COLOMBO, Oct 22: A Tamil Tiger suicide squad on Monday attacked a key Sri Lankan air base in an unprecedented ground and air assault, leaving at least 34 dead on both sides.

The rebels said 21 members of their Black Tiger unit and two light aircraft struck the Anuradhapura air base north of Colombo in an operation code-named ‘Ellalan,’ the name of an ancient Tamil king.

Military sources said 13 servicemen, two of them pilots, were killed and 22 others wounded.

Three aircraft were damaged in the pre-dawn attack, the military said, but the guerrillas said they destroyed eight aircraft, among them the main spy plane of the security forces.

“The LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) infiltrated the air base and also dropped two bombs. Two Mi-24 helicopter gunships and a K-8 trainer aircraft were damaged,” air force spokesman Ajantha Silva said in Colombo. Police said the bodies of 21 rebels were recovered after the attack.

Police clamped a curfew in the area immediately after the attack, but later eased it.

“We have destroyed eight aircraft on the ground at Anuradhapura which is the largest logistics base for the Sri Lankan security forces,” LTTE spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiriyan said by telephone.

He said those involved in the ground attack were Black Tigers -- cadres tasked with missions from which they can be certain of not returning, causing as much death and destruction as possible before committing suicide.

Military sources said the bigger loss for the security forces apart from the fatalities was the destruction of a Beechcraft aircraft fitted with advanced electronic spy devices. —AFP