A SRI LANKA Army (SLA) soldier was killed and two wounded in a clash that erupted at Kiraankulam in Batticaloa lagoon area in the early hours of Saturday, July 4 sources in Batticaloa said.
The incident occurred when ‘an army soldier spotted a suspicious boat with one man on board and tried to search it after talking to the boatman’ an Army statement said, adding that the man was later identified as a Tiger regional leader.
Military officials said Saturday's clash resulted in the first military loss of life since troops on May 18 announced the killing of the top leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).