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| Sri Lanka |
| Sri Lanka: 4 killed in northeast |
| 2007-06-02 |
| (SomaliNet) At least two government soldiers and two members of a rival Tamil Tiger group were killed Friday in fresh violence in Sri Lanka's Northern and Eastern provinces since Thursday night, officials said. A soldier and a paramilitary home guard were killed when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ambushed them at around 8: 45 a.m. (0315 GMT) Friday. The victims were traveling on a motorcycle when they came under attack in the northern town of Vavuniya, officials said. In the eastern Ampara district's Akkaraipattu area at least two members of the LTTE rival Karuna faction were gunned down by mainstream LTTE cadres Thursday night, police said. Meanwhile, more civilians began to flee the Ethavatunuwewa village in the north where LTTE rebels have been firing mortars and artillery in area since Thursday morning. The state administrative officer Niroshan Karunatilake said that the fleeing villagers have increased to 800. They are housed in a school and the state is providing basic amenities to the displaced people. Nearly 5,000 people have died in the escalation of the conflict since the end of 2005 when the LTTE rebels stepped up their attacks against government troops. Claiming discrimination at the hands of the majority ethnic Sinhalese-dominated government, the LTTE has been fighting for an independent homeland for Sri Lanka's 12.5 percent Tamil minority since the 1970s. |
| Posted by:Fred |