Major shake-up, clean-up after Tigers' bombings
Major shake-up, clean-up after Tigers' bombings
COLOMBO (AFP): Heads have rolled at Sri Lanka's key military airbase following an attack by Tamil rebels that destroyed or damaged 24 military and civilian aircraft, officials said on Sunday.
Two senior air force officers were removed from their posts at the Katunayake base, the home of the island's supersonic aircraft fleet, as a probe into Tuesday's rebel attack in Colombo was underway, officials said.
They said investigations have found that eight military aircraft were completely destroyed while another 10 aircraft were also damaged, but in a repairable condition following the embarrassing assault.
A group of some 14 members of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) penetrated the defenses of the Katunayake airbase, destroyed the military aircraft and torched a fuel storage tank without being challenged.
The rebels then moved to the adjoining Bandaranaike International Airport where they completely destroyed three passenger jets of the SriLankan Airlines and damaged three more Airbus aircraft parked there.
A total of 14 rebels and seven security personnel were killed in the attack but no passengers were hurt.
The airport was closed for 36 hours after the attack, which reduced the national carrier's fleet by half to six Airbus aircraft.
International flights have resumed to Sri Lanka but the national carrier has scaled down its flights due to the lack of aircraft.
Airline officials said a major clean-up operation got underway on Sunday as insurers gave clearance to remove the debris that was obstructing one of the two aprons at the country's only international airport.
Heavy earth moving equipment was used to remove tons of debris from the two brand-new Airbus A-330 aircraft and one A-340 burnt to ashes.
A spokesman for SriLankan said that experts from French-led Airbus Industrie and insurance loss adjusters were currently evaluating the damage to three other planes, one A-340 and two A- 320 aircraft that could be repaired.
"We hope all three could be up and flying in about two to three months," an airline spokesman said adding that they had been assured of tighter security at the airport to resume operations.
On Saturday, the defense ministry announced an increase in security at the airport with another perimeter fence put in place to prevent a recurrence of Tuesday's devastating attack.
"The perimeter of the international airport has been strengthened with a strong obstacle belt and additional manpower is presently deployed to secure the entire perimeter," the ministry said in a statement.
The statement came as airlines braced for higher insurance charges following the rebel attack, which President Chandrika Kumaratunga described as the "most horrendous" raid against an economic target in the country.
The defense ministry said it had ensured that there would not be a repetition of the breach of security seen on Tuesday. "The government is committed to devise and implement all necessary measures to ensure the safety and security of airline passengers and the safe and orderly conduct of international air transport," the ministry said.
The airport authorities have since Thursday imposed a ban on private jets, re-fueling stops and ad-hoc charters as the airport limped back to normality.
Civil aviation officials said the measure was taken to give priority to scheduled commercial flights within the restricted space where only eight aircraft could now be parked at a time.
SriLankan Airlines said it feared flight cancellations and a drop in demand for seats to Colombo after European countries warned their nationals against visiting the strife-torn island.