Tigers carry out pre-dawn air strikes in Colombo

Colombo, Apr 29 (UNI) At least two light wing aircraft of Tamil Tiger rebels carried out pre-dawn air attacks in and around Colombo and returned to their hideouts in the rebel-held Wanni region, as the people in the capital city were enjoying the World Cup cricket final between Sri Lanka and Australia in giant television screens.

''Two oil storages that supply fuel to Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) bombers were attacked by the Tamileelam Air Force.'' the pro-LTTE website, Tamilnet quoted LTTE's military spokesman Irasiah Ilanthirayan as saying.

According to the LTTE spokesman, the oil and fuel storages in Kolonnawa in the east of Colombo and Muththuraajawala in the outskirts of Colombo were attacked by the light wing aircraft during early hours in a tit-for-tat retaliation to the midnight air raid by the Sri Lankan supersonic jets.

''The air strike by the Tigers was carried out after Sri Lankan Air Force bombers bombed Wanni at around 0100 hrs local time,'' the LTTE military spokesman said.

The people in Colombo and suburbs were in panic when the defence authorities cut off the electricity supply and started firing in air after activating the air defence system in many strategic locations.

Residents in many parts of Colombo have seen and heard the suspected LTTE aircraft flying over City.

The Defence Ministry in a report confirmed the LTTE air strikes in Colombo shortly after midnight and said the Sri Lanka Air Force activated its air defence systems in Colombo and Katunayake after spotting the flying Tigers at around 0145 hrs local time. ''Air force sources said the air defence system was activated immediately after a suspicious LTTE aircraft was detected by the air defence radar systems. They further said the suspected LTTE aircraft has dropped four improvised bombs into the Kolonnawa and Muthurajawela areas,'' the Defence Ministry report said.

It, however, claimed that the two bombs dropped in Kolonnawa have caused no damages as they failed to explode.

Meanwhile, one of the two bombs that dropped into Muthurajawela area has caused minor damages to the fire guard equipments of a private-owned gas company whilst the other caused damages to a water supply, the Defence Ministry said.

This is the third air strike by the Tigers and second in Colombo in little over a month.

On March 26, the LTTE carried out their first air attack on the Katunayake air force base, killing at least three airmen and wounding 11 more. And exactly a month later they carried out another attack in the Northern Jaffna peninsula, killing at least six soldiers.

The Sri Lankan air force last week vowed to crush the newly acquired air capability of the Tamil Tiger rebels, after the light wing aircraft of the Tigers carried out their second pre-dawn air attack in the Northern Jaffna peninsula.

The Sri Lanka Air Force intensified its regular air raids on the suspected LTTE targets elsewhere in the north-east region inflicting heavy damages to the LTTE.

UNI