WELIKANDA, Sri Lanka, April 30 (UPI) -- Tamil Tigers said they raided three Sri Lankan camps run by former Tiger rebel Col. Karuna and killed at least 15 fighters.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam have often accused the Sri Lankan military of supporting the Karuna faction, a charge denied by the authorities. Karuna split from the Tigers in 2004, the BBC reported.
Tiger spokesman S. Puleedevan said special forces hit the camps near Welikanda, 250km (150 miles) northeast of the capital, Colombo, and set them on fire before withdrawing.
The Tigers want the group disarmed before they will hold talks with the Sri Lankan government on saving the ceasefire.
International mediators have been scrambling to save the truce, threatened by a fresh outbreak of violence this month.
More than 60,000 people have been killed in Sri Lanka since the Tigers launched their campaign for a separate state in the north and east of the country in 1983.
