LTTE Headquarters,
                                                Tamil Eelam.
                                                06. July 1997

PRESS RELEASE 
NEWS FROM TAMIL EELAM
                                           
ARMY ADVANCE FROM KILINOCHCHI STOPPED IN TRACKS
	Sri Lankan military forces trying to advance eastwards from
	Paranthan to Vaddakachchi were driven back by LTTE forces. The
	army began its operation at 8.15 this morning accompanied by
	artillery, mortar shells and gunfire. But the entire army
	contingent was forced to beat a retreat in the face of an LTTE
	counter-attack. Troop casualties are not known. The LTTE suffered
	one loss, Manikkarasa Sivakumar of Amparai.
	
BATTICALOA LAGOON-FISHING BANNED
	Tamil fishing families in Puthungar, Valaiyiravu and Thimilathuvu
	(all in Batticaloa) have been barred by Sri Lanka's occupying
	army from fishing in the district's lagoon. The families here
	depend on fishing for their survival. Technically, food relief is
	supposed to be given to such families who are deprived of their
	livelihood but the Sri Lankan government has not compensated them
	at all. Sinhala fishermen whose livelihoods are affected by any
	government/army ruling are always adequately compensated.
	
NEW ARMY CAMP OPENED IN NELLIADY
	A second army camp has been opened at Nelliady (Vadamaradchy,
	Jaffna) in addition to the huge military complex that was created
	last year in the market area. The new camp - which is manned
	jointly by Sri Lankan police and armed forces - is located in the
	Kerniady sector of Nelliady. The entire Jaffna peninsula is
	Tamil-inhabited. All Sri Lanka's armed forces are Sinhalese.
	
Political Committee,
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
	
(English translation of the LTTE statement released by LTTE
International Secretariat, 211 Katherine Road, London E6 1BU,
United Kingdom.  Tel:0181- 503 4294)