08 May, 2006 - Published 17:23 GMT

Tamil Tiger camps attacked

Tamil Tiger rebels say their camps in eastern Sri Lanka were attacked by a breakaway group headed by a former LTTE leader V Muralitharan alias Karuna.

A spokesman of the Karuna group, Thooyavan, told journalist RG Dharmadasa that their supporters killed twelve rebels in attacks on LTTE camps in Sampoor and Ravulkulee in Trincomalee.

Tamil Tigers meanwhile have accused the government of supporting the Karuna faction.

Military accused

LTTE Trincomalee district political wing leader S Eleelan told Dharmadasa that the attackers came from a nearby Army base.

Denying the accusation Military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe told BBC Sandeshaya that nobody apart from Army personnel stay in Sri Lanka military camps.

“Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) can come and inspect whether militants are staying in Army camps,” he told bbcsinhala.com.

BBC correspondent in Colombo, Dumeetha Luthra, says both the government and the Tigers say there are committed to peace talks but the reality is one of bloodshed.

The parties were to hold talks in Geneva last month on strengthening the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) but the Tigers refused to engage in talks until government provides transport to their leaders in the east to travel to Kilinochchi.

But analysts say the LTTE is looking for excuses not to engage in talks until they resolve the issue of the Karuna group with the government.