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Sri Lanka Declares Curfew Around International Airport
Sri Lanka Tuesday declared a curfew in areas around the Bandaranaike International Airport following a pre-dawn attack on the adjoining air force base by separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.
About 20 rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launched the major attack which started around 3:00 a.m. and ended three hours later.
At least seven fighter planes, the majority of the country's air forces fighting strength, were destroyed and the airforce base was closed down. Thousands of armed troops were rushed to the area as reports of continued blasts from the location were reported.
The fighting spilled over to The Bandaranaike International Airport where several hundred passengers were stranded. The airport was also closed down with no flights leaving and incoming flights being diverted to Madras in neighboring India.
Three civilian airbus passenger planes belonging to Srilankan Airlines which were parked on the tarmac were also reportedly hit by Tamil rebels but the extent of the damage is not immediately known.
The number of casualties, could be high, is still not known following the heavy fighting and regular blasts that were heard up to almost 10 kilometers away.
A government announcement said that the situation had been brought under control and the fighting had ceased.
The LTTE rebel attack is to mark Black July when racial riots broke out in Colombo on July 24, 1983 following the killing of 13 soldiers in northern Jaffna peninsula by the rebels the previous day.
The riot sparked an all-out civil war between government forces and Tamil rebels.
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