VIGNESWA@ecs.umass.edu (06/15/91)
===================================================== VIGNESWA@ecs.umass.edu Fri Jun 14 14:49:37 1991 Univ of Massachusetts ===================================================== COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) -- Government troops massacred more than 150 Tamil civilians in eastern Sri Lanka today after three soldiers died in a land mine explosion blamed on Tamil rebels, a lawmaker and residents of the area said. A senior Defense Minis- try official said he had received reports that many civilians were killed when the rebels tried to use them as human shields during an attack on government troops near Batticaloa. "I don't know how many, but we have received complaints of a massacre," said Air Chief Marshal Walter Fernando, deputy secretary of the ministry. "If this is true, the strongest action will be taken against the miscreants." Pararajasegaram Joseph, an ethnic Tamil and member of Parliament from Batticaloa, said 166 men, women and children were shot, hacked and beaten to death. "Troops ran ber- serk and killed innocent Tamils," he said. "Somebody should put a stop to this carnage." Civilian massacres often have been alleged by both sides in the civil war between the Sinhalese-dominated army and Tamil rebels. Today's massacre appeared to be the worst blamed on government troops since peace talks collapsed a year ago and the civil war was renewed after a 13-month truce. Hundreds of frightened villagers who said they witnessed the reported killings fled to nearby Batticaloa, where residents gave their accounts by telephone to Colombo. The Batticaloa residents who relayed the reports included Christian clergymen whose infor- mation has proved reliable in the past. All spoke on condition of anonymity. "They killed everybody, men, women and little chil- dren," one Batticaloa resident said. "Sixteen bodies were dumped in the crater created by the land mine. The soldiers looted and set fire to more than 400 homes in the villages." The Batticaloa residents said the villagers told them a large number of soldiers attacked two villages eight miles southwest of Batticaloa. At least 120 people were killed in Makiladitivu village and 35 were killed in the nearby village of Munaikkadu, they said. The villages are about 120 miles northeast of Colombo. Joseph, who was contacted at his Colombo residence, said he had been told that 135 died in Makiladitivu and 31 in Munaikkadu. "I have brought this massacre to the notice of President (Ranasinghe) Premadasa, senior government and military officials," he said. The three soldiers died when a land mine exploded Wednesday at Kokkadicholai, a mile or two east of the villages where the alleged massacre was reported. The villagers said the alleged massacre appeared to be revenge for the deaths of the three sol- diers killed Wednesday by a land mine at the adjacent village of Kokkadicholai. Fernando, the Defense Ministry official, con- firmed the soldiers' deaths and said reinforcements were sent to the area later Wednesday. "The reports I received are that when the reinforcements went to Kokkadicholai they were attacked by the terrorists using Tamil civilians as human shields," he said. "Initial reports were that many civilians were killed because of this." A Tamil separatist group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, has been attacking government troops in eastern and north- ern Sri Lanka since 1983. The Tigers have been driven out of Bat- ticaloa, but they still operate in the nearby swamps and vil- lages. Tamils make up 18 percent of Sri Lanka's 16 million peo- ple and live mainly on the north and east of the island nation, where they want to set up an independent Tamil homeland. Sinhalese comprise 75 percent of the population. Tamils accuse the Sinhalese of discrimination in job and education opportuni- ties. At least 17,000 people have been killed in the fighting. SRI LANKAN SECURITY FORCES MASSACRE AT LEAST 150 ... ==================================================== NEW DELHI (JUNE 13) EFE - Sri Lankan security forces on Thursday massacred more than 150 Tamil civilians, including women and children, in eastern Sri Lanka, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. Tamil sources said the security forces fired indiscriminately at villagers in the district of Kokkadicholai. Hundreds of people later fled their homes to the city of Batti- caloa. According to Tamil political sources, the security forces also burned down at least 40 houses and knifed villagers to death. They estimated that between 135 and 170 people died in the massacre. Villagers said the massacre was in revenge for the deaths of two soldiers killed on Tuesday by a land mine explo- sion, blamed on Tamil separatist rebels. Rebels from the Libera- tion Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who have been fighting government troops in parts of Sri Lanka since 1983, have been driven out of Batticaloa but still operate in neighboring towns. A Tamil member of parliament, Suresh Premachandran said at least 47 people, mostly teachers and students, were massacred in the town of Mahitativu, 12 km south of Batticaloa. Premachandran accused the security forces of blocking officials from the Red Cross and other non-government agencies from reaching the dead and wounded. Presidential foreign affairs advisor Braadman Weerakoon said the government has ordered an immediate investiga- tion into the reports of the massacre. Tamil rebels renewed fighting in eastern and northern Sri Lanka a year ago following the breakdown of peace talks with the government. End of article