World Notes SRI LANKA

Just when Sri Lankans thought they had seen the end of it, war returned last week with blistering force. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a guerrilla group fighting for an independent ethnic Tamil homeland, attacked several police stations in Sri Lanka's northeastern province. At least 300 people are believed to have died in the first days of fighting; some reports said at least 100 of them were policemen executed by the rebels. The government dispatched an additional 4,200 troops to the region (the total now: 15,000) and began using helicopter gunships, artillery and aerial bombardment to crush the guerrillas.

The fighting marks the resumption of an old battle: since 1983, the Sri Lankan army and the Tigers have fought for control of the island's northern and eastern regions, where the Tigers want to declare an independent state called Eelam. So far, the conflict has cost 11,000 lives. Since March, the Tigers and the government have been on peaceful, if wary, terms. But in recent weeks tensions climbed as the rebels, accusing Sri Lankan leaders of delaying elections, promised a fight if the government did not deliver. They were as good as their word.