International   

Karuna group must be disarmed: Army

COLOMBO: The Army has officially informed the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) that the Karuna group has to be “disarmed” for restoration of normalcy in the east.

The intimation acquires importance after the recent Government announcement that it intended to hold local bodies election in the east.

The intent to hold the elections followed the ouster of the Tamil Tigers from all its bases from the east in July.

The Karuna group helped the military in its campaign to drive out the Tigers from the east and the Government allowed the rebel faction to carry weapons on the plea that they faced threat from the LTTE.

Days after the Government’s announcement there were reports of clashes between the cadres of the Karuna group and the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) led by Minister Doughlas Devananda in Batticaloa district.

Political and diplomatic observers here are intrigued why the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 23 Division in Batticaloa district chose to issue the call when it is for the Government to act on the subject.

In its weekly report on the ground situation, the SLMM said it was informed that the police would increase its forces from 2,000 to 4,000 officials in Ampara district and a new Army camp would be established in the Thoppigala area.

“The SLMM received several complaints regarding extortion and harassment by the so-called Karuna group in Batticaloa and Ampara.

“It was also reported that the Karuna group summoned people to their offices for questioning. The GOC told the SLMM it was a requirement to disarm the Karuna group in order to restore normalcy in the east,” said the report.

It noted that tension rose in Jaffna because of rising commodity prices and scarcity of commodities was reported to be a concern in the Wanni area also.

The report said in Mannar the Local Monitoring Committee (LMC) regularly received complaints of extortion.

It said in a meeting with the SLMM on 23 July, The Local Monitoring Committee (LMC) in Kilinochchi raised concern about shortage of goods in the northern region, and consequently rising prices of essential goods and fuel.

Separately, the Air Force raided an “identified LTTE Sea Tiger armament supply base” in Kondachchikuda in Mannar on Wednesday. The Defence Ministry claimed that the operation was successful.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Karuna group must be disarmed: Army
All set for joint jirga on terrorism
Koreas agree to hold summit
Maliki tours region to shore up support
Reformist paper closed down for second time
Not our view, says Pakistan
Gusmao sworn in
Picassos recovered
Donates fortune to native village in Kerala
Bharatnatyam gaining popularity in China
Two Indian writers on Booker longlist

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu