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| Friday, 18 February 2005 |
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Security | Today's Top Story | |
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by Thakshila Jayasekera Wickramaarachchi The Army will open three new camps in Welikanda as an urgent security measure in the wake of the heightened activity in the area between the Wanni LTTE and the Karuna faction. The new camps at Katuwanwila, Kasapola and Muthugala villages will be opened today as one of the measures aimed at confronting the increasing security threat posed by the active presence of the Wanni LTTE cadres and the Karuna faction in Welikanda. The villages are composed of Sinhala,Tamil and Muslim settlements. These camps are intended to thwart killings perpetrated by the armed cadres of the Karuna faction in the Welikanda area and also to prevent infiltration from the LTTE armed cadres, Commander of the 23rd Brigade stationed in Welikanda Major General Vajira Wijegunawardena said. Welikanda is part of the Polonnaruwa District which is not covered by the MOU signed between the Government and the LTTE. However armed cadres belonging to the LTTE as well as the Karuna faction have become active in the district in recent times. Ceasefire monitors have no jurisdiction to intervene in the event of any clash between security forces and the LTTE in the district. The LTTE which blamed the Security forces for the recent killing of its Batticaloa Political Chief Kaushalyan had launched a plan to assassinate the Commander of the 23rd Brigade in Welikanda, which was bared recently. New security arrangements have been made in order to drive away all LTTE and Karuna faction armed cadres from the area. The army has also set up a new passenger checkpoint in the Welikanda area. All checkpoints along the main roads in Government controlled areas in the North and East have been withdrawn by the Army following the signing of the MOU. The security threat posed by the flare up between the LTTE and the Karuna faction cadres in the area has forced the Army to restore some of the checkpoints. |
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