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Rebel planes plunge Colombo into darkness

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

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

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

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.

"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.

"Organizers were asking people to stay calm, but people were getting nervous over the constant sounds of gunfire. No one really knew what was going on," said Kamini Edward, who was following the game -- which Australia won -- at a city hotel.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) planes targeted two petroleum storage depots at the Colombo suburb of Kolonnawa and Muthurajawela, on the way to the airport, rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiriyan said.

The defense ministry confirmed that the two facilities -- one state-owned and the other run by the multi-national Shell -- were hit by four Tiger bombs, but only two exploded at the Shell depot.

The ministry said the bombs damaged fire fighting equipment and the water supply system at the Shell facility, but the damage was "minor."

The Tigers said they staged the air attack after Sri Lankan war planes hit the rebel-held region of Kilinochchi, 330km 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. There were no reports of any other casualties.

There was a second burst of anti-aircraft fire some 75 minutes after the first barrage. Authorities said they suspected the rebel aircraft was still within the capital's air space.

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.
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