Security forces Wednesday captured 10 Sinhalese rebels who escaped during an attack on Colombo's maximum-security prison, but 207 remained at large, said officials, who reported at least 60 more deaths in ongoing political bloodshed.
The breakout by members of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), or People's Liberation Front, Tuesday night was believed to have figured prominently in a Cabinet meeting that also was expected to focus on preparations for next Monday's presidential election.The JVP, made up mostly of leftist youths of the Sinhalese majority determined to topple the government, has vowed to derail the election by escalating a campaign of murder, intimidation, sabotage and protests that has claimed more than 2,400 lives since July 1987.