination was run from the military establishment situated close to the EPDP paramilitary office.