Tiger air raids send cricket fans fleeing in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO: Tamil Tiger planes bombed fuel depots around Sri Lanka's capital early Sunday, briefly plunging Colombo into darkness and sending cricket fans watching the World Cup final running for cover.   

Explosions were heard and the night sky lit up with anti-aircraft fire as fans scrambled to leave parks and hotels where giant screens showing Sri Lanka playing Australia in the final in Barbados were switched off.   

A fuel storage tank owned jointly by the government and the Indian Oil Company was destroyed while two buildings of Shell Gas Lanka, the local unit of the Anglo-Dutch giant, also suffered fire damage, officials said.   

Flights at the island's only international airport were disrupted as the air defence systems kicked in, officials said adding that one Indian jet was turned back while several departing flights were delayed.   

Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific and Dubai-based Emirates announced Sunday they were suspending flights to Sri Lanka pending a review of the security situation.   

It was the third time the separatist rebels have used light aircraft to hit military targets. The Bandaranaike International Airport shares a runway with the adjoining military base where war planes are parked.   

The government moved to appease international airlines and tourists by saying that it was capable of dealing with the threat from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), but gave no details.   

"The government is fully capable of meeting any challenges from the LTTE terrorist outfit and wishes to reassure the nation that all effective steps would be taken to ensure safety of the nation and its people," Media Minister Anurapriyadharshana Yapa said in a statement.   

Residents said there was panic following the blasts and gun fire heard across the city and its suburbs.   

"It was total panic because we initially thought it was fireworks," said Zaithoon Bin Ahamed who was partying with friends at a Colombo rugby club.   

The LTTE planes targeted two petroleum storage depots to disrupt fuel supplies for military aircraft which regularly bomb rebel-held territory, Tiger spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiriyan said.   

Officials at the Kolonnawa storage depot said one of the bombs scored a direct hit and destroyed a storage tank holding heavy oil.   

"The bomb had a lot of ball bearings which acted as pellets," an official at the facility said.

"However, it did not have the capability to ignite a huge fire." A second bomb exploded in a marsh without causing any damage.   

The Tigers said the attack was retaliation for Sri Lankan air raids against the rebel-held region of Kilinochchi, 330 kilometres north of here.   

"We sent two squadrons to target facilities that provide fuel to military aircraft after two Sri Lankan air force jets bombed a suburb of Kilinochchi," Ilanthiriyan said.   

Within an hour, the Tigers scrambled their aircraft to attack targets in Colombo and returned to their secret location inside rebel-held territory two hours later, he added.   

Doctors said nine people were wounded during the anti-aircraft fire. Sri Lanka deployed supersonic jets to hit back, air force spokesman Ajantha Silva said.

"We have identified the locations where those (Tiger) aircraft landed and have bombed them successfully," Silva said.   

The Tigers carried out their first ever air strike last month and followed it with a second last week on the Palaly military complex in the north of the country.   

The guerrillas attacked the Kolonnawa oil facility with suicide bombers in October 1995.    

Police and security forces had Saturday sealed off Colombo, searching every vehicle entering and leaving the city over fears of a Tamil Tiger attack.   

The Tigers are believed to be operating five Czech-built Zlin-143 aircraft smuggled onto the island in pieces and re-assembled.