Acts of violence against LTTE members and sympathizers by rival militant groups. Rival militant groups links with the government. [LKA0476]

Since the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) mounted a successful offensive against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in their base of Jaffna in October 1987, allegations have been made that the IPKF employed members of rival Tamil militant groups to identify LTTE members during its mopping up operations. [ Amnesty International, Amnesty International Statement on the Situation in Sir Lanka with Respect to the Return of Tamils to Sri Lanka, (London: August 1988), p. 3.] Suspected LTTE cadres were reported to have been brought before hooded members of the "Three Star" movement for purposes of identification and detention. [Ibid.] In the eastern region of the country, members of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front(EPRLF) were reported to have assisted the IPKF in screening operations at its checkpoints. [Brian Johnson, "Bottled Up: Tamil Landmines Keep Indian Soldiers Off Road," The Globe and Mail, [Toronto], 13 January 1988.]
Violence between rival Tamil militant groups which erupted immediately following the signing of the Indo-Sri Lankan Peace Accord on 29 July 1987 should be viewed in the context of long-standing hostilities that developed long before the Accord. In May 1986, the LTTE launched an offensive against the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization(TELO), killing 150 of its members. [ M.R. Narayanswamy, "Tamil Militant Factions Battle," India Abroad, New York: 17 June 1988, p. 14.] Later the same year the LTTE "banned" the People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and fought pitched battles with the EPRLF. [Ibid.] In the wake of the Accord, the LTTE renewed its attempts to crush its rivals. [ "Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers Vow to Crush Guerrilla Infighting," The Globe and Mail, [Toronto], 14 December 1987.] Several of the militant groups which had accepted the Accord, the EPRLF, TELO, and the ENDLF in particular, collaborated militarily , rendering the LTTE's offensives unsuccessful. [" Factions Battle."]
In November 1988, an EPRLF - ENDLF coalition won a majority of seats in the elections to the newly constituted Northeastern Provincial Council and formed a government. [ "The Tamils Defy the Tigers," The Economist, London: 26 November 1988, pp.32-34.] With its election, the EPRLF was able to gain military control of the Jaffna peninsula, the former LTTE stronghold. In the weeks preceding national parliamentary elections held on 15 February 1989, large numbers of active and former militants were reported killed in violent confrontations after approximately 300 LTTE members were detected infiltrating the Jaffna peninsula. [ "Faith, Hope and Charity," Asiaweek, (Hong Kong: 17 February 1989), p. 26. ] The present EPRLF dominated government is in the process of constituting a 7,000 member provincial volunteer force, as well as a 6,000 member police force. [Foreign Broadcast Information Service, Daily Report: Near East and South Asia, (Washington: 28 February 1989), p. 79.] The actual composition of these forces has not yet been determined.
See Attachments

Foreign Broadcast Information Service. Daily Report: Near East and South Asia. Washington: 28 February and 9 March 1989.

M.R. Narayanswamy. "Tamil Militant Factions Battle," in India Abroad. 17 June 1988 "Faith, Hope and Charity," Asiaweek. Hong Kong: 17 February 1989.

"The Tamils Defy the Tigers," in The Economist, London: 26 November 1988. The Globe and Mail, 14 December 1987 and 13 January 1988.

Amnesty International. Amnesty International Statement on the Situation in Sri Lanka with Respect to the Return of Tamils to Sri Lanka. London: August 1988.
Endnotes