Colombo: In a stunning attack, two light aircraft of the beleaguered LTTE bombed Colombo on Friday night hitting Sri Lanka's main Revenue Department building near the Air Force Headquarters, killing at least two persons before they were brought down by the military.
Shortly after the bombing around 9.30 PM (local time), Sri Lanka's air force gave chase to the two aircraft and shot down one of them, military spokesman Brig Udaya Nanayakkara said. He said the wreckage and the body of the pilot were recovered near Katunayake air base.
A spokesman of the Sri Lankan government said the situation was under control nearly three hours after the surprise strike which also hit the Army Headquarters ground.
Fifty-four people were injured and rushed to hospitals many of them with shrapnel wounds and splinter injuries.
'Army shells Tamils, LTTE prevents their flight'
A Defence spokesman Lakshman Hullugalle said two of the injured succumbed.
Amid reports that the two planes could be on a suicide mission by the rebels, a defence ministry statement said the second aircraft was disabled by the anti air gunfire reportedly and crashed on the Inland Revenue building. The building suffered slight damages.
The island nation was put on high alert in the wake of what is being described as a desperate attempt by the Tigers to carry out surprise strikes that has come as an embarassment to the government which had claimed to have destroyed all the rebels' hidden runways and rendered its small air wing powerless.
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