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18-09-2006

Sri Lankan military says Tamil Tiger rebels killed 11 Muslim civilians

The Associated Press

Published: September 18, 2006

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka Eleven Muslim men were found hacked to death in a remote jungle in eastern Sri Lanka on Monday, the military said, blaming Tamil Tiger rebels for the killings.

The men were repairing an irrigation system Sunday when they were attacked, said chief military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe. One man survived the massacre and is being treated in a hospital, he said.

The slayings came amid an upsurge in violence in the island nation that could undermine efforts by European mediators to bring the warring sides back to peace talks.

A pro-rebel Web site, TamilNet, said the killings may have resulted from a dispute between majority ethnic Sinhalese and minority Muslims over water rights. It said two men were still missing.

Muslims are Sri Lanka's second-largest minority after ethnic Tamils, who are mostly Hindu, and generally oppose the Tamil Tigers, who have accused Muslims of supporting the government. The rebels also oppose Muslims cultivating land in areas they consider Tamil territory.

A special police task force was searching the area, 250 kilometers (155 miles) east of Colombo, for rebel activity, Samarasinghe said. Muslim residents closed their shops as they prepared for funeral services.

Separately, a Sri Lankan soldier was killed and another wounded in an overnight attack by suspected rebels in the country's troubled north, the military said.

Government troops exchanged small arms fire with rebels in the Jaffna Peninsula, said an officer at the Defense Ministry's Media Center for National Security who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

It was not immediately clear whether the rebels suffered any casualties.

Elsewhere, the military also blamed rebels for the killing Sunday of two ethnic Tamils, including an infant child, in the eastern Trincomalee district. Eyewitness said Tamil Tigers accused the victims of being informants for government forces, the military said.

The latest violence came a day after Sri Lankan battleships and warplanes intercepted an alleged Tamil Tiger rebel weapons shipment off the island's restive eastern coast, sinking the ship and killing up to 15 insurgents, military officials said.

The vessel's crew had refused to identify themselves, but hoisted a rebel flag during an eight-hour sea battle before being bombed and sunk around 120 nautical miles (220 kilometers) off the eastern coast of Batticaloa district, military officials said.

Navy commander D.K.P. Dassanayake said the ship was carrying 12-15 insurgents. He said there were no navy casualties.

The ship, allegedly carrying artillery and missiles, is believed to have been headed for the Sampur area, which government troops captured from the Tigers earlier this month. The rebels called the move a grave violation of a 2002 cease-fire and threatened retaliation.

Tamil Tiger officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

The rebels have been fighting since 1983 for a separate homeland for the country's ethnic Tamil minority in the northeast, citing decades of discrimination by the mostly Buddhist Sinhalese majority.

The conflict cost the lives of about 65,000 people before the 2002 cease-fire, which began unraveling in December and has since claimed hundreds more lives and driven over 220,000 from their homes. More than 400 government troops alone have been killed since July, according to the military.

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On the Net:

Pro-rebel Web site: http://www.tamilnet.com

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka Eleven Muslim men were found hacked to death in a remote jungle in eastern Sri Lanka on Monday, the military said, blaming Tamil Tiger rebels for the killings.

The men were repairing an irrigation system Sunday when they were attacked, said chief military spokesman Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe. One man survived the massacre and is being treated in a hospital, he said.

The slayings came amid an upsurge in violence in the island nation that could undermine efforts by European mediators to bring the warring sides back to peace talks.

A pro-rebel Web site, TamilNet, said the killings may have resulted from a dispute between majority ethnic Sinhalese and minority Muslims over water rights. It said two men were still missing.

Muslims are Sri Lanka's second-largest minority after ethnic Tamils, who are mostly Hindu, and generally oppose the Tamil Tigers, who have accused Muslims of supporting the government. The rebels also oppose Muslims cultivating land in areas they consider Tamil territory.

A special police task force was searching the area, 250 kilometers (155 miles) east of Colombo, for rebel activity, Samarasinghe said. Muslim residents closed their shops as they prepared for funeral services.

Separately, a Sri Lankan soldier was killed and another wounded in an overnight attack by suspected rebels in the country's troubled north, the military said.

Government troops exchanged small arms fire with rebels in the Jaffna Peninsula, said an officer at the Defense Ministry's Media Center for National Security who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

It was not immediately clear whether the rebels suffered any casualties.

Elsewhere, the military also blamed rebels for the killing Sunday of two ethnic Tamils, including an infant child, in the eastern Trincomalee district. Eyewitness said Tamil Tigers accused the victims of being informants for government forces, the military said.

The latest violence came a day after Sri Lankan battleships and warplanes intercepted an alleged Tamil Tiger rebel weapons shipment off the island's restive eastern coast, sinking the ship and killing up to 15 insurgents, military officials said.

The vessel's crew had refused to identify themselves, but hoisted a rebel flag during an eight-hour sea battle before being bombed and sunk around 120 nautical miles (220 kilometers) off the eastern coast of Batticaloa district, military officials said.

Navy commander D.K.P. Dassanayake said the ship was carrying 12-15 insurgents. He said there were no navy casualties.

The ship, allegedly carrying artillery and missiles, is believed to have been headed for the Sampur area, which government troops captured from the Tigers earlier this month. The rebels called the move a grave violation of a 2002 cease-fire and threatened retaliation.

Tamil Tiger officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

The rebels have been fighting since 1983 for a separate homeland for the country's ethnic Tamil minority in the northeast, citing decades of discrimination by the mostly Buddhist Sinhalese majority.

The conflict cost the lives of about 65,000 people before the 2002 cease-fire, which began unraveling in December and has since claimed hundreds more lives and driven over 220,000 from their homes. More than 400 government troops alone have been killed since July, according to the military.

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On the Net:

Pro-rebel Web site: http://www.tamilnet.com

Source-International Herald Tribune