Suspected Tamil Tiger insurgents hurled grenades into a Hindu temple compound in eastern Sri Lanka yesterday, wounding nine members of a rival Tamil rebel faction, police said.
The violence came ahead of weekend peace talks in Geneva between the Tigers and government on how to salvage a 2002 ceasefire.
The mainstream rebels accuses the military of backing the rival Tamil rebel faction. The military denies the charge.
The grenade attack occurred shortly after midnight in the eastern district of Batticaloa, military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe said.
He said mainstream Tigers had carried out the raid against members of the splinter group.
The breakaway rebel faction has an office complex about 50m from the Hindu temple, where the victims were resting after apparently deeming it a safe haven.
The wounded were admitted to a Batticaloa hospital.
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