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Curfew imposed in central Sri Lanka to control violence

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October 30, 2000 

COLOMBO (AP) - Police imposed curfew and suspended trains to the central region after local residents attacked shops and trains, police said.

They were protesting an attack by a Sinhalese mob on a rehabilitation center that killed 25 former child guerrilla fighters last week..

"The situation is a little tense now," said Senior Superintendent of Police Nimal Mediwaka.

Mediwaka said protesters in Nuwara Eliya and several nearby towns stoned shops and trains on Saturday and Sunday and raised white flags in mourning.

"There have also been a few incidents of stoning in Kotagala, close to Nuwara Eliya town," he said.

The curfew will be lifted at 6 a.m. on Monday, Mediwaka said.

The attack took place on Wednesday at the rehabilitation center near Bandarawela, a town of 60,000 people, 200 kilometers (125 miles) east of Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital.

Angry that former Tamil rebel child soldiers had taken a Sinhalese officer hostage, nearly 3,000 villagers stormed the center and killed 25 of the ex-rebels with stones, knives and swords.

Fifteen of the former fighters were wounded. The hostage was released unharmed.

"People stoned some of the trains and obstructed the railway track at several points by laying logs and boulders. We were forced to stop running trains beyond Nawalapitiya," W. K. B. Weragama, general manager of railroad network, said on Sunday.

One railroad sation was attacked with rocks, Weragama said.

Nuwara Eliya is nearly 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital.

Nearly 3,000 Sinhalese villagers stormed the detention center near Bandarawela on Wednesday and used stones, knives and swords to kill 25 of the Tamils being detained in a government rehabilitation camp.

Bandarawela is about 30 kilometers (miles) southeast of Nuwara Eliya town.

Mediwaka said signs of tension surfaced on Saturday when one of the bodies was brought to its home in Kotagala.

Tamil Tiger rebels have accused police and soldiers of organizing the mob attack and warned of repercussions.

"The government of Sri Lanka should bear total responsibility for the serious consequences that might arise from continuing such genocidal assaults on innocent Tamil detainees," the Tamil rebels said Friday in a statement.