SLA expects more defections

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 July 1999, 13:21 GMT]
The Liberation Tigers distributed pamphlets encouraging members of Tamil paramilitary groups and auxiliary forces assisting the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to defect to the LTTE, extending an earlier appeal.

The Tigers said that several cadres from the paramilitary groups and some Sinhala soldiers from the SLA have responded to their earlier call and joined the LTTE.

The pamphlets issued by the LTTE have been sent to the 'Razeek group', an auxiliary force of the SLA, amongst other irregular groups, sources said.

Meanwhile, the SLA High Command has issued instructions to the District Military Co-ordinating Authority, not to issue sophisticated weapons to the Tamil groups or SLA auxiliary forces, reliable security sources said.

The order has been issued, according to the sources, following the defections of several cadres from paramilitary groups and auxiliary forces to the LTTE, along with their weapons, in response to the Tigers' earlier appeal.

The SLA suspects that the other members of the Tamil groups and auxiliary forces may be tempted to follow suit.