text: 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 .