Lanka confirms LTTE attack on oil facilities

Confirming the strike by the Tigers on key installations near Colombo, the Sri Lankan defence ministry said only "minor damage" was caused in the attack.

In yet another aerial strike, Tamil Tiger aircraft bombed oil and gas storage facilities in and around Sri Lankan capital early on Sunday creating panic among cricket fans.

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Confirming the strike by the Tigers on key installations near Colombo, the Sri Lankan defence ministry said only "minor damage" was caused in the attack.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) dropped two bombs at the Muthurajawela gas storage facility of Shell and dropped two more bombs at the main oil storage depot at Kolonnawa in Colombo, the ministry said.

"The suspected LTTE aircraft have (dropped) four improvised bombs," the ministry said in a statement.

The two bombs dropped on the oil facility failed to explode, the ministry said.

A rebel spokesman said two LTTE aircraft carried out the attacks in retaliation for military air raids on their territory.

He said two "squadrons" were dispatched after Sri Lankan air force jets had bombed targets in Kilinochchi in the north where the rebels have their headquarters.

The air force confirmed a rebel claim that the military war planes had bombed the outskirts of the rebel-held Kilinochchi town, 330 kilometres north of Colombo, hours before the Tigers staged their tit-for-tat attack.