Vikram Singh reports from Colombo, that Tamil's are protesting a massacre Wednesday at a government rehabilitation center for former guerrillas. Sri Lankan officials say a successful military operation claimed the lives of 25 Tamil rebels in the northern Jaffna Peninsula. The government says the rehabilitation center was a unique program for young fighters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam who had either surrendered or been captured. According to officials, protests of the killings led to clashes between Tamils and members of the Sinhala majority community. According to railway officials, trains into the area have been stopped following an attack on a railway station and the burning of a train in nearby Watagoda.
Officials also say mobs damaged tracks by laying logs and boulders to block trains.
In Colombo, the government sought to reassure the public that everything is under control. A statement from the Special Media Information Center calls for peace-loving citizens to remain calm. Tamil rebels have been fighting for a separate state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for 17-years.