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Military accuses Tamil rebels of truce breach in northern Lanka

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

New Delhi, March 10, IRNA
Sri Lanka-LTTE-Truce
Sri Lanka's military accused the Tamil Tiger rebels of violating their fragile four-year-old cease-fire after soldiers uncovered hauls of ammunition and weapons in the country's north.

The caches, including three grenade launchers, 13 live magazines for T-56 rifles, and some hand grenades, were discovered in Karaweddi and Tellippalai, predominantly Tamil but government-controlled districts of Jaffna Peninsula on Tuesday and Wednesday, media report quoted military spokesman Brigadier Sudhir Samarasinghe as saying.

The weapons and ammunition most likely belong to the LTTE, Samarasinghe said, adding this amounted to a clear violation of the 2002 cease-fire.

"There is no other group operating in the area other than the LTTE. If they had brought the grenades and hidden them, it is definitely a cease-fire violation," Samarasinghe said.

Although unable to immediately confirm the report, independent truce monitors warned that the rebels may have breached the agreement.

"We are checking on the details, but if the weapons were found in areas under the control of the Sri Lankan army then it is a violation of the cease-fire," said Helen Olafsdottir, a spokeswoman for a European cease-fire monitoring team.

Separately, unknown gunmen shot dead a 21-year-old Tamil, Govinda Vijayarasa, as he traveled in a public bus in Batticaloa district in eastern Sri Lanka, Samarasinghe said.

The motive for his killing in Iruthayapuram town, 220 kilometers (135 miles) east of Colombo, and its perpetrators are unknown, he said.

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