The World - News from Jan. 20, 1988

Tamil rebels invaded a jail in eastern Sri Lanka and freed all 55 prisoners, police said. Eight members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, armed with automatic weapons and explosives, forced sentries to open the gates, then tied up the 24 guards before releasing the Muslim and Tamil inmates. “Not a single shot was fired,” said a police official from Batticaloa. “They told the guards they were releasing the prisoners as part of a civil disobedience campaign against the government.” The Tigers, who oppose a pact signed by India and Sri Lanka aimed at ending a four-year-old Tamil separatist rebellion, have been urging government employees not to report for work.