COLOMBO, Feb 21: The two LTTE aircraft which were shot down by the Sri Lankan forces before they could hit targets on Friday evening were on a suicide mission to destroy the Sri Lankan Air Force headquarters in Slave Island, and cripple the SLAF’s main base at Katunayake with hundreds of kilograms of the C4 explosive, officials said.
Military spokesman Brig Udaya Nanayakkara said on Saturday that “each of them had 250kg of the C4 explosive. If they had hit the two intended targets and exploded, the level of destruction would have been enormous”.
The Zlin-143s of the Tamileelam Air Force had taken off from Puthukudiyiruppu, he said. Puthukudiyiruppu is the only area in Sri Lanka still under Tamil Tigers’ control.
The Tigers failed to achieve their aim despite the resolve to die and the deadly nature of the bombs they were carrying, Brig Nanayakkara said.
“They missed the targets. One of them crashed into the Inland Revenue Department’s building after being shot; and the other was shot and brought down off the Katunayake airbase and civil airport,” he said.
“The air defence system put in place to protect Colombo had worked to the extent that the two attackers were shot down and they had not been able to drop their deadly ordnance on the intended targets,” the spokesman said.
He said that the Tigers had four planes. One was shot down sometime back and two more were destroyed on Friday.
Analysts, however, found it disturbing that the aircraft had taken off from Puthukudiyiruppu. The planes flew several hundred kilometres to the western region of Mannar across the territory recently liberated by the Sri Lankan troops who are, therefore, supposedly on high alert. The planes covered several hundred kilometres into south over the government-held territory to reach Colombo without being intercepted.
Even if the planes had taken off from Mannar, it would be cause for deep concern because the area had been cleared about a year-and-half ago, analysts say. Although the Zlin-143 planes can land on and take off from dirt roads, the question arises how the Tigers managed to hide their aircraft and kept them in working order when the army has been claiming that it has captured all their seven air bases.
LTTE terms it success
Unfazed by the loss of two aircraft and as many pilots, identified as Col Roopan and Lt-Col Siriththaran, the LTTE on Friday claimed that the mission over Colombo was a success.
The pro-LTTE Tamilnet website quoted the LTTE as saying that the aircraft had dived into Sri Lankan Air Force headquarters in Colombo and the SLAF base at Katunayake, 35km north of Colombo.
Sri Lanka stepped up air defences on Saturday. Officials said authorities expected the LTTE militants to try more suicide attacks as they steadily lost territory to advancing government forces.