"Tamil guerillas
hacked to death 62 Muslim villagers in eastern Sri Lanka yesterday, accusing them of being
government informants, the Defence Ministry and an opposition Muslim leader said. The
massacre at Nintavur came on the eleventh day of war between Tamil separatists and Sri
Lankan forces for control of the northeast...The Defence Ministry said troops found the
bodies of Muslim men, women and children in Nintavur. Military officials said rebels used
knives to kill the villagers. Survivors said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam raided
the village early yesterday because they feared the residents would reveal their jungle
hideaway, according to Mahroof Gani of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress an opposition party.
He said that the rebels set fire to a mosque, looted and burnt down houses and left
placards warning Muslims not to work for the government...." - Associated Press
Report in London Times, 23 June 1990
The military admitted yesterday that its report that Tamil Tiger separatists had
hacked to death 62 Muslim men, women and children was false... They claimed their
earlier report was based on faulty information from residents. The allegation was reported
by international news agencies and appeared in newspapers around the world."
- AP
Report, London Sunday Times, 24 June 1990.
