COLOMBO, Dec. 13, Reuter: Sri Lanka’s Ta Tigers pledged on Sunday to crush rival separatist groups after two days of guerrilla infighting killed at least three people including a 10yearold boy.

“These men (groups) are antisocial elements. They are robbing the people and harassing them”, a spokesman for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said in the northern district of Vavuniya,

“They must be eliminated”, he told reporters.

He said Tiger fighters seeking an independent Tamil homeland in the island’s north and east were planning attacks on three rival groups in Vavuniya district next year.

The Tigers, opposed to a July peace accord aimed at ending the bloody four year old separatist rebellion, has thrown its fighters into battle against rival groups who support the pact and Indian peacekeeping troops sent to disarm all the guerrillas.

The Tigers on Saturday killed a young member of the People’s Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) after pulling him from a bus, residents in the area said.

The Tigers lost one of their men in a reprisal attack the same day.

“Something big appears to be happening here. The LTTE is preparing for a big confrontation, very soon, with other groups”, a military spokesman at Vavuniya said.

The Tigers had attacked a PLOTE camp at Mannar in the northwest on Saturday, he said, He had no word on casualties.

Residents said a 10yearold boy was cut down in crossfire between the Tigers and the Tamil Eclam Liberation Organization (TELO) in Vavuniya district on Friday in battle military officials say cost the lives of an unknown number of people.

The Tigers spokesman said one TELO fighter had been killed in Friday’s fighting and he denied reports that his group had suffered any dead, Saturday’s English language Sun newspaper said at least 15 Tigers and one TELO fighter were killed and scores of people were wounded.

Foreign Minister Shaul Hameed, A Moslem, flew to the Eastern district of Batticaloa on Sunday to discuss residents’ allegations of harassment by the Indian troops.

Batticaloa residents said Hameed would also inquire into the killings of about 20 Moslems at Valachenai town on December 2, after Tiger fighters ambushed Indian troops in the vicinity. The Indian High Commission (Embassy) has said the civilians were killed in crossfire.

 

Article extracted from this publication >>  December 18, 1987