Rebel Air Attack Kills 3 in Sri Lankan Capital

One Plane Crashes, 2nd Is Shot Down

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Feb. 21 -- Two suspected Tamil Tiger rebel planes launched a surprise attack in Sri Lanka's capital late Friday in a defiant show of power that government officials said killed three people and injured at least 48.

One plane, riddled with bullets, crashed into a government office building in the heart of Colombo and exploded, killing the pilot and a bystander. The other plane was shot down near the airport, killing its pilot, the government said.

The attack came just weeks after Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa said in a national address that the military was days away from defeating the 25-year-old separatist movement. The military had said it destroyed all the rebel runways, although Friday's attack appeared to refute that claim.

Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara called the attack "a last resort" and added that the military was aware the rebel group had two planes left. "We were ready to shoot them down," he said.

One plane crashed into a building housing the Inland Revenue Department, which is near the headquarters of the Sri Lankan air force, the ministry of defense said in a statement posted on its Web site. Earlier, the government had said a bomb had been dropped.

By 10:30 p.m., the air force had shot down the second plane, and the body of its pilot was found near the international airport, about 22 miles north of Colombo, the ministry said.

The attack shows the apparent air power of the Tamil Tigers far from the northern war zone, where they are said to be boxed into a 34-square-mile sliver of the jungle, with government troops closing in.

The sound of explosions could be heard in the seaside capital late Friday as antiaircraft fire and searchlights swept the night sky and the power was cut. At first, many onlookers thought red flares the government shot into the air were fireworks, and large crowds gathered outside. But the streets quickly emptied; only ambulances and stray dogs remained.

Civilians were once again caught in the crossfire.

Inside the accident ward of the city's main public hospital, Chandregra Kamgomene stared in shock at the floor. Her 14-year-old daughter had been killed in the assault, according to hospital officials. Kamgomene's husband and daughter wept, inconsolable. "The firefighting took our child," said Kamgomene, repeating the words several times. "It took our girl."

Nearby, Matthias Ranjan, 57, waited as friend M.F. Raheem had a bullet removed from his left arm. "This is a real alarm," said Ranjan, a jewelry merchant. "We thought the Tamil Tigers were over."

Raheem said he was sleeping in his home near the tax building when the attack occurred. "It was 10 p.m., I heard something coming through the roof. I then got a terrible pain and saw so much blood," he said, as a nurse plunged a needle into his arm and put a bandage on the wound. "There were no taxis on the road, so I asked my friend for help."

The rebels have been fighting for a separate homeland for the island's ethnic Tamil population in the north and east in Asia's longest-running war. Friday's attack was the 10th carried out by a force known as the "Air Tigers" since their first in March 2007.

Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, executive director of the Center for Policy Alternatives, said the attack showed that the Tigers, who are labeled as terrorists by the U.S. government, were still capable of launching an attack. Experts have said suicide attacks and guerrilla-style warfare could continue for years. "This is a big show of bravado," Saravanamuttu said.

At a hotel in the heart of the city, guests were asked to evacuate their rooms and Friday night diners were told to move into a dark room. Yohan Tewnakoon, 17, huddled with his family in the darkened lobby.

"We just hope this is their final act," Tewnakoon said as his younger sister sipped a soda, tears rolling down her face. "We thought our generation might not have to deal with this war."

Sri Lankan government troops and Tamil insurgents have both committed "numerous violations of international law" during fighting in recent weeks, according to a report released Friday by Human Rights Watch. An estimated 250,000 civilians remain trapped in the battle zone, according to aid groups, although the government says the number is about half that.

Civilian deaths in Sri Lanka are estimated at 2,000 over the past six weeks of fighting, the report said.