Thursday, March 10, 2011

Tamil Tiger rebels training in India

COLOMBO - REMNANTS of Sri Lanka's defeated Tamil rebels are undergoing military training in India in a bid to revive their separatist campaign at home, the island's prime minister said on Thursday.

D.M. Jayaratne said an unknown number of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fighters were based at secret camps in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

'We have intelligence reports of three clandestine training centres operated by the LTTE in Tamil Nadu,' the prime minister said in a statement on Thursday.

He said the rebels, who were defeated by Sri Lankan government troops in May 2009, were hoping to relaunch their decades-long fight for an independent homeland in the island.


'Their next target is to create small-scale attacks,' Mr Jayaratne said. 'The entire nation must be ready to face this threat.'

No rebel attacks have been launched since the Tigers were wiped out, but the premier told parliament on Wednesday that the country needed to maintain tough emergency laws to deal with their possible resurgence. -- AFP

0 Comments: