Large stock of LTTE artillery rounds found buried under school playground

A massive stock of artillery rounds that had belonged to the LTTE has been found buried under a school playground in Mullaitivu, police said.  

The stock of ammunition was uncovered during excavations at the Viyananda College in Mulliyawalai, Mullaitivu. 

The first rounds of artillery ammunition were uncovered on January 25 by engineers working on a development project at the school grounds. They had informed the Mulliyawalai police, who visited the location and found six artillery rounds that had been buried. 

A proper excavation at the site began using bulldozers after police obtained a court order. The excavation was conducted with the assistance of army engineers from the 9th Engineers' Regiment of the 592nd Brigade.  

The excavations uncovered 36 rounds of 122mm artillery, 49 rounds of 152mm artillery, 110 unusable 152mm artillery casings, 10 fuses and 29 122mm cartridges. 

Police believe that the LTTE may have had an artillery firing position at the school grounds during the final stages of the war and had buried the artillery rounds and fled once soldiers closed in on the area. 

Mulliyawalai police stated that they will take steps to defuse the recovered artillery rounds after obtaining a court order. Further investigations are ongoing. 

By Romesh Madushanka