A Tamil Tiger suicide bomber tried to blow up an army camp in Sri Lanka on Tuesday, killing seven people a day after rebels carried out their first air strike since fighting began in 1983.
The military said troops shot the suicide bomber as he tried to drive an explosives-laden tractor into the camp in the eastern district of Batticaloa, setting off an explosion which killed him, two soldiers, four civilians and wounded nine others.
”We have shot an LTTE suicide cadre who tried to enter into Chenkalady camp in an explosives-filled tractor,” said military spokesperson Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe.
”It exploded before entering, and the bomber and two troops were killed.” Officials said four civilians nearby also died.
The military is still investigating how the Tigers managed to fly a light aircraft over the capital undetected, drop bombs and fly back to their northern stronghold without being shot down — their first such raid since the civil war began.
The military said none of its fighter jets targeted by the rebels were damaged in the strike. Nordic truce monitors say they have not been given access to the area.
Tigers vow more attacks
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said more such attacks by its air wing would follow, threatening to deepen renewed conflict in the island state off the toe of India.
The air force responded late on Monday with a series of air strikes in the rebel-held north, which the Tigers said disrupted civilian settlements but killed no one.
The civilian airport, 37km north of the capital, next door to the air base was not damaged in Monday’s attack but was closed for several hours. Cathay Pacific has suspended inbound and outbound flights.
”The air power of a frenzied and desperate organisation as the LTTE is a grave threat aimed not only at Sri Lanka but also at the entire South Asian region,” the island’s main political parties said in a joint statement issued overnight.
”We call upon the international community to make a proper assessment of this very real danger and draw its serious attention to all actions taken both locally and abroad by these separatist terrorist forces in Sri Lanka.”
The government on Monday said neighbouring India in particular should be wary of the threat posed by the rebels’ air wing — comprised of up to five light aircraft smuggled onto the island in pieces and reassembled.
The Sri Lankan government has been trying unsuccessfully for years to convince India — which lost around 1 000 troops in the 1990s when a peacekeeping mission turned into all-out war with the Tigers — to become more involved in ending the conflict. – Reuters