 [START_ENT] Sri Lankan [END_ENT] rebels overrun police post , kill 24 .  COLOMBO 1996-08-29  Tamil Tiger rebels overran an isolated police post in Sri Lanka 's northeast early on Thursday killing 24 policemen , defence officials said .  A large group of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ( LTTE ) rebels stormed the Kudapokuna police post , just north of Welikanda , 200 km ( 125 miles ) from Colombo , before dawn , they said .  " The entire post was overrun , " said a defence official .  It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties among the rebels , who are fighting for independence for minority Tamils in the Indian Ocean island 's north and east .  It is the second time in three days that the rebels attacked police .  Suspected Tamil Tigers on Tuesday hurled hand grenades at a police vehicle in a crowded market in the army-controlled northern town of Vavuniya , killing at least two policemen .  More than a dozen people , including several police who were working undercover , were wounded in the attack .  Vavuniya is just south of the northern mainland area controlled by the LTTE .  The government says more than 50,000 people have died in the ethnic war , now in its 14th year .
Sri Lankan
rebels overrun police post , kill 24 .  COLOMBO 1996-08-29  Tamil Tiger rebels overran an isolated police post in Sri Lanka 's northeast early on Thursday killing 24 policemen , defence officials said .  A large group of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ( LTTE ) rebels stormed the Kudapokuna police post , just north of Welikanda , 200 km ( 125 miles ) from Colombo , before dawn , they said .  " The entire post was overrun , " said a defence official .  It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties among the rebels , who are fighting for independence for minority Tamils in the Indian Ocean island 's north and east .  It is the second time in three days that the rebels attacked police .  Suspected Tamil Tigers on Tuesday hurled hand grenades at a police vehicle in a crowded market in the army-controlled northern town of Vavuniya , killing at least two policemen .  More than a dozen people , including several police who were working undercover , were wounded in the attack .  Vavuniya is just south of the northern mainland area controlled by the LTTE .  The government says more than 50,000 people have died in the ethnic war , now in its 14th year .
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