By Xinhua
Colombo : Four soldiers were killed and eight injured in a predawn air and ground attack launched by guerrillas of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on Sri Lanka’s north central Anuradhapura Air Force Base Monday, defence officials said.
Ajantha De Silva, the Air Force spokesman, said a group of Tamil Tiger rebels attacked the air base, about 200 km north of the capital Colombo, around 3.20 a.m.
Two LTTE aircraft also dropped bombs at the air base, he said.
Two pilots and two gunners were killed when they tried to crash-land an Air Force BELL 212 helicopter at Doramadalawa in Mihintale area on their way to reinforce other fighting aircraft.
At least eight security forces personnel were injured in the fighting and have been admitted to the Anuradhapura hospital, De Silva said.
Two MI24 helicopters were damaged during the attack and the battle is still going on, said the spokesman.
This is the first major attack launched by the LTTE militants on government targets after the military claimed in Mid-July that the eastern province had been free of rebels.
Claiming discrimination at the hands of the Sinhala majority, the LTTE has been fighting the government since the mid-1980s to establish a separate homeland for the minority Tamils in the north and east.
More than 5,000 people have been killed in the new wave of violence since the end of 2005, making the Norwegian brokered ceasefire agreement exist only on paper.