The World : 24 Killed in Sri Lanka

A Tamil rebel ambush directed at off-duty police officers touched off an hourlong gun battle in a crowded Sri Lankan shopping bazaar that left at least 23 civilians dead and 15 wounded. The senior government agent in Batticaloa, K. Selvaratnam, said the initial ambush left one police officer dead and two wounded. The civilian casualties occurred in fighting after police reinforcements were rushed to the bazaar, which was jammed with post-holiday shoppers. Selvaratnam identified the rebels as members of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Witnesses said the rebels threw hand grenades as the police fired across the marketplace. The Tamil rebels seek a separate Hindu nation in Sri Lanka, where Sinhalese Buddhists are in the majority.