Tamil Tiger planes bomb power station and army camp

Tamil Tiger planes bomb Colombo power station and Mannar army camp

28 October 2008

Colombo skyline lights up with anti aircraft fire after Tigers attack Kelanitissa power station - Tamilwin Report, 29 October 2008

Turbines damaged in LTTE airstrike on power plant, one killed - TamilNet Report, 29 October 2008

Tamil Tigers set a power station ablaze in the Sri Lankan capital and hit an army base in separate air raids - Reuters Report, 29 October 2008

LTTE aircraft drops bombs in Colombo - Hindustan Times, 29 October 2008

LTTE Air Raids Getting Deadlier - David Sabapathy - Tamil Eelam News Service, 30 October 2008

"The damage caused to two power stations, combined cycle power plant and diesel powered Fiat GT 7 installed within the Kelanitissa complex would cause a severe deficit in the country’s electricity demand, said a senior employee. It may cost 24 million rupees a day to the electricity board, till its get repaired, says another official." more

Colombo skyline lights up with anti aircraft fire after Tigers attack power station
Tamilwin Report, 29 October 2008

[see also What a flying menace! - Sharmini Serasinghe, 8 May 2007 "These days I sleep under my bed; not necessarily because of flying tiger bombs, but because of our military’s unique and deadly air defence system. We are now in more danger from our own anti-aircraft fire than we are from flying tiger bombs - at least those fellows know how to whack their targets with more accuracy. more]

மன்னார் தள்ளாடி இராணுவ தரைப்படைத்தளம் மற்றும் களனி திஸ்ஸ அனல் மின் உற்பத்தி நிலையம் மீதும் மீது தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகளின் வான்புலிகள் நேற்று செவ்வாய்க்கிழமை இரவு வான் தாக்குதல்களை நடத்திவிட்டு வானூர்திகள் பாதுகாப்பாக தளம் திரும்பிள்ளதாக விடுதலை புலிகள் தெரிவித்துள்ளனர்.

மேலும் விடுதலை புலிகள் நேற்று இரவு மேற்கொண்ட வான் தாக்குதலினையடுத்து கட்டுநாயக்க விமான நிலையத்தில் தரையிறக்கப்படவிருந்த இரு பயணிகள் விமானங்கள் நிலமை கட்டுப்பாட்டுக்குள் கொண்டு வரப்படும் வரை சென்னை விமான நிலையத்திற்கு அனுப்பப்பட்டதாக கட்டுநாயக்க விமான நிலைய அதிகாரிகள் தெரிவித்துள்ளதாக பாதுகாப்பு அமைச்சகம் தெரிவித்துள்ளது.

அதேவேளை களனி திஸ்ஸ மின்னுற்பத்தி நிலையத்தின் மீது மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்ட தாக்குதலில் இலங்கை மின்சாரசபை ஊழியரொருவர் காயமடைந்துள்ளதாகவும் . காய்மடைந்தவர் கொழும்பு தேசிய வைத்தியசாலையில் அனுமதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளதாகவும் பாதுகாப்பு அமைச்சகம் மேலும் தெரிவித்துள்ளது. அதன் போது கொழும்பு வான் பரப்பபை நோக்கி பல பகுதியிலிருந்து படையினர் விமானத்திற்கு பல வகையான ஆயுதங்களை பாவித்து வான் நோக்கிய தாக்குதல் நடத்தியிருந்தனர். அந்த நேரத்தில் கொழும்பு வான்பரப்பு பாரிய சிவத்த நிறத்த உடைய தீ பிளம்புகளாக தென்பட்டது.

Sinhala Soldiers closing the highway in front of Kelanitissa Power Plant after the air raid

Turbines damaged in LTTE airstrike on power plant, one killed
TamilNet Report, 29 October 2008

A turbine operator of the Kelanitissa power plant was killed due to the impact of the explosion and two turbines and air coolers sustained damage when Tamileealm Air Force (TAF), the air wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) attacked the powerplant Tuesday night, according to the sources in Colombo. The air-strike was carried out on the target in Colombo, after attacking the Tha'l'laadi garrison of the Sri Lankan forces in Mannaar, inflicting heavy damage to the Tha'l'laadi base, which functions as the rear station for the Sri Lankan military operation on Vanni from the Mannaar front.

