Agence France-Presse,
Separatist Tamil Tiger rebels flying light aircraft bombed a military airbase on Sri Lanka's northern peninsula of Jaffna on Tuesday, killing at least six people, officials and the guerrillas said.
If confirmed it would be the second air attack in two months by the Tigers, although it was denied by the defence ministry who said the rebels only fired artillery.
Guerrilla spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiriyan said two light aircraft from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) headed toward the Palaly military air field in the Jaffna peninsula just after midnight.
“We have carried out our second air attack… on the Palaly air field and their military stores,” he said by satellite telephone from the north of the island.
Sri Lanka's army chief Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, in remarks which contradicted the defence ministry, said the aircraft were attacked with ground fire and then changed course to bomb a nearby army detachment.
“Troops at the forward defence lines saw them (Tiger aircraft) coming and alerted the Palaly base, and they used all their resources to direct fire at the aircraft,” Fonseka said.
He said the military switched off lights, rolled out heavy guns and opened fire. However, the guerrilla aircraft managed to escape.
Military sources said six troopers were killed and six wounded in the Tiger air attack.
Tiger spokesman Ilanthiriyan said their pilots saw flames after dropping bombs on the sprawling complex. It is the main military complex in Jaffna, a former Tiger bastion captured by troops in December 1995.
He said the Palaly air field was also targeted, but it was not immediately clear if the attack had succeeded in inflicting and damage.
The pro-rebel tamilnet.com website said explosions were heard from within the high security zone of Palaly following the Tiger attack. It also said that electricity and mobile phone networks in the area were cut off by authorities for several hours.
Tamilnet said heavy clashes were also reported along the border separating the rebel-held part of Jaffna peninsula from the rest of the region, which is held by government forces.
The Tigers failed to break the defence lines and move into Jaffna in August last year, and since then the main land route to Jaffna has remained shut.
The military depends on air and sea transport to ferry supplies to 40,000 security personnel and more than 350,000 civilians living in government-held parts of the peninsula.
The rebels, whose drawn-out campaign for independence for the ethnic Tamil minority has left more than 60,000 dead, carried out their first air strike on Sri Lankan forces last month.
In that attack, the guerrillas flew two aircraft over the main military air base, which shares a runway with Sri Lanka's only international airport, and dropped six bombs. Three airmen were killed and 17 wounded.
An investigation is still under way to find out how the aircarft managed to evade radar and remain in the air for a total of more than three hours without challenge.
Since then, the Sri Lankan military has acquired night-flying capabilities and said it has bombed several suspected Tiger targets, including guerrilla naval assets, communications facilities and training camps.
Hours before Tuesday's pre-dawn attack, a roadside bomb killed five people and wounded 33 in Vavuniya, which is next to a rebel-held area, the defence ministry said earlier.
It also said that the air force hit a suspected Tiger base located on the southeastern side of the Jaffna peninsula Monday.
A pro-rebel website reported that security forces have been massing troops in the peninsula for a possible offensive against the guerrillas, who control the only land access to the region.
The government on Monday asked peace broker Norway to put off a visit to rebel-held territory by their ambassador, citing security considerations.
