Two planes belonging to Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have attacked the capital Colombo, damaging a government building, officials say. Both planes were downed, one of them hitting inland revenue offices, killing one person and injuring at least 40 others, officials said. The other plane was shot down near the city's airport, which has been closed. The raid comes as the army has driven the Tigers into a shrinking zone of jungle in the north of Sri Lanka. A pro-rebel website, TamilNet, said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), had carried out the attack.
Correspondents say the attack amounts to a major embarrassment for Sri Lanka's government, which had claimed to have destroyed all the rebels' hidden runways and put its small air force out of action. The city was put on full alert at about 2130 (1600 GMT) as electricity was cut and searchlights and tracer fire from anti-aircraft guns cut through the night sky. Briton Barry Walker told the BBC that he was in a central Colombo hotel when the blackout hit. "We were sitting by the swimming pool when we heard firing of heavy anti-aircraft guns. Heavy shell fire. This lasted 20-25 minutes... then there was a massive explosion," he said.
Another witness told the BBC he saw a low-flying aircraft and then heard a huge explosion by the city's fort, where many government offices are located. The air force headquarters, which is in the same area, may have been the target, correspondents say. The ministry of defence said a tax office of the inland revenue department was in flames after one of the planes went down into the building.
The other plane was shot down next to the international airport, just outside Colombo, and the body of its pilot had been found, defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said. Witnesses at the airport told Associated Press news agency that anti-aircraft guns had been firing followed by an explosion. Military spokesman Brig Udaya Nanayakkara said the alert began when a suspected Tamil Tiger aircraft was spotted north-east of Colombo and the capital's air defences were activated. Air force jets were scrambled to engage the planes.
The attack comes as a major Sri Lankan army offensive has inflicted a series of defeats on the Tamil Tiger forces, pushing the rebels into a narrow area of jungle in the north of Sri Lanka. The Tigers have used light planes in the past to attack Colombo. In October 2008, suspected Tamil Tiger rebels carried out air strikes on oil tanks near the capital, Colombo, and in north-western Sri Lanka. Colombo was also targeted in another raid in March 2007. About 70,000 people have died in the last 25 years as the Tigers have been fighting for a separate homeland in the north and east of the country. |