World | Other World Stories
Sri Lankan army downs rebel plane
The Sri Lankan military said it had shot down a Tamil Tiger plane for the first time on Tuesday after the rebels launched a pre-dawn air raid and ground assault on a military base which killed at least 25 people.
- Agencies
- Published: 23:25 September 9, 2008
- Hospital staffers attend to an injured soldier at a hospital in Vavuniya, about 200km northeast of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Tamil Tiger rebels launched an air and ground assault on a military complex in northern Sri Lanka early on Tuesday.
- Image Credit: AP
Colombo: The Sri Lankan military said it had shot down a Tamil Tiger plane for the first time on Tuesday after the rebels launched a pre-dawn air raid and ground assault on a military base which killed at least 25 people.
But the rebels denied their plane had been shot down, and said its raid had succeeded in destroying an air force radar station in an assault that killed 20 soldiers.
The raid was one of the most audacious counter-attacks by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) since the army stepped up its advance over the past three weeks, seizing rebel strongholds in what has been the bloodiest fighting since 1999.
If confirmed, the downing of the rebel aircraft would provide a boost to the military, frustrated and embarrassed by its inability to impose its air superiority and stop six earlier attacks by the Tigers' ramshackle air force since March 2007.
The rebels hit a base in Vavuniya, a rear echelon headquarters located just south of the frontline and 250 kilometres northeast of the capital, Colombo, with an artillery barrage and ground troops before two aircraft dropped bombs.
"SLAF (Sri Lankan Air Force) interceptors destroyed one aircraft over Mullaittivu," spokesman Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara said, referring to a LTTE-held port.
Eleven rebels, 12 soldiers, a policeman and a civilian were killed, a military spokesman said. Thirteen soldiers, seven air force personnel and nine police were wounded, he said.
The air raid was in support of a "Black Tigers" suicide commando unit trying to take out the radar tower, the LTTE said.
Share this article
News Editor's choice
-
Africa segment at Dubai film festival
Productions feature interesting mix of genres tackling serious issues
-
Arafat death anniversary remembered
Palestinians mark five years since the death of leader Yasser Arafat
-
What to expect at the Dubai Airshow
We preview what types of aircraft to expect at the Dubai Airshow
