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タミル・イーラム解放のトラが内紛起こしてドンパチだそうです。
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22 people reported killed in LTTE factional fight near Verugal River
At least 22 people are reported to have been killed as heavy fighting erupted between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) factions of Velupillai Prabhakaran and Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias 'Colonel' Karuna in the early hours of April 9. The Wanni-based main LTTE group of Prabhakaran launched an attack against positions of Karuna near the Verugal River 78 Kilometers from Batticaloa firing artillery mortar bombs and assault rifles according to Daily News. More than 100 cadres on both sides are believed to have been injured after they exchanged fire for several hours. This was the first major clash between the two factions after the LTTE split in March 2004. Meanwhile civilians in the area were moving towards safer locations indicated International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) spokesperson Sukumar Rockwood. An ambulance driver sent to evacuate the wounded was killed in a mine explosion while several other civilian vehicles were caught in the crossfire defence sources said.
"More than 300 young fighters of the Karuna group who were defending the southern side of the (Verugal) river and the interior surrendered without a fight" claimed the pro-Prabhakaran faction Tamilnet Website. "The infantry formations... were spearheaded by commando units of the LTTE and were backed by heavy artillery fire" it added. TamilNet also claimed that 'Barathithaasan' a key ‘commander’ of the Karuna group and Jeyam in charge of Vakarai were wounded. Separately Karuna faction spokesperson Varadan claimed that they were resisting the offensive. "They initiated the attack and we are resisting" Varadan said. Both factions had up to 1000 armed cadres each deployed along the banks of the Verugal which marks the district border between Trincomalee and Batticaloa.
Further troops and police in Batticaloa and adjoining areas were placed on alert after the clashes broke out. Military spokesperson Col. Sumedha Perera said that there are no troops in this area. "There is no possibility of LTTE cadres going through government-controlled areas." While the Defence Ministry is believed to have called for a report from military heads some officials also met the Sri Lanka Monitoring Missions (SLMM) Heads to discuss the situation in the Batticaloa district. SLMM spokesperson Agnes Bragadottier said the SLMM has no monitors in the area but they were watching the situation.
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http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/detailed_news.asp?date1=4/10/2004#1
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