Over 17,000 hostages rescued from LTTE tyranny

A total of 4,568 people have sought protection with the security forces according to reports received by this afternoon (May 16).

According to military, the people were rescued amidst indiscriminate LTTE shelling and small arms attacks. 2,500 people were rescued by the 53 Div troops, 1488 by the 58 Div troops and 580 others by the 59 Division troops, MCNS sources said.

With the latest rescue of hostages, the total number of rescued exceeds over 17,000 since Thursday (May 14, military sources said. A total of 4909 people were rescued by the 53 Div troops, over 4300 by the 58 Div troops and 757 hostages from the 59 Div troops on Friday (May 15), the sources further said.