EIGHT suspected members of a breakaway Tamil Tiger faction were shot as they slept at a rebel safe-house in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo yesterday, in an attack blamed on the months-old split in the senior ranks of the rebel leadership.
| Darn; it would have been nice for them to wake up just at the last moment. Then they could have fully appreciated the word, "terror". |
A Tamil website said those killed were supporters of the renegade Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) commander Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, known as "Karuna", and included one of his deputies. There was no sign of a gunfight at the isolated house where the men were found dead on mats on the floor, police officer Wickrama Perera said. The killings appeared to have been carried out by someone inside the house, Mr Perera said. He added: "There is no evidence of a clash, or that someone has entered the house."
| Brilliant, Holmes, brilliant. |
The rebels said Muralitharan loyalists killed their sleeping comrades and then surrendered to the mainstream organisation. One of the victims, identified only as Kuganesan, was the second-in-command in the faction, the rebels said on their website devoted to the island's peace efforts. "The killings are confirmed, but we can't say who is dead and who is responsible," a police official said.
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