Sri Lanka: EPDP leader vows revenge

Friday, 31 August 2007

Leader of the Sri Lankan government sponsored EPDP paramilitary group has vowed to avenge the killing of two of his militia-men by the rival Karuna Group in a turf war that has claimed dozens of lives this year. Sinnathamby Seenivasan, 37 and Sithiravel Vasanthan, 24 were shot and killed at around 12:45pm on Thursday in Eravur, Batticaloa. According to eye-witnesses a lone gunman riding on a bicycle carried out the killings using a hand pistol.

Describing the killings as a "cowardly act by Karuna against unarmed political cadres", Douglas Devananda, the leader of the EPDP said that "if Karuna Group fails to shed its tiger stripes it will soon have to face the consequences".

Just last week, a key member of the Karuna Group was killed by EPDP gunmen in the near-by Trincomalee district.

The killings are a continuation of a turf war that has emerged between paramilitary groups over control of villages bordering Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts, political observers say.

Both the Karuna and EPDP groups are sponsored by the government of Sri Lanka in its campaign against Tamil rebels demanding right to self determination for the minority Tamil community that is discriminated against by successive Sinhala governments.

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