Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan forces shelled a makeshift hospital in the war zone Saturday, killing 64 civilians despite a pledge to stop using heavy weapons in its battle with the Tamil Tigers, a rebel-linked website said. A health official in the war zone confirmed that the hospital was hit twice by artillery through the day, but said he did not know who was responsible. The military denied launching the attack.

A deadly gun and grenade attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team Tuesday, staged in broad daylight on a busy street in Lahore, delivered a powerful blow to Pakistan's national pride and threatened to further undermine the fragile political stability of a nation under increasing pressure from the United States to crack down on terrorism. The assault left eight people dead, six of them policemen, and half a dozen Sri Lankan players, a coach and an umpire injured.

Nine separatist Tamil rebels were killed in clashes with government forces in northern and eastern Sri Lanka, the government reported Sunday. The guerrillas want an independent Tamil homeland in the northeastern part of Sri Lanka.

Four soldiers were killed in a clash with Tamil separatist guerrillas in eastern Sri Lanka, military officials said Monday.

The president of Sri Lanka said Sunday that the nation's military would go into defensive mode for a two-day period during the island's New Year holiday early this week, allowing civilians to flee the war zone.

Eight Tamil separatist guerrillas and two Indian soldiers were killed in a weekend clash in north Sri Lanka, a military official said Monday.

Left-wing rebels killed 24 men and women in an attack on a village in southern Sri Lanka, military sources said Tuesday.