COLOMBO, Dec 30 (Reuters) - A breakaway faction of Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers overran three rebel camps in the east of the island on Saturday, killing at least 30 guerrillas in one of the biggest attacks in recent months, the group said.
About 200 members of the renegade group, which is led by former Tiger eastern commander Karuna Amman, attacked the camps in Toppigala, about 40 km (25 miles) from the town of Batticalao.
"Our intelligence reports said there were top LTTE commanders there, 30 cadres were killed on the spot," said Asad Maulana, a spokesman for the Tamileela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal, the political wing of the Karuna faction.
Two members of Karuna were wounded in the attack, he said.
There was no immediate comment from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which says the Sri Lankan military is backing the renegade group.
The attack comes at a time when fighting between the LTTE and the military has intensified in the north and the east.
More than 3,000 people have been killed this year in suicide bombings, air and naval raids, and clashes, and international monitors say a 2002 ceasefire now exists only on paper.
(http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SP136188.htm)
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