Colombo Blackened Out - Suspicious Aircrafts Flying Towards Colombo Airport

[Shehz]

Just In, heard it on the WC Finals Commentary.

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/04/28/air.warn.reut/index.html

Explosions reported in Colombo
POSTED: 2134 GMT (0534 HKT), April 28, 2007

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (Reuters) -- -- Sri Lanka's military went on alert on Sunday after radar detected a suspect plane, military sources said, and witnesses said they heard explosions and firing in the capital Colombo.

"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 and power to the city had been cut.

"They have detected one suspect aircraft on radar," a military source said. Government officials had no immediate comment.

A Reuters correspondent at Colombo international airport said passengers had been told to get off their flights, but were later told to re-embark.

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

The air raid scare came two days after the Tamil Tiger rebels' newly unveiled air wing staged its second attack ever, dropping 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, and it took the military by surprise.

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

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, as the rebels are officially known, want to create an independent state in the north and east of the island for ethnic minority Tamils.

Also see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6604645.stm

 

[EagleEyes]

Sri Lanka rebels launch air raid on oil targets
By Ranga Sirilal and John Ruwitch

COLOMBO (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.

http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/intern...l?siteSect=143&sid=7766267&cKey=1177869215000

 

[Shehz]

You know what, I don't feel sorry for them at all. Decades of insurgency and The Lankans have still not learnt, good God.

They have Migs, and this the third air raid, what was their air force doing? Can't they chase single engine turbo props?

The attack took place durring the WC finals (Sunday), and they had prior information on Saturday of an imminent impeding attack http://dawn.com/2007/04/29/int7.htm

Colombo sealed off amid fears of Tiger attack

COLOMBO, April 28: Police and security forces sealed off Sri Lanka's capital on Saturday, searching every vehicle entering and leaving the city amid fears of a Tamil Tiger attack, officials said.

There were huge traffic jams at every entry point to Colombo with motorists spending several hours before they could be allowed in. Doctors and others essential services were also stuck at roadblocks.

“This is part of the operations to prevent Tigers getting into the city,” a police official said, adding no arrests were made during the three-hour operation.

The extraordinary security measure came as Sri Lankans prepared to watch their team play Australia in the finals of cricket World Cup in Barbados later on Saturday.

The latest moves followed heightened security in the capital after defence ministry reports that Tamil Tiger guerillas had entered the air space of the island's only international airport overnight on Thursday.

The sky over the Katunayake international airport near Colombo -- where government war planes share a runway with civilian jets -- was lit up with anti-aircraft gunfire in response to the incursion by a “suspicious aircraft.” Electricity to the capital was switched off so potential targets would not be illuminated.

The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who have been fighting the government for 35 years and run a mini-state in the north of the island, bombed the Katunayake air base a month ago in their first ever air strike.

The separatists staged a second air raid on the Palaly military complex in the north early on Tuesday.

The following day the Tigers held their fire while Sri Lanka beat New Zealand to qualify for Saturday's finals.

However, security forces in the northern and eastern regions were told to step up their alert on Saturday amid fears the Tigers could strike later in the day while attention was riveted on the cricket telecast, police said.

Sri Lanka's state-run Rupavahini television station said more than 14 million people out of the 19.5 million population were expected to watch the live broadcast of the finals.

“Senior officers in the operational areas have been told to maintain maximum alert today (Saturday),” a police spokesman here said. “They must ensure that the men under them do not abandon their posts to go and watch cricket.” The tightened security came as security forces shot dead two suspected Tamil Tiger rebels across a defence line on Friday in the island's north, the defence ministry said.

The guerillas were travelling in a vehicle when troops opened fire at them, it said. The attack came after the Tigers shot dead three naval troops in the northeast of the island earlier on Friday.—AFP

 

[Shehz]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6620185.stm

Colombo airport in night closure

Powerful blasts were heard near the airport at the weekend
Officials at Sri Lanka's only international airport have ordered it to be closed at night time following a series of Tamil Tiger air strikes.
They say that closure will come into effect from next week.

The Bandaranaike International Airport, which shares a runway with an adjoining military base, will close between 2230 and 0430 from 10 May.

Meanwhile Britain has decided to withdraw some of its debt relief payments to Sri Lanka, officials say.

It had earlier agreed to give $5.9m to help the country pay debts to the World Bank, but has now suspended the programme after making only half the payments, a spokesman for the British High Commission in Colombo said on Thursday.

He said that the payments will resume only if a series of conditions are met, including no unjustified increases in military spending and no instigations of hostility by the government.

There was no immediate response from ministers to the news.

'Public inconvenience'

The airport closure follows an air raid on Sunday by the Tamil Tigers on oil facilities in Colombo. A fuel storage tank was destroyed and two buildings were damaged.

The Tigers carried out their first ever air raid in March. It targeted the military airport near Colombo. They have also carried out an air attack in the north of the island in which six soldiers died.

The acting Director General of Civil Aviation, Parakrama Dissanayake, told the AFP news agency that international airlines have a week to reschedule their flights to the island.

Officials say that the night time closure would be for three months initially, and any further extension would depend on the security situation.

"The decision was taken mainly to minimise public inconvenience which may take place due to disruption of flights. Passenger safety is paramount to us," Mr Dissanayake said.

The airport has been forced to close down three times in the past month, with many incoming flights diverted to southern India.

Shut down

On Wednesday Emirates said that it would resume day-time services after suspending them because of the Tamil Tiger attacks.

Cathay, Asia's third-largest carrier, has yet to resume operations while Singapore Airlines announced that it would only fly during the day to Colombo.

Correspondents say that Singapore, Cathay and Emirates account for about a quarter of Sri Lanka's air passenger traffic.

The airport handles about 70 flights a day, and correspondents say that the night-time shut down would affect 40% of them.

The rebels previously attacked the airport in July 2001, when they destroyed more than a dozen military aircraft and attacked six civilian passenger jets.

They are fighting for an independent state in the north and east.

Despite a ceasefire still being in place on paper, Sri Lanka has been sliding back towards civil war, with more than 4,000 people killed in the past 15 months.

 

[Bull]

Sl seems to have no answer to LTTEs nigh air raids. Shame a country is held hostage like this.