Infant milk powder airlifted to Jaffna:

Government sends urgent Relief to Vakarai

A consignment of seven tons of infant milk powder was airlifted on Thursday by the Sri Lanka Air Force from Ratmalana, to be distributed among Tamil civilians in Jaffna.

Meanwhile, the government has already transported 25479.88 metric tons of food supplies including 18,000 kilograms of infant milk to Jaffna by air and sea. The Government will send ten lorry loads of urgent relief supplies consisting of food, medicine and other essential items to the Vakarai area as relief for the people in distress yesterday. These lorries as well as two ambulances also left for Valaichennai at 3.00 p.m. Government officials have also been briefed with the necessary instructions.

The ICRC has also been briefed on this humanitarian assistance being sent to the people of Vakarai inform the LTTE not the disrupt the transport of this much needed humanitarian assistance to the public in the Vakarai area who desperately need them.

The Security Forces has been mindful of humanitarian assistance and this time too has assured that they will not retaliate even if they are fired upon by the LTTE to facilitate and ensure that this assistance will reach the people.

The Security Forces also point out that they have not disrupted nor prevented humanitarian assistance in the past but it is only the LTTE that has done so.

Four soldiers were injured yesterday morning due to mortars fired by the LTTE in Vavunativu and the Tigers continued to fire artillery and mortars at Chenkaladi and Black Bridge Army detachments in the Batticoloa district.