Villagers Kill 25 at Government Center

Thousands of Sri Lankan villagers stormed a rehabilitation center for former Tamil rebel child soldiers, killing 25 of the ex-fighters with stones, knives and swords after hearing that the boys and young men took a Sinhalese officer hostage. After seizing the officer late Tuesday, the former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam fighters--who ranged in age from 14 to 25--shut off the lights in the government-run center, chased off the staff, closed the gates--and demanded to be set free. At dawn, about 3,000 villagers stormed the center near Bandarawela, a town about 80 miles east of the capital, Colombo, killing 25 of the onetime child soldiers, police said. The hostage was released unharmed.