COLOMBO, April 29 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger rebel planes bombed two oil facilities near the capital on Sunday, causing minor damage and tripping air defences that plunged the city into darkness, the air force said.

Colombo residents said they heard explosions and gunfire as the military responded to the air raid around 1:50 a.m. (2020 GMT). Hospital officials said six people were admitted for injuries after the attacks, and two were in intensive care.

The early morning attack was only the third air strike ever by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, who are fighting for an independent homeland for ethnic minority Tamils in the north and east of the Indian Ocean island.

"They dropped four bombs ... there was no human damage," a defence ministry spokesman said.

Two bombs landed in an area called Muthurajawela, north of the city, one damaging a water pipeline at a crude oil pumping station and the other striking a fire hut at a Shell gas facility, he said.

"There was an explosion and a fire. There has been some damage, power failure ... (But) there has been no damage to our storage tanks or pipeline," said Rimoe Saldin, finance director at Shell Gas.

The fire was brought under control in about 45 minutes. Shell was still assessing the extent of the damage, he said.

A customer service representative at Shell Company of Sri Lanka, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, said the bomb struck at Shell terminals, which is part of the port.

Two other rebel bombs landed near the Kolonnawa oil refining facility 5 km (3 miles) north of Colombo, the military said.

A Tamil Tiger spokesman said two aircraft carried out the raids, hitting both targets before returning safely to base.

Residents said power to the city had been cut as Sri Lanka's military went on alert when radar detected suspect aircraft.

"I can hear gunfire. I can see flashes going up into the sky above the city," a Reuters witness said. Residents said they had heard two explosions.

Some residents said they saw gunfire being directed at a plane flying overhead.

A Reuters correspondent at Colombo international airport said passengers had rushed off their flights and to a central area in the terminal but were later told to re-embark.

SECURITY ALERT

The government vowed to destroy the Tigers' air wing, and after the attack air force jets struck back, bombing targets in the northern rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi, the defence ministry said. Air force planes also hit Tiger targets about an hour before the air strike near Colombo, it said.

"The security forces are ascertaining this new threat by low-flying light aircraft and would take short-term and long-term measures to detect and destroy the LTTE air capability," cabinet spokesman and minister of mass media, Anura Priyadharshana Yapa, said in a statement.

Cathay Pacific and Emirates suspended flights to and from Colombo, the only international airport in Sri Lanka, an official with flag carrier SriLankan Airlines said.

The security alert followed a similar one late on Thursday when Sri Lankan authorities temporarily closed the international airport after reports suspicious planes were seen flying south along the coast.

That air raid scare occurred two days after planes from the Tamil Tiger rebels' newly unveiled air wing dropped bombs on a military position in the north, killing six people.

The rebels' first air strike was on the air force base next to Colombo airport at the end of March, and it took the military by surprise. Cathay suspended its daily flights after that attack for the better part of a month, resuming just a week ago.

Analysts believe the Tamil Tigers' air force consists of just two to five light propeller planes assembled from pieces smuggled into rebel-held territory over time.

Since 1983, the war in Sri Lanka has claimed some 68,000 lives, including more than 4,000 since late 2005.

The intensified violence of the past 16 months, including near daily land, sea and air clashes, has left a 2002 ceasefire in tatters.

© 1998-2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

top