Jaffna, Feb 06: De-mining experts found rocket propelled grenades and other ammunition stashed in a well at a Hindu temple in Sri Lanka's war-torn Jaffna peninsula, a top relief official said today.

The Murugan Temple, dedicated to a Tamil Hindu warrior god, had once been occupied by government forces. The weapons were believed left behind when forces fled an offensive by the separatists Tamil Tiger rebels in 2000. Among the armaments found yesterday and then handed over to police were 110 hand grenades, nine rocket propelled grenades, 3,850 rounds of assault rifle ammunition and one rocket booster, said P Yohan, the coordinating secretary of the humanitarian de-mining unit.

There was no sign the weapons were being used.

The Jaffna peninsula, home to most of Sri Lanka's 3.2 million Tamils, was the centre of the civil war that started in 1983 af ter the rebels accused the majority Sinhalese of discrimination. The government and rebels signed a Norwegian-brokered cease-fire last February and have started peace talks.

The city of Jaffna, where the Tamil uprising began, has changed hands twice during the conflict, and from 1990 to 1995 the Tamil Tigers ran a virtually independent state here.

In 1995, Sri Lankan military retook the city and pushed the rebels into jungle further south, but in April 2000, the military suffered its worst defeat of the war there when 10,000 troops were forced to abandon a strategic land corridor and 700 soldiers died. The rebels came as close as one km from Jaffna's city centre, forcing the army to retreat from installations including the Murugan Temple. The army later won back Jaffna, and it remains under government control.
Bureau Report