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Sri Lankan warplanes “bombed and completely destroyed” a key Tamil Tiger naval base Wednesday, the defence ministry said, drawing an immediate denial from the rebels.
Israeli-built Kfir jets pounded what the defence ministry said was the “Sea Tiger headquarters” of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at Puthukkudiyiruppu, some 15 kilometres (nine miles) from the coast, in the northeast of the country.
The LTTE said there were no casualties from the bombing, which they said took place near the “White Pigeon” charity, which helps victims of landmines.
“The bombs fell about 60 metres (yards) away from the White Pigeon building,” LTTE spokeswoman Navaruban Selvy told AFP from the rebel political headquarters of Kilinochchi, 330 kilometres north of here.
“Fortunately there were no casualties, but the buildings were damaged,” she added.
In another attack in the same area, a military air raid killed two civilians and injured four others, according to the pro-rebel Tamilnet.com website. There was no immediate word from the military about casualties.
Sri Lankan warplanes have been routinely bombing suspected rebel positions in the island's northeast since April last year as part of a new wave of violence.
“The base was completely destroyed, including its fuel storage facilities, which burst into massive flames,” the ministry statement said. “The headquarter complex and many vehicles parked were also destroyed due to the strike.”
The Tiger spokeswoman said there were no rebel installations and described it as a civilian area. “It was not a Sea Tiger base. The sea is about 15 kilometres from where the bombs fell,” she added.
The Tiger rebels on Tuesday said that the air force had bombed the same area that day and wounded four civilians who were admitted to the Puthukkudiyiruppu hospital.
The air force suffered a humiliating attack last week when Tiger aircraft bombed its main base next to the island's only international airport and managed to escape unchallenged.
The rebel craft were in the air for more than two hours.
The latest military air raid came as the defence ministry announced that troops had shot dead six Tamil Tiger rebels in clashes in the embattled northern and eastern regions on Tuesday.
Four members of the LTTE were shot dead in the Jaffna peninsula, the ministry said. Two more Tiger gunmen were shot dead in the eastern district of Ampara, the scene of a bus bombing on Monday that left 16 people dead, it added.
There were no reports of casualties among troops.
The Tamil rebels have waged a 35-year campaign for independence that has claimed more than 60,000 lives.
More than 4,000 people have been killed in the latest upsurge of fighting that began in December 2005 despite a truce arranged in 2002.
