Civilian killed in Yala blast

By Chris Kamalendran

A civilian construction worker was killed and another injured when a cab carrying six people was caught in a claymore mine blast inside the Yala National Park last evening, Military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said. The explosion, believed to have been triggered by the LTTE, took place around 6.45 p.m. at Katagamuwa.

Brig. Nanayakkara said the security forces had gone to the area but were moving cautiously as there could be more mines in the area. The wounded person was brought to the Hambantota hospital around midnight. The incident took place on the very day the government set up a joint operations command in the south to oversee security in the Tissamaharama and Yala areas, after five farmers were hacked to death last week.

Parliamentarian and Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa and Police Chief Victor Perera visited Tissamaharama yesterday and met with villagers who expressed concern about their security. On October 15, LTTE cadres launched an attack on an army detachment at Thalgasmankada in Yala, killing seven soldiers.