Gunmen Kill 140 Muslims During Prayers at Two Sri Lanka Mosques

As many as 140 Muslims were shot dead during Friday night prayers in two mosques in eastern Sri Lanka, military sources and Muslim leaders said today.

They blamed the attacks on Tamil separatist rebels.

More than 100 people were wounded in the shootings in Kathankudy near the town of Batticaloa.

M. H. M. Ashroff, leader of a Sri Lankan Muslim organization, told reporters that the rebels burst into the mosques during prayers, switched off the lights and opened fire with machine guns.

“We have recovered 127 bodies up to early this morning. More than 100 others were rushed to hospitals. Some are in critical condition,” he said.

Another Muslim official, Vasu Farook, said that 140 people have been killed and that some of the wounded were not expected to survive.

A military official in Colombo said troops were rushed to the area and were conducting an intensive search.

He said the wounded were taken by helicopters to hospitals in Batticaloa, Minneriya and Amparai districts.

About 480 Muslims have now been killed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam since the rebel group launched its latest offensive on June 11, said Ashroff, head of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress.

He said he has asked the government to provide arms to Muslims threatened by the Tamil rebels. “There has been no response,” he added.

The rebels, fighting to set up a separate homeland in the north and east for Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority, launched a series of strikes against army camps and police stations at the start of their offensive.

Security forces have beaten them back in some areas, military sources said.

More than 1,800 people have died in the seven-week war, according to unofficial figures.