Air base adjacent to Bandaranaike Int'al Airport attacked.

[SN30952]

Katunayake air base, adjacent to Sri Lanka's only international airport, the Bandaranaike International Airport, came under attack by an attack aircraft at about 12:45 a.m. (0715 GMT)
Katunayake air base of the Sri Lankan Air Force is some 30 km north of the capital Colombo. It was attacked by suspected aircraft of Tamil Tigers Monday noon.
Tigers of Tamil Eelam aircraft, targeting the Air Force's fighter aircraft, dropped two bombs at the air base's engineering section, killing three airmen and injuring 16.

Some flights @ Bandaranaike International Airport have been cancelled or delayed due to the attack.
At least seven flights with points of origin including Paris, Dubai, Frankfurt and London have been redirected to nearby countries. The flight from Frankfurt was directed to Kochin in India.

In July 2001, the Tamils destroyed 13 aircraft including two Kfir jet fighters, one MI-24 helicopter and one MIG-27 jet fighter on the same air base.

OS 46 Austrian onto MLE Male 10:35 332
MP 951 Martinair onto HKT Phuket 10:40 763
seem to have left ontime

MP 951 Martinair from BRU Brussels was due in @ 09:10 AM

[SN30952]

MP 951 Martinair from CMB Colombo is scheduled 03:10 PM in HKT and is expected on time 763 (in three hours from this posting)

MP 952 Martinair is scheduled to leave HKT @ 04:40 PM to CMB Colombo onto Zaventem @ 07:35 PM Arrival BRU 02:55 AM TUE.



Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers have bombed a military base near the international airport north of Colombo, in the rebels' first ever aerial attack.

De internationale luchthaven van de Sri Lankaanse hoofdstad Colombo is maandagmorgen twee uur gesloten geweest na een luchtaanval door de Tamil Tijgers op een nabijgelegen militaire basis. Dit is de eerste luchtaanval door de Tijgers in de geschiedenis
Lees mijn post hoger!

[EBAW_flyer]

??? When did rebels get their hands on aircraft? I mean, this could be very serious. Does anyone know wich kind of aircraft they used?

[SN30952]

2001 Katunayake Airbase Attack
The version of the attack by the Tamil Tigers.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has acquired at least two aircraft which looked like the Czech-built Zlin Z-143.
The Zlin 143 is a four-seat, Lycoming-powered, light GA utility plane, broadly similar to a Piper Cherokee, Warrior, or Archer.

Coercive Airpower in the Eelam Conflict

[regi]

yep it is the one .
See the pictures at al jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/ ... 0B1F3C.htm

[SN30952]

yep it is the one .
See the pictures at al jazeera
the Tamils' aircraft pose little threat, however their propaganda value outweighs their limited military use.

Ya, Ya, that is why mosquitoes kill more people than elephants?...
Never underestimate an enemy.

[ElcoB]

More detailed pictures TamilNet, Monday, 26 March 2007

[brieky]

Thats another dissapointment for the Sri Lankan tourism industry,
Why this beatiful country?

i just have one thing to say....

TAMIL TIGERS = just another group of 'cowards'!!

[regi86]

Next time its gonna be a lot harder for them! You can do this trick once with that type of plane, but the next time you can be sure the people at the military installations will have some AAA ready (even some AK's will do against these :p).

[brieky]

I hope it so, that even AK's can hit those Tamil Tiger planes!!

But it is no good news for Sri Lankans future!! just like in 2001

greetz Brieky

[regi]

and what is good for the future of the Tamil people?
Kfir jet bombardments on civilian populations ?

[regi]

A freedom pilot that flies a small sportsplane all over enemy territory to attack its main airforce base can hardly be called a coward.
I read somewhere the name"Biggles". At the BBC...

[SN30952]

I read somewhere the name"Biggles". At the BBC...

In what one foreign security expert described as "like something out of Biggles"
Ook een
Biggles en Co. (W.E. Johns) fan, regi?
IK herinner me de titel niet meer in de Prisma juniores pocket, regi, maar in een van de verhalen vliegt Biggles in Thailand. Toen ik het las wilde ik er meteen naartoe, dat was >45jaar geleden... Ik herinner me nog
Biggles als detective.
Biggles en Co.
Biggles geheime opdracht.
Biggles in de knoei.
Biggles in de West
Biggles op bekend terrein.
by William Earl Johns (1893-1968)
Sorry, folks, Biggles fans talk...
It surprises me we never talked in Luchtzak about Major James Bigglesworth DSO, his boss Major Raymond en Algernon Montgomery Lacey (Algy) (who's moustaches a wear!)

[regi]

Yep, I loved Biggles, but it is so long gone man.

[SN30952]

The Sri Lankan Air Force carried out several raids this Sunday on 'identified' Tamil Tiger targets in Northern and Eastern provinces of the country.

MI24 helicopters were used to bomb a rebel position north of Omanthai forward defence line in the northern district of Vavuniya at 00:30 a. m. local time on Sunday. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) heavy weapon positions were targeted.
At around 4:30 a.m. local time air raids were made at Kirinchi area in the northeastern Mannar district, targeting a base of the rebels' sea wing.

More than 4,000 people have been killed since the end of 2005, rendering the Norwegian backed cease-fire agreement defunct.

It's is full moon in the area, but how does a MI24 operate by night?
Full Moon, 100% of the Moon is Illuminated
Today 4 / 2 Full
METAR VCBI 020110Z 08003KT 8000 FEW016 FEW030 25/22 Q1010 NOSIG
Monday on Sri Lanka
Chance of a Thunderstorm. Scattered Clouds. High: 91° F. / 33° C. Wind WSW 8 mph. / 14 km/h. Chance of precipitation 30%.

[regi]

The combat choppers are manned by Ukrainian mercenaries.
We have seen the same in the Congo where Serbian mercenaries were doing sorties in choppers and airplanes.