Tamil Tigers kill 7 ethnic Sinhalese residents in Sri Lanka

Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels rushed to a village in northern Sri Lanka Thursday and killed seven ethnic Sinhalese residents preparing to celebrate a local holiday, military said.

The massacre took place in Avaranthalawa village in northern Vavuniya district, an official at the national security media center said.

Six of those killed were women over 50 years of age, the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make media comments.

No further details were available and the rebels could not be reached for comment.