The Hindu : Front Page : After air attack on army camp, power switched off in and around Colombo

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Wednesday, Oct 29, 2008
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After air attack on army camp, power switched off in and around Colombo

COLOMBO: Tamil rebels on Tuesday carried out an air strike on an army camp in northwestern Sri Lanka, the Defence Ministry said.

“Two bombs were dropped by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam aircraft over a military camp in Kalladi,” spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara told AFP, adding that there were no immediate details about damage or casualties.

“There was a loud noise coming from near the army camp,” one resident in Mannar district told AFP by telephone. “The military was also firing anti-aircraft guns.”

Shortly after the attack, the military switched off power in and around Colombo and activated anti-aircraft guns after authorities detected a suspicious aircraft over the capital, defence officials said.

Fire erupted at the main power station in the capital, but it was not immediately clear if the fire was the result of a Tiger air raid.

Officials from the state-run Ceylon Electricity Board said a cooler connected to the gas turbine power plant was burning, and the Colombo fire brigade was already at the site.

The Tigers last carried out an air and ground attack on a military camp in the northern town of Vavuniya in September, killing 11 soldiers. Ten Tiger suicide commandos also died in the attack.

The rebels are believed to operate five Czech-built Zlin-143 aircraft smuggled onto the island in pieces and re-assembled. Satellite images have shown that they have more than one air strip inside the areas they control.

Tuesday’s air strike came as government forces stepped up their own air strikes against the guerillas inside their de facto mini-state in the north. Troops are battling to capture Kilinochchi in the north. Defence Ministry maps show troops are 10-15 km southwest of the town.

A pro-LTTE website ‘Tamilnet’ quoted military officials as saying the LTTE carried out an air attack on the Thallaadi military base in Mannar around 11 p.m. — Agencies

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