Troops foil suicide attack on Chenkaladi camp

Rafik Jalaldeen

BATTICALOA: Security Forces fired at an explosives-laden tractor driven by an LTTE suicide cadre when it was about to storm the Chenkaladi Army camp yesterday.

Three soldiers and five civilians were killed and 18 others including a soldier were injured when the tractor exploded after being fired at by a group of soldiers, thus preventing the vehicle from reaching the camp.

Military Spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said the tractor carried over 200kgs of high explosives.

"A tractor and trailer fixed with high explosives attempting to break through barriers of the Chenkaladi army main base in Batticaloa was brought to a halt by the Security Forces firing small arms at the tractor.

The LTTE suicide cadre blew himself along with the explosive laden tractor when the troops opened fire," Brigadier Samarasinghe told the Daily News. Brigadier Samarasinghe said the troops opened fire at the suicide cadre to prevent him from storming the army base in the tractor.

The incident took place near the Chenkaladi army base barrier yesterday at around 7.15 a.m. Children of a nearby orphanage were among the injured. . The injured have been admitted to the Batticaloa general hospital.

The troops launched a searching operation immediately following the incident. Meanwhile, an Army foot patrol recovered a claymore mine set to target troops on duty yesterday at around 10.10 a.m. in Munthuvil, Jaffna, the Media Centre for the National Security said. The bomb disposal squad defused the mine.