02-07-2005, 08:16 PM
Five Tigers, including regional chief killed in Sri Lanka ambush
(AFP)
7 February 2005
COLOMBO - A top Tamil Tiger leader was killed together with four other rebels in eastern Sri Lanka Monday in what appeared to be an internecine clash, government military sources said.
The top political wing leader of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the eastern region was ambushed as his convoy was travelling to the coastal district of Batticaloa, a military official in the region said.
The identity of the guerrilla leader was not immediately disclosed.
Four others, including two policemen escorting the Tiger leader were seriously wounded in the ensuing gunbattle, the official said from Batticaloa, 303 kilometres (187 miles) east of here by road.
Government military officials said they suspected the attack was carried out by a breakaway faction of the Tamil Tigers led by former number two in the LTTE, V. Muralitharan, better known as Karuna.
A gunbattle had lasted about 10 minutes, a military source said. The attack was in the Poonani area. It looks like the attackers had followed the vehicle and then opened fire at Poonani.
A former Tamil legislator, Chandra Nehru, was among those who escaped with critical injuries, the sources said.
There was no immediate reaction from the LTTE to the latest attack against their political wing cadres.
Three days ago, another LTTE political wing leader was shot dead and another wounded and the military suspected that it was the work of Karuna"s faction which led an unprecedented rebellion in March 2004.
The main LTTE has since tried to regain its hold on the multi-ethnic eastern region and accused the government of supporting Karuna"s faction, a claim denied by the security forces.
(AFP)
7 February 2005
COLOMBO - A top Tamil Tiger leader was killed together with four other rebels in eastern Sri Lanka Monday in what appeared to be an internecine clash, government military sources said.
The top political wing leader of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the eastern region was ambushed as his convoy was travelling to the coastal district of Batticaloa, a military official in the region said.
The identity of the guerrilla leader was not immediately disclosed.
Four others, including two policemen escorting the Tiger leader were seriously wounded in the ensuing gunbattle, the official said from Batticaloa, 303 kilometres (187 miles) east of here by road.
Government military officials said they suspected the attack was carried out by a breakaway faction of the Tamil Tigers led by former number two in the LTTE, V. Muralitharan, better known as Karuna.
A gunbattle had lasted about 10 minutes, a military source said. The attack was in the Poonani area. It looks like the attackers had followed the vehicle and then opened fire at Poonani.
A former Tamil legislator, Chandra Nehru, was among those who escaped with critical injuries, the sources said.
There was no immediate reaction from the LTTE to the latest attack against their political wing cadres.
Three days ago, another LTTE political wing leader was shot dead and another wounded and the military suspected that it was the work of Karuna"s faction which led an unprecedented rebellion in March 2004.
The main LTTE has since tried to regain its hold on the multi-ethnic eastern region and accused the government of supporting Karuna"s faction, a claim denied by the security forces.
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