Air Force jets bombed Tamil rebel positions in northern Sri Lanka for the second time since last week's guerrilla attack on the country's biggest air base and only international airport, the military said yesterday.
The air raids came as the commander of the air base and his deputy were transferred to new posts.
Israeli-built K'fir aircraft bombarded territory held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on the island's north-eastern coast on Saturday, a military spokesman, Brig Sanath Karunaratne, said.
"It was a short mission that had to be curtailed because of poor visibility," Brig Karunaratne said, giving no details of damage or casualties.
It was the second wave of air strikes since Tuesday, when an LTTE suicide squad attacked the Bandaranaike International Airport and the adjoining Katunayake air base.
K'firs and Russian-built MiGs began bombing missions hours after the rebel attack left a dozen military and civilian aircraft burning on the tarmac, costing the country's defence budget $30 million and leaving the intelligence community deeply embarrassed over the massive breach of security.
Base commander Air Commodore R.A Ananda and a senior deputy were given transfer orders on Saturday as a high-ranking Air Force team investigated the attack. "They have not yet been found guilty by the inquiry, but after an incident like this changes are a must," Brig Karunaratne said.
Two airmen have already been detained for questioning over allegations they ignored vital clues to the presence of the rebels around the airport hours before the attack. The 800-acre complex housing the country's entire fighter squadron was ringed by barricades, roadblocks and even minefields, and guarded by more than 1,000 troops.
It had long been an obvious target of attack by rebels fighting for a separate state in the country's north and east.
Intelligence analysts said the timing of the raid should have been obvious. It coincided with the 18th anniversary of the ethnic war and came three weeks after the government called off a self-imposed moratorium on air strikes.
The strikes had been suspended for two months to push forward a Norwegian effort to end a conflict that has claimed an estimated 64,000 lives.
The airport attack appeared to signal the collapse of the peace process that had prompted the LTTE to suspend its trademark strikes for eight months.