Child among 5 dead in attack in Sri Lanka village

Colombo, Apr 14: Sri Lanka's military today said that Tamil Tiger rebels killed five people, including a three-year-old boy, in a village in the east, but the rebels said government-backed forces were responsible.

The rebels were targeting two members of the TVMP, the political wing of a renegade faction that broke from the Tigers in 2004, military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasingha said.

''Civilians who were also there were also shot ... three civilians were killed,'' he said.

Among the dead were a three-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl in the incident last night in Chenkaladi near the east coast.

The rebels, known officially as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, denied any involvement and said it was part of a smear campaign by the government.

''The Sri Lankan government is in a very poor condition in the international arena regarding human rights, so they want to tarnish our image,'' Tamil Tiger military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiraiyan said.

On Thursday, the government said the rebels entered a village in the northern district of Vavuniya, fired their guns wildly, and killed seven people before returning to the jungle.

The LTTE has been fighting for an independent homeland in the north and east of the island for the ethnic minority Tamils for more than two decades.

Some 68,000 people have died in the war since 1983. Fighting has intensified in the past year with no end in sight.

Reuters

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