Sri Lankan capital under rebel's air attack, 27 injured, another air attack thwarted

Rebel air raid thwarted by Sri Lankan air defense system

 2009-02-21 16:30:30  

    COLOMBO, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) --

The timely activation of the air defense system in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo had thwarted Friday night's Tamil Tiger air raid in the city, the Sri Lanka Airforce said Saturday.

    "The activation of the air defense system prevented the LTTE suicide attack", Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara, the airforce spokesman said.

    The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) carried out an air raid targeting the Sri Lanka Airforce headquarters and the Airforce base at Katunayaka outside the capital near the only international airport.

    The LTTE's small aircraft hit the Department of Inland Revenue building in downtown Colombo, which is close to the Sri Lanka Airforce headquarters.

    The military said the rebel plane was hit by the anti-aircraft gun fire before it rammed into the 13th floor of the Inland Revenue building. At least two people died and over 50 others were injured.

    "The two planes were carrying around 150 grams of C4 explosives", Nanayakkara said adding that if the rebel bomber had succeeded in hitting his intended target, the destruction would have been massive.

    The second rebel airplane which had targeted the Katunayaka airbase was shot down with its pilot killed.

    Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, deputy minister of finance said the attack on the Revenue Department had not damaged its data bases and the damage could be restored by next Tuesday.

    "Only the 13th floor suffered direct damage and other floors had felt the impact", Siyambalapitiya added.

    The Friday night's air raid was the first rebel military response to their successive military defeats when they lost Kilinochchi, their administrative capital early in January. Now government troops are in their last hold of Mullaithivu and are on the verge of completely crushing the Tiger rebel challenge. 

Sri Lankan capital under rebel's air attack, 27 injured

2009-02-21 01:15:28  

    COLOMBO, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) --

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels launched an air attack on the capital Colombo Friday night, with one aircraft being shot down and another one dropping a bomb on a government building, defense officials said.

    Military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said one aircraft was shot down by the Air Force near the Katunayake airport and the dead body of the pilot has been found.

    Nanayakkara said another aircraft dropped a bomb at Inland Revenue department, but the casualties are not clear at the moment as the building has been closed.

    The government's defense spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella, on the other hand, said 27 people were injured when the government building was bombed.

    The two aircraft of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) entered the city at about 9:30 p.m. local time (0400 GMT).

    The power was cut in the whole city and anti-air shots were fired in the capital for more than one hour.

    Aviation officials said the Katunayake airport was temporary closed and some incoming flights were diverted to India.

    The air raids come as the military claim its war against the LTTE is nearing its end as the rebels have been cornered into an area less than 100 km in the north.

    The LTTE made its first air attack against the capital in March2007, followed by at least eight other air raids against military and other targets in Colombo and other areas.

    Claiming discrimination at the hands of Sinhalese dominated governments, the LTTE has been fighting for more than two decades to carve out a Tamil homeland in the north and east for the minority Tamils.

    More than 70,000 people have been killed so far in Asia's longest civil war.

Editor: Mu Xuequan