The Hindu : Front Page : LTTE launches offensive against eastern cadre

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Saturday, Apr 10, 2004

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LTTE launches offensive against eastern cadre

By V.S. Sambandan

COLOMBO, APRIL 9. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) today launched an armed offensive against its eastern forces led by the defiant eastern commander, V. Muralitharan (`Col.' Karuna).

The fighting, which commenced in the early hours of Good Friday, takes Sri Lanka's decades-long separatist conflict into an intra-Tiger military offensive.

At least eight LTTE cadres from both factions and a Tamil civilian ambulance driver were reported killed. Eight eastern cadres were reported injured. Police sources are of the view that the number of cadres reported killed could increase. While the cadres died in battles, the civilian was killed when his ambulance hit a claymore mine, the sources said.

The armed aggression ends just over 23 months of non-fighting in Sri Lanka after the Tigers unilaterally declared a ceasefire against the Sri Lanka Army on the Christmas eve of 2001. Sri Lankan security forces, however, kept their distance from the two fighting factions, but are on alert.

Today's fighting was in the making since `Col.' Karuna rebelled against the LTTE's leader, V. Prabakaran, on March 3, citing "discrimination." On March 6, the LTTE expelled Mr. Muralitharan. It later declared that it had decided to "get rid of" him and warned his cadres to leave him.

The first-ever armed clashes between the Tigers started in the early hours of today after the northern LTTE cadres crossed the Verugal River in eastern Sri Lanka — which separates the areas under the control of Mr. Prabakaran and `Col.' Karuna — and "infiltrated'' areas under the latter's control, military and police sources said.

"Fighting started after midnight followed by two hours of intense mortar and small arms fire," the spokesperson for the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, Agnes Bragadottir, said. The pre-dawn attack, which ended at 3.30.a.m, was followed by "consolidation and advances" by the northern rebel cadres. Later in the night, when reports last came in, `Col'. Karuna's cadre repulsed two advances by the northern forces. Additional forces have been sent from the northern LTTE to the areas taken by them in the morning.

According to reports from the east, the northern cadres advanced nearly 12 km from the Verugal river and set up positions at a hamlet, Paalchenai, about 65 km north of Batticaloa town. Both the LTTE factions have been building up their cadres along the banks of the Verugal river after last month's split in the LTTE.

The areas taken by the northern LTTE forces today include a Sea Tiger base, Kadiravelli, under the control of Mr. Muralitharan.

Figures vary on the number of eastern cadres who had "surrendered" in today's offensive, but defence sources do not rule out the possibility of an `encirclement' strategy by the eastern fighters.

The LTTE's political wing leader, S. P. Tamilchelvan, told the SLMM that the Tigers had started fighting to "regain control" over the areas "being controlled by `Col.' Karuna," Ms. Bragadottir said. Security and defence sources see the possibility of Mr. Prabakaran's forces launching the next offensive "soon."

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