TORONTO - Protesting against the civil war in their native Sri Lanka, many Tamil Canadians gathered to form a human chain at a downtown Toronto highway on Sunday evening, resulting in shutting down both lanes of the highway.

They were holding a sit-down protest on the highway with many linking arms and chanting “No More Genocide,” a reference to the military offensive of the Lankan army against the Tamil Tigers.

Both eastbound and westbound lanes of the usual busy Gardiner Expressway were completely blocked after hundreds of people marched up the ramps onto the elevated highway that runs across the south end of the city.

More than 100 police had contained the crowd to a narrow area near the Spadina Road off ramp, globeandmail.com reports.

Woman with children in strollers and young girls had taken the front row of the protest and were within a few metres of 60 police dressed in full riot gear, including shields.

Traffic was backed up in both directions for kilometres and the closure of a what is part of a ring road around Toronto could have far reaching ramifications.

Toronto police issued a news release that said it’s likely the expressway would likely be closed throughout Sunday evening.

Tamil Canadians and their supporters have been holding protests for several months to demonstrate against violence in Sri Lanka.

They’re calling for the Canadian Governments to help reach a ceasefire.

The protest came after an all-night artillery barrage in Sri Lanka’s war zone killed more than 370 people and forced thousands to flee to makeshift shelters along the beach.

According to a Lankan government doctor, at least 1,100 people were wounded in the bloodiest day he had seen in months of fighting between the army and Tamil Tiger rebels. (ANI)