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LTTE breaches Colombo security

COLOMBO: An LTTE light-wing aircraft dropped two improvised bombs on the Kelanitissa power station, on the outskirts of Colombo, after dropping three bombs on a military camp in Mannar district, on Tuesday night.

It is not clear if the same aircraft bombed both targets. Though the radar had detected the movement of the aircraft and the air defence system was activated, the aircraft returned to its “base” in Wanni. Defence analysts are surprised as to how the LTTE aircraft managed to penetrate Colombo’s airspace and managed to sneak back without being intercepted.

The appearance of aircraft led to panic in Colombo as anti-aircraft guns fired in the high security zone housing the harbour, Presidential Office and several hotels. The confusion was confounded as the authorities switched off power for a couple of hours.

“The aircraft would have travelled at least 600 km both ways and remained in the air space for at least 80 minutes. It is a mystery as to how and why the military failed to bring it down. It is a major security lapse at several levels,” a defence analyst told The Hindu.

A Defence Ministry statement maintained that the LTTE’s aerial raids caused “minor damages” to the power station. Nearly 75 per cent of the country’s power distribution is handled by the Kelanitissa power plant.

Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) officials said a cooler connected to the gas turbine power generator caught fire and the fire was immediately extinguished. A CEB employee, present on premises at the time of the raid, is believed to have died of heart attack.

The Defence Ministry said prior to the raid in Colombo’s vicinity at 10.20 pm, three bombs were dropped at the Thallady military camp in Mannar. “No major damages were caused due to the explosions. A soldier sustained injuries in the incident,” said the Ministry.

An airport official at Katunayake said that two-passenger aircraft were diverted to Chennai until the situation was brought under control.

The English daily, Island, quoting an unnamed defence official, said the radar had detected the LTTE aircraft in Colombo but failed to zero in on it. “There was some problem with ‘locking on’,” it quoted the official as saying.

The official said he suspected that the LTTE aircraft had been coated with some kind of paint to minimise its heat emission. Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa told the paper that the Air Force was still searching for the LTTE planes.

Pro-LTTE TamilNet in a report on the raids claimed that two turbines and air coolers sustained damage when “Tamil Eelam Air Force (TAF)” attacked the power plant.

“The air-strike was carried out on the target in Colombo, after attacking the Thallaadi Garrison of the Sri Lankan forces in Mannaar, inflicting heavy damage to the Thallaadi base, which functions as the rear station for the Sri Lankan military operation on Wanni from the Mannaar front,” said the website. “This time, the TAF bombers have carried out a long-range bombing mission, carrying out bombardments on two targets. The SLAF aircrafts were using para-lights in their search mission over Wanni. Civilian sources said the Tiger aircrafts flew back to Wanni over Mannaar,” it added.

The LTTE made its first foray into the Sri Lankan skies in March 2007 when an aircraft bombed an Air Force base next to the international airport in Colombo, killing three airmen and wounding 16. Since then, the LTTE has carried out seven aerial missions. On September 9 this year, an LTTE aircraft bombed a military base in Vavuniya in coordination with a ground attack by “Black Tiger” suicide fighters. This attack left at least 25 dead.

After this attack, the Air Force claimed it had shot down the aircraft, but the LTTE denied the claim.

Five other attacks include an April 2007 attack that inflicted minor damage on Colombo’s oil storage facilities; another attack in April 2007 on a Jaffna airbase, which killed six soldiers; October 2007 attack on an Anuradhapura airbase in which nine and wounded 20; an April 2008 raid on a military forward operations base in Welioya; and an August 26 attack on a Navy base in Trincomalee, which wounded 10 sailors.

Separately, the military claimed Task Force-1 soldiers have gained control over another LTTE stronghold, Jeyapuram, located northeast of Nachchikuda in Kilinochchi district, on Wednesday.

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