COLOMBO: Suspected LITE militants massacred 134 Muslims and in swift retaliation, Muslims killed 38 Tamils raising the toll to 176 killed and 50 injured in eastern Sri Lanka during the past 24 hours, military officials said.
LTTE militants hacked and shot dead 127 Muslims around Eravur in eastern Batticaloa late on Saturday night. The victims included 56 women and 31 children, the officials said.
A massacre of seven Muslims by LTTE militants in Sam Anthurai of eastern Ampara led to the killing of at least 30 Tamils in the neighboring villages in retaliation, military officials said.
A Telo spokesman, however, said the killing of eight Tamil indoor patients at Eravur hospital, about 10 kms from Batticaloa, preceded the Eravur massacre, blaming the LTTE for the massacre of innocent Muslims.
The Telo condemned the recent spate of killings of innocent civilians including the retaliatory killings.
Four LTTE militants were killed in a bunker in Kankesanthurai in the continuing conflict between the government forces and the LTTE militants which appeared to have taken a backseat in view the recent massacres of Muslims and Sinhalese by the LITE and the resultant retaliatory killing of Tamils in the east during the past 10 days.
The two month conflict between the government and the LTTE and the latest spate of massacres has claimed more than 3,000 lives so far.
The Sri Lanka Muslim congress has alleged possible connivance of the government in the barbaric attacks on the Muslims by the LTTE.
Six anti LTTE militants Tamil groups are currently working out a solution to the island’s ethnic problem. Under the proposal the Tamil majority Northern Province would be permanently merged with the eastern province which has a mixed population of Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese under one administrative unit with a regional council.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 24, 1990
