Tamil Tigers kill three in Sri Lankan village

COLOMBO - At least three civilians were shot dead by suspected Tamil Tigers in a village in Sri Lanka’s south-eastern region, an official said Tuesday.

Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, the military spokesman, said that Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) carried out the attack at Galvetiyamandiya village in Moneragala district at around 7 p.m. Monday.

This was the second such attack in the region by the rebels.

Six villagers were killed Sunday night when LTTE gunmen stormed a village in the Buttala area.

The LTTE has lost the cream of its fighting cadres, including a dozen battle-hardened leaders in the fight for Puthukkudiyiruppu, the last bastion where the rebels have maintained several military and naval bases and armoury over the past three decades.

The LTTE, which has been banned by several countries including India and US, has been fighting to carve out a separate state in the island’s northeast over the past quarter century.