Rebels attack Sri Lanka air base

At least two airmen and 10 Tamil Tiger rebels have been killed in fighting at a Sri Lanka air force base in the north of the country, the military said.

Four more airmen were killed when their helicopter sent to provide back-up crashed in the area.

Two rebel planes dropped bombs on the base amid heavy gunfire, in what correspondents say is their first combined air and land attack.

The Tamil Tigers are fighting for a Tamil homeland in the north and east.

Tourist attraction



Gunfire and explosions could be heard in Anuradhapura, 210km (130 miles) north of the capital Colombo, before dawn on Monday, the ministry stated.

The attack began at 0320 (2150 GMT Sunday), when a small group of Tamil Tigers penetrated the air force base, said military spokesman Brig Udaya Nanayakkara.

The base is well inside government territory and the ruins of an ancient civilisation there attract many tourists.

During the fighting, two rebel aircraft flew overhead and dropped bombs.

Brig Nanayakkara said several men on the ground were killed and many others wounded, while two helicopters were damaged.

Four more airmen lost their lives when their helicopter sent to provide back-up crashed a few kilometres from the base.

The military insisted it went down because of a technical fault, not gunfire.

The bodies of a number of rebels were later found in the base.

But Tigers spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan said the planes involved in the attack got away, as they did after three air raids earlier this year.

The rebels are believed to have a small fleet of Czech-made two-seater propeller driven aircraft.

They are thought to have been smuggled into Sri Lanka in pieces, reassembled and modified to carry bombs.

Earlier this year, the Tigers used such a plane to bomb an air base next to the country's only international airport, near Colombo.

BBC