LTTE air raid causes shutdown of Sri Lanka's international airport

27 Mar 2007

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Colombo: The Sri Lankan government said Monday that the country's Bandaranaike International Airport would be back to normal very soon after an air raid was carried out by suspected Tamil Tiger rebels on nearby Katunayake air force base. The airport shut down operations as a safety measure.

The island country's airport and aviation authorities confirmed that several flights had been diverted to India after the air force base was attacked by aircraft of the separatist guerillas, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), at about 12:45 am on Monday.

The LTTE aircraft dropped three bombs at the hangers accommodating the Sri Lankan Air Force's fighter jets, which are used to raid Tamil Tiger positions in the north and east. Apparently, the bombs fell at adjoining barracks housing airmen.

According to an air force spokesman, three airmen were killed and 17 others injured as two of the three bombs exploded. The spokesman said none of the air force aircraft suffered damages and only buildings had been hit.

In a statement issued immediately after the attack, the LTTE said their two aircraft had returned safely to their bases in the north. This was the first such air raid carried out by the LTTE in the nearly three-decade-old armed conflict in the island.

This was also the second attack by the LTTE at the air base housed next to the international airport located about 35 km north of the capital Colombo. A commando style attack in July 2001 on the ground had destroyed 13 commercial and military aircraft.

The incident marks a further escalation in a flare-up of fighting that has killed more than 4,000 people since December 2005.

The LTTE has been fighting for an independent homeland for Sri Lanka's Tamil minority since the 1970s.

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