The victim who succumbed to the impact of the explosion was identified as 52-year-old Ranjith Edward Wijesuriya.

Last time, when Tigers carried out a joint attack on Sri Lankan forces Vanni Headquarters (Vanni SF-HQ), the Sri Lankan forces claimed that they had shot down an aircraft of the Tigers. But, the Tigers had said their aircrafts safely landed after the Vavuniyaa operation.

This time, the TAF bombers have carried out a long-range bombing mission, carrying out bombardments on two targets.

Tamil Tigers set a power station ablaze in the Sri Lankan capital and hit an army base in separate air raids - Reuters Report, 29 October 2008

COLOMBO (Reuters) - The Tamil Tigers' air wing set a power station ablaze in the Sri Lankan capital and hit an army base on Tuesday in separate air raids, the military said.

The bombing runs were the eighth and ninth raids by the Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam's (LTTE) ramshackle air force of single-engine propeller-driven planes, which have bedeviled the Sri Lankan military since first striking in March 2007.

Tuesday's first attack hit Thalladi military camp about 250 km (150 miles) north of Colombo in Mannar district, causing minor damage and injuring one soldier, military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said.

Soon after, radar picked up an unidentified aircraft heading south over the Indian Ocean toward Colombo. The city was plunged into darkness after power was switched off as a precaution, jets were scrambled and air defenses activated.

"At around 1130 (2 p.m. EDT), an LTTE light aircraft came into Colombo and dropped bombs at Kelanitissa power station. Anti-aircraft guns were activated. There is some fire in the area and firefighters have been sent there," Nanayakkara said.

Shortly after the lights went out, the sound of anti-aircraft guns thundered from Colombo's shoreline, and people stood in the streets to watch.

Nanayakkara said it was not clear whether the raids were carried out by one plane or two.

LONG CONFLICT

The rebels are locked in heavy fighting with the military in northern Sri Lanka, where the government is confident it will defeat a foe its has battled since 1983 in one of Asia'a longest-running insurgencies.

The military has stepped up its offensive in the last three months and says it is within striking distance of the rebel capital Kilinochchi. It says it has steadily seized one LTTE stronghold after another as it marches north.

Since journalists are barred from the war zone, it is nearly impossible to get an independent account of where the fighting is occurring and of casualties.

The military says the Tigers' air wing, which debuted in March 2007 with a bombing run on the military air base inside Colombo's international airport, used to consist of three Czech-made Zlin-143 aircraft.

Its last raid came in September, when the military said it shot down one of the planes after it attacked a military base in Vavuniya, near the front lines. The Tigers denied that, and no evidence has ever been made public.

The other air raids have not caused major damage, but have embarrassed the air force by exposing its inability to stop them despite vastly superior jets and radar.

The Tigers are fighting to create a separate homeland for Sri Lankan Tamils, many of whom complain of marginalization by successive governments led by the Sinhalese majority since independence from Britain in 1948.

In doing so, they have landed on U.S., European and Indian terrorism lists for their use of suicide bombings and assassinations of politicians including more moderate Sri Lankan Tamils and former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

(Writing by Bryson Hull; editing by Andrew Roche)

LTTE aircraft drops bombs in Colombo - Hindustan Times, 29 October 2008

The air wing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) dropped bombs on a power station in Colombo and a military facility in Mannar late on Tuesday, triggering panic in the night and an island-wide blackout.

Electricity was switched off across Colombo and anti-aircraft guns opened fire at about 11.30 pm after a rebel aircraft was spotted approaching the city. First, Sri Lankan navy warships docking off Colombo opened fire and launched rockets at it. Soon, anti-aircraft guns deployed around important buildings in the city targeted the aircraft, breaking the silence of the night with the staccato sound of fire. High-powered search lights focused on the sky were switched on. Sri Lankan air force (SLAF) jets scrambled to intercept the intruding plane.

But the LTTE aircraft, possibly a fixed-wing, Czech-built, Z-143, whizzed past the fire power and dropped two bombs on the Kelanitissa power station, a fortified installation within Colombo surrounded by high walls. One bomb exploded triggering a fire in the station and fire fighting tenders were at work till early on Wednesday. Power supply to the city was not hampered, officials said.

