Suspected Tamil rebels have abducted two members of a rival group of former separatists from their office in a northern town, the Defense Ministry said Thursday. A group of armed men stormed into the office of the PeoplesÂ’ Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam in the seaside town of Puttalam late Wednesday and seized Pakaisara and Karikalam, an official at the ministryÂ’s Media Center for National Security said. Tamils often use only one name. Remaining members of the former rebel group, which renounced violence decades ago and joined the political mainstream, told Puttalam police that Tamil Tiger rebels abducted the two men, the officer said on condition of anonymity because of army regulations.
Calls to the rebelsÂ’ headquarters in the northern district of Kilinochchi rang unanswered Thursday. Several armed Tamil separatist groups were formed when the campaign for an independent Tamil homeland in Sri LankaÂ’s north and east began in 1983. Most of those groups, including the PeoplesÂ’ Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam, laid down their weapons and sought a peaceful solution in 1987 under an India-brokered deal. But the Tamil Tiger rebels, formally called the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, have maintained their armed campaign and occasionally target members of rival Tamil parties, accusing them of collaborating with government forces to fight the rebellion.