That's too bad. I was hoping they'd kill each other off. Guess that was too much to hope for.The main Tamil rebel group claimed control Sunday of an area where a renegade faction was based and declared a two-day truce to allow civilians to celebrate the Buddhist and Hindu New Year. Rebels from the main Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam, based in Sri Lanka's north, launched an offensive on Friday to regain control over some 6,000 breakaway Tamil rebels in the east led by Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, also known as Karuna. Military officials have said the unconfirmed death toll from the heavy fighting was 33, including civilians. At least 13 others were reportedly wounded.
| Hopefully most mortally... |
"The Liberation Tigers took control of the areas held by the Karuna group on Saturday night," said TamilNet, a Web site that reports on the mainstream rebel group. TamilNet said the LTT was "consolidating strategic positions" in the region surrounding the Verugal River, some 150 miles northeast of the capital, Colombo. "Troops under the LTT are urging scattered remnants of the Karuna group in the district to surrender to them," TamilNet said. |