Rebel Attack Kills At Least 25

Guerrillas attacked a military base Saturday, killing at least 25 soldiers and escalating violence that threatened to reignite a 12-year separatist war.

Several hundred rebels fired guns and threw grenades at the Kattumuruvikulam camp, 130 miles east of Colombo, for more than six hours, beginning at midnight Friday, officials said.

Troops found the corpses of 20 soldiers but feared more could have been killed when they fled into the jungle. At least 40 soldiers were injured, and five died on the way to a military hospital. Eleven soldiers were reported missing.

The military said it found the bodies of 12 rebels. The rebels, however, didn’t report any casualties.