COLOMBO, Dec. 15, Reuter: More than 30 Tamil separatist guerrillas were kill during the weekend in battles between two rival Sri Lankan rebel ‘groups, newspapers and resident
said today.
Residents said battles raged until late last night in the Island north and east between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the largest rebel group, and its strongest rival, the Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Frong (EPRLF).
They are among the four main guerrilla organizations fighting government troops in northern and eastern provinces to set up an independent state for Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority.
The independent Sun newspaper said more than 30 rebels were killed in grenade and gun battles around Jaffna, Trincomalee and five other districts.
Residents said the LTTE claimed it had captured more than 30 EPRLF camps in the Jaffna district and that more than 300 members of the rival group had surrendered.
‘They told Reuters by telephone that the LTTE yesterday captured all the EPRLF sentry points in Jaffna city and manned them with their own armed “Tigers”,
They said the LTTE appeared to have overpowered its rival in Jaffna but the EPRLF was putting up heavy resistance in the east, where it is stronger.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 19, 1986