Less than 30 minutes earlier, a Sri Lanka army installation in the Thalladi area of the troubled northwestern district of Mannar had come under a similar air attack. A Tiger aircraft dropped two bombs on the base, the main artillery launch-pad for the army, about 300 km from Colombo.

Like in Colombo, at Thalladi too, the aircraft escaped in spite of retaliatory fire from the ground.

Military spokesperson, Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, told HT that three soldiers suffered minor injuries in the attack. ``There was no damage to the buildings,'' Nanayakkara said.

The Brigadier added that he was still awaiting final reports about the extent of damage to the power station. "One bomb fell on a building and exploded, starting a fire. The second bomb did not explode,'' he said.

The pro-LTTE website, TamilNet, said SLAF bombers were searching for LTTE aircraft in Killinochchi till early Wednesday. "Latest reports from Vanni (where the LTTE is said to be currently cornered) said SLAF aircraft were flying over the suburbs of Mullaiththeevu and Puthukkudiyiruppu with para lights focused on the ground from 1:30 am on Wednesday,'' it said.

In Colombo, the sound of gunfire woke up thousands of tourists and professionals staying in five-star hotels on the sea front. An Indian advertising professional staying at Galle Face Hotel said: ``I opened the sea-facing window and saw streaks of fire criss-crossing the sky from all sides. The sound of gunfire was echoing from all sides. The area on the land-side was totally dark,'' he told HT.

LTTE Air Raids Getting Deadlier
David Sabapathy - Tamil Eelam News Service, 30 October 2008

bombs had pierced through the concrete roof
of the installation which is one foot in thickness

COLOMBO - Even though the government in Colombo play down the latest Tamil Tiger air raid as nuisance, the emerging details confirm that their air raid getting deadly as each sortie they fly, says military expert in Colombo.

The lights at the Bandaranaike International Airport was also switched off as a precautionary measure on Tuesday night. But the airport authorities later said that the situation is back to normal quickly on the night and the flights are operated with out any delays.

But the details emerged now indicate that two passenger flights, Cathay Pacific and Thai Airways were diverted to Chennai during the incident to ensure passenger safety. The two flights later flew into Colombo and left for their onward destinations in the early hours of the morning with delays.

The Power and Energy Minister John Seneviratne told journalists earlier that the damage to the Kelanitissa power station is minimal. But later he said, Two turbines of the Kelanitissa power station were damaged in the LTTE air attack on Tuesday night and it would take at least six months to restore them.

“Assessing the financial loses would take some time as no survey was done to determine the physical damage. The bombs had pierced through the concrete roof of the installation which is one foot in thickness and had fallen on one turbine and on the cooler of the GT 7 turbine,” he further said. The damaged turbines have the capacity to generate 165 MV of power through gas and steam.

The damage caused to two power stations, combined cycle power plant and diesel powered Fiat GT 7 installed within the Kelanitissa complex would cause a severe deficit in the country’s electricity demand, said a senior employee. It may cost 24 million rupees a day to the electricity board, till its get repaired, says another official.

Even though Sri Lanka Air Force had deployed F-7, MI- 24 and PT6 aircrafts to intercept the Tamil Tiger plane, the rebel planes return to their base safely, according to Tamil Tiger officials.

In the Capital Colombo, the sound of gunfire woke up thousands of tourists staying in five-star hotels on the sea front. A tourist staying at Galle Face Hotel said: “I opened the sea-facing window and saw streaks of fire criss-crossing the sky from all sides. The sound of gunfire was echoing from all sides. The area on the land-side was totally dark. It was a scary moment” he said.

The government continually claims that it will finish off the rebels by this year end. The Tamil Tiger’s political head, B Nadesan, giving interview to an Indian television and saying that there was little but boasting to the Sri Lankan army's claim that it would destroy the rebels.

"For the last 30 years it has been the practice of the Sri Lankan military to issue such reports," Mr Nadesan said. The rebel spokesman said that in 1995, the Sri Lankan army claimed 90% of the rebels strength had been destroyed.

“But within months waging a conventional war with the Sri Lankan military, our strength was demonstrated when we recaptured Mullaitivu. The Sri Lankan military claims that they have largely destroyed our strength and will soon capture [the rebel stronghold of] Kilinochchi. But when the time is right our military strength will be proved once again and the land we have lost will be retrieved,” Mr. Nadesan further said.