Eight killed in Tamil Tiger infighting

Heavy mortar shelling and gunfire erupted today between two Tamil Tiger rebel factions, killing at least eight guerrillas and wounding five, in Sri Lanka’s first battle since a 2002 cease-fire halted its civil war.

Rebels from the main Tamil Tiger rebel group based in the north seized territory held by a breakaway eastern faction at the Verugal River in eastern Sri Lanka, where the two sides have squared off since their split early last month.